Joliet · Licensed center
Mary Sears Children's Academy
- Medium center, licensed for 116 children.
- Shortlist has found no website for it yet.
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.
Shortlist doesn’t have these yet: cost, hours and late pickup, teaching approach, ratios and staff, a typical day, sick and biting policies.
What the state has found
Routine visits: 7 of 10 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
- August 8, 2025
- On file
- 10 visits since July 2010 — 3 cited nothing
- Fixed?
- The latest correction deadline was September 7, 2025. 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.
Aug 2025 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · August 8, 2025
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(f) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 490392 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jul 2019 Monitoring visit 11 findings
Monitoring visit · July 30, 2019
General Requirements for Personnel
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) through (7) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(c)(6) · 407.100(c)(7)
Personnel Records
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (4) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4)
Provisions Pertaining to the License
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.60(g) · Violation corrected
Staffing Structure
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(5) · Violation corrected
Health Requirements for Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(4) · Violation corrected
Cited: FHSEC305
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
Cited: CCASEC4
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 490392 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jul 2018 Monitoring visit 8 findings
Monitoring visit · July 10, 2018
Health Requirements for Children
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(4) through (6) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(4) · 407.310(a)(6)
Organization and Administration
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(b) · Violation corrected
Staffing Structure
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(5) · Violation corrected
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(6) · Violation corrected
Background Checks for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(f) · Violation corrected
Cited: FHSEC305
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 490392 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Aug 2017 Monitoring visit 15 findings
Monitoring visit · August 22, 2017
General Requirements for Personnel
4 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)(6) · 407.100(c)(7)
Personnel Records
4 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (6) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(a)(6)
Staffing Structure
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(2) through (5) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(2) · 407.90(a)(3) · 407.90(a)(5)
Organization and Administration
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(b) through (e) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(b) · 407.70(e)
Background Checks for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected
Cited: FHSEC305
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 490392 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Aug 2016 Monitoring visit 10 findings
Monitoring visit · August 10, 2016
General Requirements for Personnel
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) through (7) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(c)(6) · 407.100(c)(7)
Personnel Records
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (4) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4)
Staffing Structure
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(1) through (3) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(1) · 407.90(a)(3)
Background Checks for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected
Qualifications for Early Childhood Assistants and School-age Assistants
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.150(c) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 490392 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Feb 2015 Monitoring visit 5 findings
Monitoring visit · February 20, 2015
Personnel Records
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a) through (3) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a) · 407.120(a)(3)
Qualifications for Early Childhood Teachers and School-age Workers
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.140(h) · Violation corrected
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(d) · Violation corrected
Napping and Sleeping
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.350(j) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 490392 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jul 2010 Monitoring visit 5 findings
Monitoring visit · July 21, 2010
Health Requirements for Children
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(h) through (i)(1) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(h) · 407.310(i)(1)
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(d) · Violation corrected
Nutrition and Meal Service
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.330(i) · Violation corrected
Napping and Sleeping
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.350(j) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 490392 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
- Address
- 300 Caterpillar Dr
- License
- license issued (il)
Do you run Mary Sears Children's Academy? Shortlist has no tuition, hours or ratios 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.
All checked August 2026.
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 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "MARY SEARS CHILDREN'S ACADEMY" under Provider Name and 60436 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 490392).