Chicago · Licensed center
The Gardner School Of North Center
At a glance
- Large center, licensed for 146 children.
- The Gardner School: owned by Quad Partners and The Vistria Group (private equity).
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 3 of its licensing inspections since July 2024.
See each inspection
Licensing inspections
Jun 25, 20262 citations
Staffing Structure
Staffing Structure
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(d)(1)
General Requirements for Personnel
General Requirements for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5)
Jun 3, 20255 citations
General Requirements for Personnel
General Requirements for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(d)
General Requirements for Personnel
General Requirements for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5)
Background Checks for Personnel
Background Checks for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110
General Requirements for Personnel
General Requirements for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(f)
A citation the state’s report lists only by its code, CCASEC4.
A citation the state’s report lists only by its code, CCASEC4.
Jul 15, 20242 citations
Health Requirements for Children
Health Requirements for Children
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)
A citation the state’s report lists only by its code, CCASEC4.
A citation the state’s report lists only by its code, CCASEC4.
The state cited rules at all 3 of this center's inspections. Most Chicago-area centers inspected 3 times had the same: 57% of 110.
How all 110 Chicago-area centers inspected 3 times compare
Of the 110 Chicago-area centers the state inspected 3 times, how many of those inspections cited a rule:
- None11%
- 1 of 38%
- 2 of 324%
- All 357%This center
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — Illinois DCFS
- Last visit
- June 25, 2026
- On file
- 3 visits since July 2024 — all of them cited findings
- 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 2 findings
Monitoring visit · June 25, 2026
Staffing Structure
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(d)(1) · Violation substantiated
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 630020 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jun 2025 Monitoring visit 5 findings
Monitoring visit · June 3, 2025
General Requirements for Personnel
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) through (f) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(d) · 407.100(f)
Background Checks for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected
A citation the state’s report lists only by its code, CCASEC4.
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 630020 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jul 2024 Monitoring visit 2 findings
Monitoring visit · July 15, 2024
Health Requirements for Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a) · Violation corrected
A citation the state’s report lists only by its code, CCASEC4.
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 630020 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Details
- Phone
- (773) 920-2485
- Address
- 3819 N Western Ave, Chicago, 60618
- Ownership
- For-profit
We couldn’t find some information that may matter to your decision: openings, child care subsidies, cost, hours and late pickup, teaching approach, ratios and staff, a typical day, and sick and biting policies. 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.
State record
From Illinois DCFS’s published reports, last checked November 8, 2026.
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 "THE GARDNER SCHOOL OF NORTH CENTER" under Provider Name and 60618 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 630020).
- Website, Who runs it — Checked October 2026 thegardnerschool.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 "THE GARDNER SCHOOL OF NORTH CENTER" under Provider Name and 60618 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 630020).
- Ownership — Checked October 2026 data.cityofchicago.org
- Who runs it — Checked October 2026 vistria.com
The private-equity firms Quad Partners and The Vistria Group recapitalized The Gardner School in 2023 through a fund set up for that one company, according to their adviser, Lincoln International. Vistria still lists the school among its companies. The school's own site says it is not a franchise. vistria.com
Large means the biggest quarter of Chicago-area’s 1,948 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 119 to 487 children. Small is 8 to 48; medium is 49 to 118.
The ages on the license are what the state licenses it to care for, which can be wider than the ages it takes.