Chicago · Licensed center
Little Scholars Journey
- Medium play-based center, licensed for 78 children.
What these mean, and where they come from
Medium means the middle half of Chicago-area’s 1,949 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 49 to 118 children. Small is 8 to 48; large is 119 to 487.
How they teach
Play-based
“we believe that children learn a great deal of information via play, modeled behavior, and positive encouragement”In their words, August 2026.littlescholarsjourney.com
One of 70 Chicago-area providers that describe a play-based approach, out of 129 that describe any approach at all.
Who cares for your child
Ratio not published
Ms. Vicky (Assistant Teacher (Rainbow Room)) since 2016, Ms. Darina (Lead Teacher (Sunshine Room)) since 2018 and Janeth Arrieta (Director) since 2018. Eighteen other staff are named on their site, with no start years given.
Of 5,346 Chicago-area providers, 27 publish how long a named staff member has been there; the longest tenure at each of those has a median of sixteen years.
Shortlist doesn’t have these yet: cost, hours and late pickup, a typical day, sick and biting policies.
What the state has found
Routine visits: 7 of 9 cited something
Chicago-area centers: the state cites something at about 5 in 6 routine visits.
From Illinois DCFS’s published reports, last checked September 25, 2026.
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — Illinois DCFS
- Last visit
- June 25, 2026
- On file
- 9 visits since May 2017 — 2 cited nothing
- Fixed?
- The latest correction deadline was July 25, 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.
Jun 2026 Monitoring visit 3 findings
Monitoring visit · June 25, 2026
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(e)(5) · Violation substantiated
Health Requirements for Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(5) · Violation substantiated
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(3) · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 551564 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
May 2025 Monitoring visit 10 findings
Monitoring visit · May 23, 2025
General Requirements for Personnel
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(7) through (d) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(7) · 407.100(d)
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(3) through (10) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(3) · 407.370(e)(10)
Application for License
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.50(c) · Violation corrected
Application for Renewal of License
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.55(f) · Violation corrected
Staffing Structure
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(1) · Violation corrected
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4) · Violation corrected
Qualifications for Child Care Director
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.130(m) · Violation corrected
Health Requirements for Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 551564 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jun 2024 Monitoring visit 4 findings
Monitoring visit · June 24, 2024
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(2) · Violation corrected
Background Checks for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(3) · Violation corrected
Outdoor Play Area
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.390(i) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 551564 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
May 2023 Monitoring visit 14 findings
Monitoring visit · May 1, 2023
Personnel Records
5 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (e)(5) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(e)(4) · 407.120(e)(5)
General Requirements for Personnel
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(1) through (7) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(1) · 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(c)(7)
Staffing Structure
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(2) · Violation corrected
Background Checks for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected
Qualifications for Early Childhood Teachers and School-age Workers
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.140(c)(3) · Violation corrected
Qualifications for Early Childhood Assistants and School-age Assistants
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.150(b) · Violation corrected
Nutrition and Meal Service
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.330(l)(1) · Violation corrected
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(n) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 551564 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jul 2020 Monitoring visit 4 findings
Monitoring visit · July 16, 2020
Personnel Records
4 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (f)(2) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(f)(2)
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 551564 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jun 2017 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · June 27, 2017
Guidance and Discipline
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.270(a) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 551564 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
May 2017 Monitoring visit 5 findings
Monitoring visit · May 10, 2017
Organization and Administration
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(b) through (e) · Violation corrected on site
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(b) · 407.70(e)
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(1) · Violation corrected on site
Qualifications for Child Care Director
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.130(a) · Violation corrected on site
Health Requirements for Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(6) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 551564 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
How the comparison is built
Routine visits: across Chicago-area centers, the state cites something at about 5 in 6 routine visits (19,088 visits).
Details
- Website
- littlescholarsjourney.com
- Address
- 3310 S Archer Ave Unit E
- License
- license issued (il)
Do you run Little Scholars Journey? Shortlist has no hours, ratios or policies for it, because the state does not publish that. Adding it is free and takes about ten minutes.
Add what is missingSources 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 littlescholarsjourney.com
Who cares for your child
Who cares for your child
State record
Every state visit and complaint on file, shown in full and never edited. Open a date to read what the state wrote.
Details
- Phone, Address, License — Checked July 2026 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "LITTLE SCHOLARS JOURNEY" under Provider Name and 60608 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 551564).
- Website — Checked August 2026 littlescholarsjourney.com