Lockport · Licensed center

Mary Sears Childrens Academy

Large center, licensed for 162 children.
Shortlist has found no website for it yet.

What these mean, and where they come from

Large means the biggest quarter of Chicago-area’s 1,949 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 119 to 487 children. Small is 8 to 48; medium is 49 to 118.

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: 8 of 8 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: May 21, 2024
On file: 8 visits since March 2017 — all of them cited findings
Fixed?: The latest correction deadline was July 15, 2024. 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.

May 2024 Monitoring visit 5 findings

Monitoring visit · May 21, 2024

Napping and Sleeping

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.350(b)(1) through (j) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.350(b)(1) · 407.350(j)

Background Checks for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected

Special Requirements for Infants and Toddlers

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.210(f)(24) · Violation corrected

Physical Plant/Indoor Space

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(d)(3) · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 554086 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Jan 2024 Monitoring visit 2 findings

Monitoring visit · January 30, 2024

Health Requirements for Children

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a) · Violation corrected

Physical Plant/Indoor Space

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(f)(3) · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 554086 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Feb 2023 Monitoring visit 8 findings

Monitoring visit · February 7, 2023

Qualifications for Child Care Director

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.130(k)(1) through (m) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.130(k)(1) · 407.130(m)

Physical Plant/Indoor Space

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(f)(1) through (t)(2) · Violation corrected on site

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(f)(1) · 407.370(t)(2)

General Requirements for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(d) · Violation corrected

Health Requirements for Children

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(d) · Violation corrected

Diapering and Toileting Procedures

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.340(a)(5) · Violation corrected on site

Outdoor Play Area

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.390(f) · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 554086 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Feb 2022 Monitoring visit 2 findings

Monitoring visit · February 22, 2022

Personnel Records

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) through (4) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4)

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 554086 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Feb 2022 Monitoring visit 5 findings

Monitoring visit · February 4, 2022

General Requirements for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(8) · 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(a)(4) · Violation corrected

Daily Arrival and Departure of Children

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(d) · Violation corrected on site

Cited: FHSEC305

0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 554086 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Feb 2018 Monitoring visit 1 finding

Monitoring visit · February 1, 2018

General Requirements for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 554086 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Jul 2017 Monitoring visit 13 findings

Monitoring visit · July 21, 2017

Physical Plant/Indoor Space

6 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(6) through (f)(3) · Violation corrected · Violation corrected on site

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(6) · 407.370(e)(7) · 407.370(f)(1)(a) · 407.370(f)(1)(b) · 407.370(f)(2) · 407.370(f)(3)

Transportation

3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.280(t)(2) through (4) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.280(t)(2) · 407.280(t)(3) · 407.280(t)(4)

Nutrition and Meal Service

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.330(g)(1) through (i) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.330(g)(1) · 407.330(i)

Program Requirements for All Ages

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.200(d)(3) · Violation corrected

Hand Washing

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.320(a)(1) · Violation corrected on site

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 554086 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Mar 2017 Monitoring visit 1 finding

Monitoring visit · March 28, 2017

Personnel Records

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(5) · Violation corrected on site

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 554086 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

8155523582

Address: 16151 S Farrell Rd
License: license issued (il)

Do you run Mary Sears Childrens 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 missing

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.

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 CHILDRENS ACADEMY" under Provider Name and 60441 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 554086).