Kiddie Academy Of Lake Norman

Center · Mooresville · 665 River Highway

What kind of place is this?

Size 178 children licensed Larger than the middle half of Charlotte centers, where the middle half licenses 50–162. Measured across 598 Charlotte centers, 2026-08-17.

Who runs it

Ownership For-profit North Carolina DCDEE names a limited company as the licensee, and it is not in the IRS register of tax-exempt organisations. ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov
Chain Kiddie Academy
Owner Essential Brands, Inc. Kiddie Academy is a franchise brand of Essential Brands, Inc.; individual academies are franchisee-owned. Per the company’s own site. kiddieacademy.com

Kiddie Academy runs 5 licensed locations in Charlotte.

How this compares

North Carolina DCDEE cited something at 6 of the 12 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.

Will it fit our family?

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

What will it cost us?

This provider does not publish pricing.

What Shortlist has verified

State quality rating Three Star License
License status Active

State record — North Carolina DCDEE

Last visit
July 28, 2026
On file
12 visits since April 2025 — 6 cited nothing, 4 of those unannounced
Fixed?
All 22 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.

Jul 2026 Unannounced visit nothing cited
Jul 2026 Unannounced visit 1 finding

Unannounced visit · July 22, 2026

Enhanced staff/child ratios and group sizes were not met. On 7/13/26, one (1) staff member was observed caring for ten (10) children, two (2) years of age in the multipurpose room. On 7/15/26, one (1) staff member was observed caring for eighteen (18) children, two (2) years of age on the playground. On 7/21/26, one (1) staff member was observed caring for eight (8) children, one (1) years of age. On 7/21/26, one (1) staff member was observed caring for eleven (11) children, two years of age.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 8/3/2026

DCDEE facility lookup

Mar 2026 Unannounced visit 11 findings

Unannounced visit · March 19, 2026

A summary of the NC Child Care Law was not given to a parent of every child enrolled in the center. Seven children's files did not contain sign a statement attesting that he or she received a copy of the summary before the child's enrollment.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/31/2026

Children three years old and older were in care and the schedule did not include blocks of time assigned to types of activities, including active play, quiet play or rest. Space 6 did not have a daily schedule posted.

Violation corrected during visit

Sand and water play activities were not available weekly to each group. In space 7, sand was not offered to children.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/31/2026

For children under three years of age, materials were not made available to children on a daily basis. In space 3, the dramatic play center did not contain materials.

Violation corrected during visit

All equipment and furnishings were not in good repair. In space 6 and space 7, books were torn, missing pages, not in good repair.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/31/2026

Parent's medication authorization did not include required information. In space 6, a child's permission to administer emergency medication form expired 12/9/25.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/31/2026

The EMC plan was not reviewed with all staff annually and whenever the plan was revised. The emergency medical care plan has not been revised as staff are no longer employed.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/31/2026

Medical exam or health assessment record was not on file before or within 30 days after admission. A child with the date of birth 10/21/21 and 8/8/25 did not have medical reports on file for review.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 4/20/2026

A child care operator did not notify the Division of any new child care providers, as defined in G.S. 110-90.2(a)(2), who were hired or moved into the child care facility within five business days. The facility has not created the roster within the ABCMS portal.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 4/20/2026

A child's file did not have a statement with parent signature acknowledging receipt and explanation of the Prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma policy and/or the acknowledgement did not have all the required information. A child with the date of birth 11/21/23 did not have a signed shaken baby policy.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/31/2026

15A NCAC 18A .2804(i) A water bottle that a child brings to the child care center from home and that is used only for water consumption by that child shall be exempt from the requirements of Paragraph (h) of this Rule. Instead, the water bottle shall be labeled with the name of the child to whom the water bottle belongs, individually stored in the child's cubby, and sent home with the child at the end of the day. Children's water bottles were stored collectively in classrooms throughout the facility.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 3/31/2026

DCDEE facility lookup

Feb 2026 Unannounced visit nothing cited
Nov 2025 Unannounced visit nothing cited
Nov 2025 Announced visit nothing cited
Oct 2025 Unannounced visit 2 findings

Unannounced visit · October 14, 2025

Human milk, formula and other bottled beverages including sippy cups, sent from child's home were not fully prepared, dated, and labeled for the appropriate child. There were two bottles in the refrigerator located in the room that serves infant aged children that were not labeled and dated.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/31/2025

Center staff did not comply with the safe sleep policy. The children will be checked every 15 minutes and staff will document the information is listed on the safe sleep policy. There was an infant aged child observed sleeping at 11:31. The last time the child was monitored was documented on the safe sleep log at 11:10.

Violation corrected during visit

DCDEE facility lookup

Oct 2025 Unannounced visit nothing cited
Sep 2025 Unannounced visit 3 findings

Unannounced visit · September 30, 2025

Caregiver did not respond at the earliest opportunity to an infant or toddler’s physical and emotional needs. As reviewed on video footage, staff did not respond at the earliest opportunity to multiple children that showed emotional needs on various occasions.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/3/2025

A child was handled in a rough way, including shaking, pushing, shoving, pinching, slapping, biting, kicking, or spanking. As reviewed on video footage, staff members were observed picking infant children up without supporting their bodies, sliding children on the floor by their feet, pulling a child backwards by the back of their pants, and holding a child up by their leg as their head rested on their arm.

Violation confirmed corrected by follow-up visit made by consultant on 10/6/2025

A violation was found for which there is no item number. Sanitation Rule 15A NCAC 18A.2822(a)(1-4) regarding toys, equipment, and furniture. A staff member was observed picking up infant bottles by the nipple using their bare hand and a staff member was observed picking a bottle that had been laying on the floor and placing it in a child's mouth.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/3/2025

DCDEE facility lookup

Aug 2025 Unannounced visit 2 findings

Unannounced visit · August 29, 2025

Parent's medication authorization did not include required information. Space one had a form for Aveeno that did not include the amount to be used, a form for Butt Paste that listed "as needed" as the amount instead of a specific amount to be used and had a form for Aquaphor that listed the amount of the container instead of the specific amount to be used. Space #3 had a form for Desitin that listed the amount of the container instead of the specific amount to used.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 9/9/2025

Caregivers did not document compliance with visually checking on sleeping infants aged 12 months or younger and/or the documents were not maintained for a minimum of one month. There were two infant aged children observed asleep today in the space one and there was no documentation showing when they went to sleep and when they were visually checked. The last date of documentation showing that the infant aged children were visually checked while sleeping was 8/7/25.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 9/9/2025

DCDEE facility lookup

Jul 2025 Unannounced visit 3 findings

Unannounced visit · July 25, 2025

Parent's medication authorization did not include required information. In the room caring for children between the ages three and four had a medication administration form for Aquaphor that did not list the amount to use. In the room caring for children between one year of age and two years of age hand Aquaphor that did not have the validation dates listed.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 8/11/2025

Leftover medicines were not returned to the parent after the course of treatment was completed, after authorization was withdrawn or after authorization had expired and/or medication was not discarded within 72 hours of completion of treatment or withdrawal of authorization. In the room that had children between one year and two years of age had Aveno Sunscreen that had a validation date that ended on 7/1/15.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 8/11/2025

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). Per conversation with the Criminal Record Check Unit staff K.W.' qualification letter expired in 2024.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 8/11/2025

Individual employees are shown by initials. The state’s report, linked above, names them in full.

DCDEE facility lookup

Apr 2025 Announced visit nothing cited

Before you tour

Kiddie Academy Of Lake Norman 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

Not yet reported: established, teaching approach.

Who runs it

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 Kiddie Academy Of Lake Norman? 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.