Alliance Center For Education At Brightwalk

Center · Charlotte · 1240 Badger Court

What kind of place is this?

Size 74 children licensed In the middle half for Charlotte centers, where the middle half licenses 50–162. Measured across 598 Charlotte centers, 2026-08-17.
Established 1940
Approach play-based

In the program’s own words

“learning through creative play” ac4ed.org, July 2026

Who runs it

Ownership Non-profit Registered 501(c)(3), EIN 56-0543244 — IRS Exempt Organization file, matched to the licensee North Carolina DCDEE names. ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov

How this compares

North Carolina DCDEE cited something at 6 of the 15 visits below. Across Charlotte centers it cites something at about 57% of visits. Each state decides what gets written up, so this compares Charlotte with Charlotte and never with another state.

Who will be with our child?

Will it fit our family?

Ages served ages 3 to 5 years old

What will it cost us?

This provider does not publish pricing.

What Shortlist has verified

State quality rating Five Star License
License status Active
Website ac4ed.org

State record — North Carolina DCDEE

Last visit
February 25, 2026
On file
15 visits since August 2023 — 9 cited nothing, 6 of those unannounced
Fixed?
All 25 record a correction, in the licensor’s own words.
Most serious
North Carolina DCDEE does not publish a severity level for a citation, so there is no most-serious to name.

North Carolina DCDEE describes every citation in the licensor’s own words and records the correction in that same text — the only one of the six states that publishes whether a violation was fixed. It attaches no rule number and no report document.

Feb 2026 Unannounced visit 4 findings

Unannounced visit · February 25, 2026

When medication was administered, documentation was not completed or maintained for 6 months and/or the documentation did not include the required information. The medication log indicated epinephrine at the top of the form. Staff administered Benadryl to the child and documented the information on the form for epinephrine.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 2/25/2026

Before children were transported, written permission from a parent was not obtained that included when and where the child was to be transported, expected time of departure and arrival, and the transportation provider. The permission for routine transport that was on file did not include when and where the child was to be transported, expected time of departure and arrival, and the transportation provider.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/6/2026

Parent’s statement includes the child’s name and date of enrollment and the date the parent signed the statement. One (1) child, N.I., had a signed discipline on file that did not include the date of enrollment.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 2/25/2026

Application for enrollment did not include all required information. One (1) child, N.I., had an application on file that did not include information about the child's fears and behavior characteristics.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 2/27/2026

DCDEE facility lookup

Oct 2025 Unannounced visit 2 findings

Unannounced visit · October 8, 2025

Prescribed medicine was not in original labeled container or accompanied by signed and dated written instructions from prescribing physician or health care professional. In Space 5 there was a box of Albuterol that did not have a prescription attached.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/22/2025

Medication authorization, giving the caregiver standing authorization did not meet the specifications in rule. In Space 4 two (2) over-the-counter (OTC) medications were provided by the parent and included on the MAP and authorization. One (1) OTC stated for children 6 -12 years of age and one (1) OTC stated for children 12 years of age and older. The child was four (4) years old. There was no prescription or statement signed by the doctor stating the dosage was appropriate for a child under the ages listed on the box. An authorization was not completed for a child's Zytrec in Space 5.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/22/2025

DCDEE facility lookup

Aug 2025 Announced visit nothing cited
May 2025 Unannounced visit 2 findings

Unannounced visit · May 30, 2025

All staff did not successfully complete certification in First Aid appropriate to the age of children in care. Verification of staff completion of First Aid training from an approved training organization was not in the staff file. The First Aid certification expired March 2025 for one (1) staff member who transported children on the bus.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 6/11/2025

All staff did not successfully complete certification in CPR training appropriate to the age of the children in care. Verification of staff completion of the CPR course from an approved training organization was not in the staff file. The CPR certification expired March 2025 for one (1) staff member who transported children on the bus.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 6/11/2025

DCDEE facility lookup

Mar 2025 Unannounced visit 10 findings

Unannounced visit · March 4, 2025

The operator did not notify the parent of each child enrolled in writing of the smoking and tobacco restriction. Two (2) Meck Pre-K children did not have documentation of receiving the smoking and tobacco restriction policy.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/17/2025

A summary of the NC Child Care Law was not given to a parent of every child enrolled in the center. Two (2) children enrolled in Meck Pre-K did not have documentation of receiving NC Child Care Law for review.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/17/2025

