Child was ‘slammed down’ at NC daycare with history of violations, state reports say
A North Carolina daycare flagged for dozens of violations in recent years received another bad report on July 23, when state inspectors said a child was mishandled by a teacher.
Details reported from the N.C. Division of Child Development and Early Education’s (DCD) July 23 visit to Apple Tree Academies in Clemmons said that a “child was handled roughly” in a video taken July 16.
In “the classroom for 4 and 5 year olds, at approximately 09:04:26, a child was observed being slammed down into a chair by the teacher,” the violation report said.
According to television station WXII, which first reported on the violation, the site director responded to a request for comment by saying, “No comment, and this is incorrect.”
The violation marked the 22nd one issued to the daycare on Twin Brook Drive since 2016, according to DCD report history.
All violations were either corrected during the visits or within a couple weeks, the reports show. The most recent violation was “confirmed corrected by letter received from provider” on Thursday, the visit report said. The report did not specify what corrective action was taken.
The DCD, according to its website “has issued one or more administrative actions for this facility in the past three years.”
Eight other violations, mostly related to housekeeping, have been recorded at Apple Tree Academies’ Clemmons location this year, during DCD visits on March 28 and Feb. 23.
A report from a July 7, 2017 visit said not every child was treated in a “nurturing and appropriate manner” and that “a staff member sprayed a soapy water mixture toward a three-year-old child.”
Among a dozen violations reported on March 30, 2017, officials said expired medication had been administered and that prescription medicine was not stored in its original container. They also reported the temperature was 57 degrees in an infant room refrigerator, when it should have been 45 degrees or colder.
On a visit two days earlier, March 28, 2017, DCD cited safety issues related to a 2-year-old who “was able to get their head inside of a support beam resulting in serious injury to the child.”
Visit details from Dec. 15, 2016 said infants were able to share toys that had been in the mouths of others. And during a May 24, 2016 visit, officials said they found dirty bathrooms, and that the 4-year-olds bathroom smelled strongly of urine.
On its website, Apple Tree Academies describes itself as “a small, family owned group of childcare centers with over 40-years of history and experience.”
The company lists eight North Carolina school locations on its website, including two in Clayton, two in High Point, and locations in Archdale, Greensboro and Morehead City.
“Good enough is never good enough and the company is always in an improvement and upgrade mode for every aspect of operation and facility management,” the site says.
This story was originally published August 4, 2018 at 11:37 AM.