Chicago · Licensed center

Guidepost Montessori Wicker Park

What the state has found

The state cited rules at both of its licensing inspections since October 2019.

Of the 89 Chicago-area centers with 2 licensing inspections, 61% had rules cited at both, as this center did. 13% had none cited.

Licensing inspections

Jun 21, 202211 citations

  • Background Checks for Personnel

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110

  • Personnel Records

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

  • Organization and Administration

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e)

  • Personnel Records

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(e)(4)

7 more from this inspection

  • Staffing Structure

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(5)

  • Personnel Records

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

  • Personnel Records

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

  • Organization and Administration

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(b)

  • Personnel Records

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(1)

  • Personnel Records

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)

  • Personnel Records

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2)

Oct 15, 201911 citations

  • General Requirements for Personnel

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5)

  • General Requirements for Personnel

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(f)

  • Personnel Records

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2)

  • Personnel Records

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

7 more from this inspection

  • Personnel Records

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(b)

  • Health Requirements for Children

    89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(3)

  • Health Requirements for Children

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

  • Health Requirements for Children

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

  • Personnel Records

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

  • A citation the state’s report lists only by its code, CCASEC4.

  • A citation the state’s report lists only by its code, FHSEC305.

Read every record and the state’s reports

State record — Illinois DCFS

Last visit
June 21, 2022
On file
2 visits since October 2019 — both cited findings
Fixed?
The latest correction deadline was July 21, 2022. 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 2022 Monitoring visit 11 findings

Monitoring visit · June 21, 2022

Personnel Records

7 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a) through (e)(4) · Violation substantiated

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a) · 407.120(a)(1) · 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(a)(6) · 407.120(e)(4)

Organization and Administration

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(b) through (e) · Violation substantiated

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(b) · 407.70(e)

Staffing Structure

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(5) · Violation substantiated

Background Checks for Personnel

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

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 562730 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Oct 2019 Monitoring visit 11 findings

Monitoring visit · October 15, 2019

Personnel Records

4 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (b) · Violation substantiated

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(b)

Health Requirements for Children

3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(3) through (6) · Violation substantiated

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(3) · 407.310(a)(5) · 407.310(a)(6)

General Requirements for Personnel

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) through (f) · Violation substantiated

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

A citation the state’s report lists only by its code, CCASEC4.

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

A citation the state’s report lists only by its code, FHSEC305.

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

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 562730 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Openings, child care subsidies, cost, hours and late pickup, teaching approach, ratios and staff, a typical day, and sick and biting policies aren’t on this page.

Details

7736634732

Address
1530 N Damen Ave
License
pending renewal application (rn)
Chain
Guidepost Montessori
Run by
Guidepost Global Education — as of October 2025, may have changed since

Run Guidepost Montessori Wicker Park? Correct or add anything here, free.

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

From Illinois DCFS’s published reports, last checked October 10, 2026.

Details

Guidepost says its schools are run by Guidepost Global Education, a new, independent company formed in spring 2025, before the former operator, Higher Ground Education, filed for bankruptcy, and that none of its schools were part of that Chapter 11 case. On October 28, 2025, Guidepost said 83 schools remained open. It says the company has its own owners but does not name them. guidepostmontessori.com

Medium means the middle half of Chicago-area’s 1,949 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 49 to 118 children. Small is 8 to 48; large is 119 to 487.