Wheeling · Licensed center

The Learning Experience

Large center, licensed for 130 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: 5 of 6 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: September 10, 2026
On file: 6 visits since February 2022 — 1 cited nothing
Fixed?: The latest correction deadline was April 8, 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.

Sep 2026 Compliance monitoring visit nothing cited

Mar 2026 Monitoring visit 20 findings

Monitoring visit · March 9, 2026

General Requirements for Personnel

6 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) through (f) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(c)(6) · 407.100(c)(7) · 407.100(c)(8) · 407.100(d) · 407.100(f)

Enrollment and Discharge Procedures

4 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(d) through (i)(2) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(d) · 407.250(i)(1) · 407.250(i)(1)(g) · 407.250(i)(2)

Health Requirements for Children

4 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(1) through (10) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(1) · 407.310(a)(5) · 407.310(a)(6) · 407.310(a)(10)

Personnel Records

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4) through (6) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(a)(6)

Organization and Administration

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e) · Violation corrected

Cited: CCASEC4

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

Cited: CCASEC7

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

Cited: FHSEC305

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

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 596319 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Feb 2025 Monitoring visit 4 findings

Monitoring visit · February 26, 2025

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)

General Requirements for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(7) · Violation corrected

Cited: CCASEC4

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

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 596319 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Apr 2024 Monitoring visit 13 findings

Monitoring visit · April 24, 2024

General Requirements for Personnel

4 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) through (f) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(c)(6) · 407.100(c)(8) · 407.100(f)

Personnel Records

3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) through (6) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(a)(6)

Health Requirements for Children

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(5) through (6) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(5) · 407.310(a)(6)

Organization and Administration

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e) · Violation corrected

Guidance and Discipline

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.270(a) · 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 596319 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Apr 2023 Monitoring visit 3 findings

Monitoring visit · April 17, 2023

Personnel Records

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) · Violation corrected

Diapering and Toileting Procedures

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

Cited: CCASEC4

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

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 596319 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 25, 2022

General Requirements for Personnel

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(6) through (7) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(6) · 407.100(c)(7)

Organization and Administration

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(i) · Violation corrected

Personnel Records

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(6) · Violation corrected

Enrollment and Discharge Procedures

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(i)(4)(a) · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 596319 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

8477771212

Address: 343 W Dundee Rd
License: license issued (il)
Chain: The Learning ExperienceSource: thelearningexperience.com
Owner: The Learning Experience brand is owned by Harvest Partners, a private-equity firm. Most of its schools are owned by franchisees.The private-equity firm Harvest Partners lists The Learning Experience as a current investment, made in July 2025, and describes it as a franchisor and operator of early childhood education schools. So a single center may be run by a franchisee or by the company. harvestpartners.com

Do you run The Learning Experience? 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.

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 August 2026 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE" under Provider Name and 60090 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 596319).
Chain — Checked September 2026 thelearningexperience.com
Owner — Checked September 2026 prnewswire.com