Chicago · Licensed center
Explora Learning Center 1 LLC
At a glance
- Small STEAM center, licensed for 35 children.
- Hours 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., 5 days a week.
What to know
The license is the range the state allows. It does not say which ages have openings.
What the state has found
The state cited rules at all 5 of its licensing inspections since May 2025.
See each inspection
Licensing inspections
Dec 17, 20251 citation
Grouping and Staffing
Grouping and Staffing
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.190(g)
Dec 5, 20258 citations
Organization and Administration
Organization and Administration
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e)
Confidentiality of Records and Information
Confidentiality of Records and Information
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.80(a)
Personnel Records
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(1)
Personnel Records
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3)
Personnel Records
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4)
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(d)
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(a)
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(3)
Nov 7, 20251 citation
General Requirements for Personnel
General Requirements for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(b)(2)
Oct 24, 20252 citations
Background Checks for Personnel
Background Checks for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110
Nutrition and Meal Service
Nutrition and Meal Service
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.330(h)
May 5, 20253 citations
Equipment and Materials
Equipment and Materials
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.380
Personnel Records
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120
Health Requirements for Children
Health Requirements for Children
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(5)
The state cited rules at all 5 of this center's inspections. Most Chicago-area centers inspected 5 times had fewer: 53% of 127.
How all 127 Chicago-area centers inspected 5 times compare
Of the 127 Chicago-area centers the state inspected 5 times, how many of those inspections cited a rule:
- 1 of 56%
- 2 of 56%
- 3 of 512%
- 4 of 528%
- All 547%This center
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — Illinois DCFS
- Last visit
- December 17, 2025
- On file
- 5 visits since May 2025 — all of them cited findings
- Fixed?
- The latest correction deadline was January 4, 2026. Illinois DCFS does not publish whether it was made.
- Most serious
- Illinois DCFS does not publish a severity level for a citation, so there is no most-serious to name.
Illinois DCFS cites each subsection of a rule separately, so one audit of a filing cabinet can produce ten citations. It publishes the rule’s title and a correction deadline, but no description of what was observed.
Dec 2025 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · December 17, 2025
Grouping and Staffing
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.190(g) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 629022 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Dec 2025 Monitoring visit 8 findings
Monitoring visit · December 5, 2025
Personnel Records
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(1) through (4) · Violation substantiated
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(1) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4)
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(a) through (e)(3) · Violation substantiated
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(a) · 407.370(e)(3)
Organization and Administration
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e) · Violation substantiated
Confidentiality of Records and Information
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.80(a) · Violation substantiated
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(d) · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 629022 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Nov 2025 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · November 7, 2025
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(b)(2) · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 629022 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Oct 2025 Monitoring visit 2 findings
Monitoring visit · October 24, 2025
Background Checks for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected
Nutrition and Meal Service
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.330(h) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 629022 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
May 2025 Monitoring visit 3 findings
Monitoring visit · May 5, 2025
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120 · Violation corrected
Health Requirements for Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(5) · Violation corrected
Equipment and Materials
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.380 · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 629022 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
A day here
6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., 5 days a week
Meals and outdoors
- Meals
- Fresh meals prepared daily from natural ingredients, nothing canned or processed, including homemade baby purees
- Outdoors
- Daily outdoor time for infants via stroller walks and playground play
How they teach
STEAM
“STEAM curriculum and holistic activities: Science, technology, engineering, arts, and math programs, alongside physical education and the arts, to stimulate mind and body.”
Details
- Phone
- (312) 730-3506
- Address
- 5859 W Irving Park Rd, Chicago, 60634
- Established
- 2025
We couldn’t find some information that may matter to your decision: openings, child care subsidies, cost, ratios and staff, sick and biting policies, and who owns it. We can ask the program for you and copy you in.
Sources and dates
Where every fact on this page came from, and when Shortlist last checked it against that source. Anything Shortlist could not source is named here rather than left blank.
How they teach
- Approach — Checked August 2026 exploralearningcenter.com
State record
From Illinois DCFS’s published reports, last checked November 8, 2026.
A day here
- Meals — Checked August 2026 exploralearningcenter.com
- Outdoors — Checked August 2026 exploralearningcenter.com
- Hours — Checked August 2026 exploralearningcenter.com
Details
- Phone, Address, License — Checked July 2026 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov/…/ProviderLookup.aspx. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "EXPLORA LEARNING CENTER 1 LLC" under Provider Name and 60634 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 629022).
- Website — Checked August 2026 exploralearningcenter.com
- Ages on the license — Checked November 2026 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov/…/ProviderLookup.aspx. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "EXPLORA LEARNING CENTER 1 LLC" under Provider Name and 60634 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 629022).
- Established — Checked August 2026 exploralearningcenter.com
Small means the smallest quarter of Chicago-area’s 1,948 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 8 to 48 children. Medium is 49 to 118; large is 119 to 487.
The ages on the license are what the state licenses it to care for, which can be wider than the ages it takes.