Incident logs were not completed and maintained as required. Incident reports were observed in classrooms from January and February 2025. The incident reports were not documented in the incident log. There was no documentation in the incident log.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/17/2025

Monthly playground inspections were not completed and/or they were not completed by an individual trained in playground safety requirements. Documentation of January and February 2025 playground inspections were not available for review.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/17/2025

Prior to the expiration date of the qualification letter, the child care provider did not complete and submit required forms to complete a criminal background check (a qualification letter is valid for a maximum of five years for the date of issuance). An employee's CBC letter expired 12/31/24 and was renewed 1/7/25.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/17/2025

All staff did not successfully complete certification in First Aid appropriate to the age of children in care. Verification of staff completion of First Aid training from an approved training organization was not in the staff file. Two (2) staff's First Aid training expired 9/7/24 and was renewed 12/12/24.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/17/2025

All staff did not successfully complete certification in CPR training appropriate to the age of the children in care. Verification of staff completion of the CPR course from an approved training organization was not in the staff file. Two (2) staff's CPR expired 9/7/24 and was renewed 12/12/24.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/17/2025

Emergency information record did not include chronic illness and any medication taken for the illness. Benadryl was listed on a child's medical action plan and the Benadryl was not onsite.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/17/2025

Parent’s statement includes the child’s name and date of enrollment and the date the parent signed the statement. The date of enrollment was not listed on five (5) child discipline policies.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/17/2025

A valid qualification letter was not on file and available to review at the facility. Two (2) staff did not have the renewed qualification letter on file for review.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/17/2025

DCDEE facility lookup

Aug 2024 Announced visit nothing cited
Aug 2024 Announced visit nothing cited
Mar 2024 Unannounced visit 5 findings

Unannounced visit · March 13, 2024

A safe indoor and outdoor environment was not provided for the children. A child diagnosed with a chronic condition did not have required medication listed on the medical action plan onsite. Benadryl was indicated as an additional medication.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/15/2024

Medications including prescription and non-prescription items were not stored in a locked cabinet or other locked container. A bottle of Motrin was stored in the sling bag with other emergency medications. The sling bag was observed stored above 5 feet and unlocked.

Violation corrected during visit

The medical action plan was not updated on an annual basis or when changes to the plan were made by the child's parent or health care professional. A child's MAP expired 11/7/23.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/19/2024

Medication authorization, giving the caregiver standing authorization did not meet the specifications in rule. One (1) child's permission expired 3/11/24 and was corrected during the visit. One (1) child's permission expired 3/8/24.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/15/2024

The child care administrator and all staff did not complete the Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment training within 90 days of employment. One (1) new employee hired 9/12/23 completed maltreatment training on 1/12/24.

Violation corrected during visit

DCDEE facility lookup

Mar 2024 Unannounced visit nothing cited
Feb 2024 Unannounced visit nothing cited
Jan 2024 Unannounced visit nothing cited
Dec 2023 Unannounced visit nothing cited
Oct 2023 Unannounced visit nothing cited
Sep 2023 Unannounced visit nothing cited
Aug 2023 Unannounced visit 2 findings

Unannounced visit · August 30, 2023

Parent’s statement includes the child’s name and date of enrollment and the date the parent signed the statement. The enrollment date was not included on the parent signed statement for J.B., M.H., and K.C.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 8/30/2023

Shelter-in-place or lockdown drills were not practiced every three months and/or drill record was incomplete. The shelter-in-place drill was practice in December 2022, and again April 2023.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 8/30/2023

DCDEE facility lookup

Before you tour

Alliance Center For Education At Brightwalk hasn’t published

Cost, hours and late pickup, a typical day, sick and biting policies.

Ask which of these findings were serious.North Carolina DCDEE records the correction in its own words, but never says how serious it was.

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.

What kind of place is this

Who runs it

Who will be with our child

Not yet reported: children per teacher.

Will it fit our family

  • Ages served — Checked July 2026 · ac4ed.org

Not yet reported: hours, days / week, schedule, holiday closures.

Licensing and contact

State record

Every state visit and complaint on file, shown in full and never edited. Open a date to read what the state wrote.

Do you run Alliance Center For Education At Brightwalk? 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.