Matthews · Licensed center
Kindercare-Matthews
At a glance
- Large center, licensed for 189 children.
- Run by a for-profit business, which holds the license.
- KinderCare: public company; majority holder Partners Group (private equity).
Company news
KinderCare, the company that runs this center, reported in a federal filing that it permanently closed 49 of its early childhood centers in the six months ending July 4, 2026. It ran 1,567 of these centers at the end of that period. In the same filing, it reported closing 7 in the same six months of 2025.
The filing is about the company. It does not name which centers closed.
KinderCare’s quarterly report to the SEC, filed August 13, 2026. Shortlist last read it on November 8, 2026.
What the state has found
The state cited rules at 5 of its 11 licensing inspections since August 2023.
See each inspection
Licensing inspections
Sep 23, 20261 citation
Citation
“Screen time was offered to children under three years of age. In the two's (2) classroom was using the classroom IPAD for story time, sharing stories with children under the age of three (3).”
Violation corrected during visit
Apr 13, 20261 citation
Citation
“Medication authorization, giving the caregiver standing authorization did not meet the specifications in rule. An emergency medication form in space seven (7) did not have authorized correct date.”
Violation corrected during visit
Dec 30, 20253 citations
Citation
“A current activity plan was not posted for each group of children for reference. In space one (1), two (2), and nine (9) a current activity plan was not posted.”
Violation corrected during visit
Citation
“Over-the-counter medicines were not in their original containers or administered as authorized in writing by parent, physician or authorized health professional. In space nine (9) a diaper cream did not have authorization to be used therefore could not be administered as authorized.”
Violation corrected during visit
Citation
“Shelter-in-place or lockdown drills were not practiced every three months and/or drill record was incomplete. The last emergency drill was recorded in August of 2025.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 1/2/2026
- May 12, 2025Nothing cited
- Jan 3, 2025Nothing cited
- Dec 4, 2024Nothing cited
- Jul 10, 2024Nothing cited
- May 22, 2024Nothing cited
Jan 4, 20241 citation
Citation
“Application for enrollment did not include all required information. The application did was not completed for four (4) children. Information required but not limited to: child's unique behaviors characteristics and any particular fears.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 1/10/2024
Aug 17, 20232 citations
Citation
“Parent's medication authorization did not include required information. All medication authorization forms were reviewed with one form was missing dates.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 8/18/2023
Citation
“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. All medication permissions where One diaper cream permission had expired, and the cream had not been returned to the parent.”
Violation corrected during visit
- Aug 15, 2023Nothing cited
The state cited rules at 5 of this center's 11 inspections. Most Charlotte-area centers inspected 10 or more times had rules cited at some but not all of theirs, as this center did: more than 99% of 271.
How all 271 Charlotte-area centers inspected 10 or more times compare
Of the 271 Charlotte-area centers the state inspected 10 or more times, how many of those inspections cited a rule:
- Someover 99%This center
- Allunder 1%
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — North Carolina DCDEE
- Last visit
- September 23, 2026
- On file
- 11 visits since August 2023 — 6 cited nothing, 6 of those unannounced
- Fixed?
- All 8 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.
Sep 2026 Unannounced visit 1 finding
Unannounced visit · September 23, 2026
Screen time was offered to children under three years of age. In the two's (2) classroom was using the classroom IPAD for story time, sharing stories with children under the age of three (3).
Violation corrected during visit
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 90000534 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Apr 2026 Unannounced visit 1 finding
Unannounced visit · April 13, 2026
Medication authorization, giving the caregiver standing authorization did not meet the specifications in rule. An emergency medication form in space seven (7) did not have authorized correct date.
Violation corrected during visit
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 90000534 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Dec 2025 Unannounced visit 3 findings
Unannounced visit · December 30, 2025
A current activity plan was not posted for each group of children for reference. In space one (1), two (2), and nine (9) a current activity plan was not posted.
Violation corrected during visit
Over-the-counter medicines were not in their original containers or administered as authorized in writing by parent, physician or authorized health professional. In space nine (9) a diaper cream did not have authorization to be used therefore could not be administered as authorized.
Violation corrected during visit
Shelter-in-place or lockdown drills were not practiced every three months and/or drill record was incomplete. The last emergency drill was recorded in August of 2025.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 1/2/2026
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 90000534 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Jan 2024 Unannounced visit 1 finding
Unannounced visit · January 4, 2024
Application for enrollment did not include all required information. The application did was not completed for four (4) children. Information required but not limited to: child's unique behaviors characteristics and any particular fears.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 1/10/2024
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 90000534 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Aug 2023 Unannounced visit 2 findings
Unannounced visit · August 17, 2023
No longer on the state’s site as of August 28, 2026
Parent's medication authorization did not include required information. All medication authorization forms were reviewed with one form was missing dates.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 8/18/2023
No longer on the state’s site as of August 28, 2026
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. All medication permissions where One diaper cream permission had expired, and the cream had not been returned to the parent.
Violation corrected during visit
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 90000534 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Shortlist replaces people’s names in the state’s text with initials. This is done by rule, not by hand, so it can miss a name or shorten a word that isn’t one. The state’s report, linked on each row, has the original.
A day here
- Updates for parents
- KinderCare App (daily photos, learning updates, messaging) (all KinderCare schools)
Who cares for your child
Patillia Covington (Center Director) since 2022.
4 years · Charlotte-area median 22, among 32 that publish
Details
- Phone
- (704) 882-4161
- Address
- 15000 Lawyers Road, Matthews, 28104
- License
- 90000534
- Quality program
- Five Star License
We couldn’t find some information that may matter to your decision: openings, child care subsidies, cost, hours and late pickup, teaching approach, and sick and biting policies. We can ask the program for you and copy you in.
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.
Who cares for your child
- Staff kindercare.com
State record
From North Carolina DCDEE’s published reports, last checked November 8, 2026.
A day here
- Updates for parents — Checked July 2026 kindercare.com
Details
- Phone, Address, License, Quality program — Checked July 2026 ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. To check it, open ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/childcaresearch, enter licence 90000534 under License Number, and open the result.
- Website — Checked September 2026 kindercare.com
- Who runs it — Checked October 2026 ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. To check it, open ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/childcaresearch, enter licence 90000534 under License Number, open the result and expand Owner Information: the licensee is listed as Primary Owner.
- Who runs it — Checked October 2026 kindercare.com
- Who runs it — Checked October 2026 sec.gov/…/klc-20260704.htm
From KinderCare's quarterly report to the SEC, filed August 13, 2026. sec.gov
Large means the biggest quarter of Charlotte-area’s 605 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 163 to 528 children. Small is 11 to 50; medium is 51 to 162.