Sunnyvale · Licensed center
Creative Explorers
A play-based center in Sunnyvale, licensed for 45 children. Run by the person who holds the license. Darcy (Owner) has been there since 2009.
Medium center. Medium means the middle half of Bay Area’s 439 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 31 to 75 children. Small is 8 to 30; large is 76 to 312.
Who runs it: from ccld.dss.ca.gov.
How they teach
Play-based
“Our curriculum is approved by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and follows a structured play-based approach instead of an academic approach.”In their words. creative-explorers-dymy.squarespace.com, July 2026
One of 82 Bay Area providers that describe a play-based approach, out of 164 that describe any approach at all.
Who cares for your child
Ratio not published
Darcy (Owner) since 2009 and Annie (Operational Manager) since 2009.
Of 905 Bay Area providers, 29 publish how long a named staff member has been there; the longest tenure at each of those has a median of sixteen years.
Shortlist doesn’t have these yet: cost, hours and late pickup, a typical day, sick and biting policies.
What the state has found
Routine visits: 1 of 3 cited something
Across Bay Area centers, the state cites something at about 1 in 4 routine visits (2,260 visits). Three visits are too few to read as a pattern.
From California CDSS Community Care Licensing’s published reports, last checked September 25, 2026.
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — California CDSS Community Care Licensing
- Last visit
- January 8, 2026
- On file
- 3 visits since March 2022 — 2 cited nothing · 3 complaint investigations
- Most serious
- Type B —
(3) Prescription medications may be administered if all of the following conditions are met: (A) Prescription medications shall be administered in accordance with the label directions as prescribed by the child's physician. This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on LPA and LPM observations and records review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above in Child # 1, Child # 2 and Child # 3, medications were expired which poses a potential health, safety risk to persons in care.
· January 8, 2026
California CDSS publishes the full investigation narrative for a complaint, including its disposition, and classifies a citation Type A — an immediate risk to a child — or Type B.
Jan 2026 Licensing visit 1 finding
Licensing visit · January 8, 2026
CCR 101226(e)(3)(A) · Type B
(3) Prescription medications may be administered if all of the following conditions are met: (A) Prescription medications shall be administered in accordance with the label directions as prescribed by the child's physician. This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on LPA and LPM observations and records review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above in Child # 1, Child # 2 and Child # 3, medications were expired which poses a potential health, safety risk to persons in care.
Sep 2024 Complaint Unsubstantiated
Complaint · September 16, 2024
Unsubstantiated
ALLEGATION(S): Staff does not ensure proper supervision resulting in day care child being injured by another child Staff are not intervening in inappropriate interactions between the day care children INVESTIGATION FINDINGS: Licensing Program Analyst (LPA) Mel Matos met with Ann Doan, Teacher, for an unannounced follow up complaint investigation. Purpose of today's investigation: Deliver investigation findings. Based on interviews, observations, record reviews, and evidence gathered during the investigation process, it is concluded that although the allegations noted on this complaint may have happened or is valid, there is not a preponderance of evidence to prove that the alleged violations did or did not occur. The allegation is thus UNSUBSTANTIATED. Exit interview conducted and report was reviewed with the Teacher, A.D. No deficiencies issued. A notice of site visit was given and must remain posted for 30 days. Unsubstantiated Estimated Days of Completion:
Individual employees are shown by initials. The state’s report, linked above, names them in full.
Aug 2024 Complaint 2 findings
Complaint · August 8, 2024
CCR 101212(g) · Type B
Reporting Requirements: The items specified in (d)(1)(E) through (G) above shall also be reported to the local health officer when appropriate pursuant to Title 17, California Code of Regulations, Title 17, Section 2500. This requirement was not met as evidenced by: Facility had four staff (teachers) test positive for COVID between July 26, 2024 and August 7, 2024 & the Facility did not report the epidemic outbreak to the local health officer. This presents a potential risk to the health, safety, or personal rights of children in care.
CCR 101212(d)(1)(E) · Type B
Reporting Requirements: Upon the occurrence, during the operation of the child care center of any of the events specified in (d)(1) below, a report shall be made to the Department by telephone or fax within the Department's next working day and during its normal business hours. In addition, a written report containing the information specified in (d)(2) below shall be submitted to the Department within seven days following the occurrence of such event. Events reported shall include the following: Epidemic outbreaks. This requirement was not met as evidenced by: Facility had four staff (teachers) test positive for COVID between July 26, 2024 and August 7, 2024 & the Facility did not report the epidemic outbreak to the Dept. This presents a potential risk to the health, safety, or personal rights of children in care.
Details
- Phone
- (408) 685-2863
- Address
- 604 E. Evelyn Ave.
- License
- 434414100, active
- Established
- 2009
Do you run Creative Explorers? Shortlist has no tuition, hours or ratios for it, because the state does not publish that. Add what is missing. It is free and takes about ten minutes.
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 July 2026 · creative-explorers-dymy.squarespace.com
Who cares for your child
State record
Every state visit and complaint on file, shown in full and never edited. Open a date to read what the state wrote.
The state’s licensing transparency data reports 2 complaint-related visit(s) to this facility, while 2 complaint investigation report(s) are published on the transparency portal. State complaint counts: substantiated=2, inconclusive=0, unsubstantiated=2, unfounded=CONFIDENTIAL, Type A citations=0, Type B citations=2. The state publishes no further detail for the difference.
Details
- Phone, Address, License — Checked July 2026 · ccld.dss.ca.gov
- Website — Checked July 2026 · creative-explorers-dymy.squarespace.com
- Established — Checked July 2026 · creative-explorers-dymy.squarespace.com
- Who runs it — Checked September 2026 · ccld.dss.ca.gov