Aurora · Licensed center
Smart Beginnings Academy Inc.
A center in Aurora, licensed for 136 children. The state cited something at 5 of 8 routine visits (Chicago-area centers: about 5 in 6). Shortlist has found no website for it yet.
Large center. 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: 5 of 8 cited something
Across Chicago-area centers, the state cites something at about 5 in 6 routine visits (19,088 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
- March 12, 2026
- On file
- 8 visits since April 2022 — 3 cited nothing
- Fixed?
- The latest correction deadline was April 11, 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.
Mar 2026 Monitoring visit 2 findings
Monitoring visit · March 12, 2026
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(f) · Violation corrected
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 607229 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Mar 2024 Monitoring visit 2 findings
Monitoring visit · March 21, 2024
Personnel Records
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (3) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3)
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 607229 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Feb 2023 Monitoring visit 5 findings
Monitoring visit · February 28, 2023
Medications
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.360(c) through (e) · Violation substantiated
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.360(c) · 407.360(e)
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(d) · Violation substantiated
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(e) · Violation substantiated
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(1) · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 607229 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jun 2022 Monitoring visit 9 findings
Monitoring visit · June 29, 2022
Personnel Records
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (3) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3)
Provisions Pertaining to the License
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.60(g) · Violation corrected
Organization and Administration
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(k) · Violation corrected
Staffing Structure
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(2) · Violation corrected
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · Violation corrected
Grouping and Staffing
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.190(d)(4) · Violation corrected
Nutrition and Meal Service
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.330(j)(5) · Violation corrected
Medications
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.360(d)(1) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 607229 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Apr 2022 Monitoring visit 5 findings
Monitoring visit · April 26, 2022
Personnel Records
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (5) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(5)
Staffing Structure
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(2) · Violation corrected
Health Requirements for Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(6) · Violation corrected
Cited: CCASEC4
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 607229 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Details
- Phone
- 6302296195
- Address
- 1555 Mesa Ln
- License
- license issued (il)
Do you run Smart Beginnings Academy Inc.? Shortlist has no tuition, hours or ratios for it, because the state does not publish that. Add what is missing. It is free and takes about ten minutes.
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 "SMART BEGINNINGS ACADEMY INC." under Provider Name and 60502 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 607229).