Chicago · Licensed center
The Trails School Inc
At a glance
- Medium Reggio Emilia–inspired center, licensed for 82 children.
- Hours 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 5 days a week.
- Tuition Infant $2,965, toddler $2,835, preschool $2,650 a month, full time. See costs
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 1 of its 5 licensing inspections since June 2018.
See each inspection
Licensing inspections
- Aug 26, 2025Nothing cited
- Mar 24, 2025Nothing cited
- Mar 30, 2023Nothing cited
- Feb 24, 2022Nothing cited
Jun 26, 20182 citations
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(c)(7)
Outdoor Play Area
Outdoor Play Area
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.390(i)(1)
The state cited rules at 1 of this center's 5 inspections. Most Chicago-area centers inspected 5 times had more: 94% of 127 had rules cited at 2 or more.
How all 127 Chicago-area centers inspected 5 times compare
Of the 127 Chicago-area centers the state inspected 5 times, how many of those inspections cited a rule:
- 1 of 56%This center
- 2 of 56%
- 3 of 512%
- 4 of 528%
- All 547%
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — Illinois DCFS
- Last visit
- August 26, 2025
- On file
- 5 visits since June 2018 — 4 cited nothing
- Fixed?
- Correction was due July 5, 2018. 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 2018 Monitoring visit 2 findings
Monitoring visit · June 26, 2018
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(c)(7) · Violation corrected
Outdoor Play Area
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.390(i)(1) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 564257 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
What it costs
The Trails School IncMost Chicago-area prices (middle 80%)
Monthly, full time. The band is the middle 80% of Chicago-area full-time prices for that age; 17 infant, 21 toddler and 18 preschool programs publish one.
- Part time
- $1,320 to $2,105 a month
- Application fee
- $75
- Deposit
- $150, not refundable
A day here
7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 5 days a week
Meals, outdoors, diapers and one more
- Meals
- Lunch and snacks provided, including organic produce and milk from Healthy Organic Kids; nut-free facility
- Outdoors
- Private nature-based playground with daily outdoor exploration time
- Diapers
- Diapers and wipes provided, included in tuition
- Schedule
- Full-day and half-day programs, with 5-day, 3-day (M/W/F), and 2-day (T/Th) schedules
How they teach
Reggio Emilia–inspired, emergent curriculum and play-based
“Discover our play-based, emergent curriculum for ages 6 weeks–6 years.”
Who cares for your child
Jessica Pope Horak (Founder and Director) since 2018.
8 years · Chicago-area median 16, among 26 that publish
Details
- Phone
- (312) 878-7970
- Address
- 1207 N Cleveland Ave, Chicago, 60610
- Established
- 2018
We couldn’t find some information that may matter to your decision: openings, child care subsidies, sick and biting policies, and who owns it. 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.
How they teach
- Approach — Checked August 2026 trailsschool.com/our-program
- Approach — Checked August 2026 trailsschool.com/philosophy
Who cares for your child
- Staff trailsschool.com
What it costs
- Infant, Toddler, Preschool, Second price, Application fee, Deposit — Checked August 2026 trailsschool.com
State record
From Illinois DCFS’s published reports, last checked November 8, 2026.
A day here
- Meals, Outdoors, Hours, Schedule — Checked August 2026 trailsschool.com
- Diapers — Checked August 2026 trailsschool.com
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 TRAILS SCHOOL INC" under Provider Name and 60610 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 564257).
- Website — Checked August 2026 trailsschool.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 TRAILS SCHOOL INC" under Provider Name and 60610 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 564257).
- Established — Checked August 2026 trailsschool.com
Medium means the middle half of Chicago-area’s 1,948 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 49 to 118 children. Small is 8 to 48; large is 119 to 487.
The ages on the license are what the state licenses it to care for, which can be wider than the ages it takes.