The Kids Loft Academy

Center · Kannapolis · 421 Terrace Ave

What kind of place is this?

Size 75 children licensed In the middle half for Charlotte centers, where the middle half licenses 50–162. Measured across 598 Charlotte centers, 2026-08-17.

How this compares

North Carolina DCDEE cited something at 5 of the 8 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?

Ages served 1-5 years
Hours 7:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Days / week 5
Accepts subsidy Yes

What will it cost us?

This provider does not publish pricing.

What Shortlist has verified

State quality rating Five Star License
License status Active

State record — North Carolina DCDEE

Last visit
June 16, 2026
On file
8 visits since September 2024 — 3 cited nothing, 1 of those unannounced
Fixed?
All 24 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.

Jun 2026 Unannounced visit 7 findings

Unannounced visit · June 16, 2026

Plastic bags, materials that could be torn apart and toy parts small enough to be swallowed were accessible to children under three years of age. In Space 1 there were plastic bags with diapers and wipes which were accessible to children.

Violation corrected during visit

The EMC plan was not reviewed with all staff annually and whenever the plan was revised. One employee (DOH: 3/11/26) did not have documentation of review of the EMC plan.

Violation corrected during visit

New staff, who had contact with children, did not receive at least 16 hrs. orientation within first 6 weeks. Two employees (DOH: 3/11/26, 5/4/26) did not have documentation of completed orientation.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 6/18/2026

Each new employee did not complete, within the first two weeks of employment, six clock hours of training in required topic areas. One employee (DOH: 5/26/26) did not have documentation of completion of orientation.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 6/18/2026

Each employee's personnel file did not contain a signed and dated statement that they received a job description and that they have received personnel and operational policies. Two employees, (DOH: 3/11/26, 5/4/26) did not have documentation of receiving a job description or operational policies.

Violation corrected during visit

All staff did not review the center's EPR Plan during orientation and/or on an annual basis with the trained staff. Documentation of the review was not maintained on file. One employee (DOH: 3/11/26) did not have documentation on file for review of the EPR plan.

Violation corrected during visit

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 employee (DOH: 3/4/26) did not have documentation of completion of Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 6/18/2026

DCDEE facility lookup

Apr 2026 Unannounced visit nothing cited
Dec 2025 Unannounced visit 11 findings

Unannounced visit · December 4, 2025

A current activity plan was not posted for each group of children for reference. In Space 2 the activity posted was from November and not current.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 12/15/2025

All corrosive agents, pesticides, bleaches, detergents, cleansers, polishes, any product which is under pressure in an aerosol dispenser, and any substance which may be hazardous to a child if ingested, inhaled, or handled were not stored in a locked room or cabinet. In Space 4 there were two aerosols and one cleaning agent not in locked storage as required.

Violation corrected during visit

Child care providers and uncompensated providers who are not substitute providers or volunteers, including the director did not have a medical report on file prior to employment that was signed by a health care professional and/ or the medical report was older than 12 months. One staff with a hire date of 10/6/25 had a medical report which was more than 12 months from the hire date.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 12/15/2025

On or before the first day of work, all staff, including the director and individuals who volunteer more than once per week did not provide results indicating that they were free of active TB and/or TB test or screening was older than 12 months. One staff with a hire date of 10/6/25 had a TB skin test which was older than 12 months from the date of hire.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 12/15/2025

All staff, including the director, did not have an annual health questionnaire on file following the initial medical statement. One staff with a hire date of 10/13/25 did not have a required health questionnaire on file.

Violation corrected during visit

Child care providers, including the director, uncompensated providers, substitute providers, and volunteers did not have the required Emergency Information Form on file on or before the first day of work, which included all the required information and/or the information on the form was not updated as changes occur and at least annually. One staff with a hire date of 10/13/25 did not have an Emergency Information form on file.

Violation corrected during visit

Prior to employment a Criminal Background Check was not completed. A staff with a hire date of 10/6/25 had a CBC dated after the hire date.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 12/15/2025

All staff records, except financial records, were not made available for review. Two substitute teachers were working in the classrooms and did not have files available for review.

Violation corrected during visit

New staff, who had contact with children, did not receive at least 16 hrs. orientation within first 6 weeks. Staff with hire dates of 10/6/25, 10/13/25, and 11/11/25 did not have documentation of orientation as required.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 12/15/2025

Emergency information did not name childs health care professional. Applications for children used by the facility did not contain information for this requirement.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 12/15/2025

An individual on a provisional criminal background check status was not supervised by a staff person who was determined to be qualified. A staff with a hire date of 10/6/25 has a provisional CBC and was working alone in the classroom.

Violation corrected during visit

DCDEE facility lookup

Jun 2025 Announced visit nothing cited
Jun 2025 Unannounced visit 3 findings

Unannounced visit · June 3, 2025

All stationary equipment, more than 18 inches high, was not installed over protective surfacing. The mulch was measuring four inches in areas surrounding the permeant structure located in the outdoor play area.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 6/16/2025

Outdoor play area was not enclosed by fence with a minimum height of 4 feet. The top of the fence, less than six feet, was not free from protrusions. The fence in the back area was measuring between three feet eight inches and three feet 10 inches instead of the required four feet.

Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 6/16/2025

Plastic bags, materials that could be torn apart and toy parts small enough to be swallowed were accessible to children under three years of age. There were diapers stored in plastic packaging and wipes in plastic packaging on the shelving under the diaper changing area in the space used by children one and two years of age.

Violation corrected during visit

DCDEE facility lookup

Apr 2025 Unannounced visit 1 finding

Unannounced visit · April 9, 2025

Daily records of arrival and departure times for children at the center were not maintained as children arrive and depart and/or were not made available for review. There were six children present and space four and one child was listed on the arrival and departure log.

Violation corrected during visit

DCDEE facility lookup

Feb 2025 Unannounced visit 2 findings

Unannounced visit · February 27, 2025

A safe indoor and outdoor environment was not provided for the children. There were two large holes in the outdoor play area that are considered tripping hazards. There is a cut off old tree trunk that is splintering and there were areas of mold. Space four used by the children had sanitizer spray on top of a shelf that was not at least five feet from the floor.

Violation corrected during visit

The Prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma policy was not reviewed with new staff prior to providing care with children and/or a signed acknowledgement with all the required information was not maintained in the staff person's file. One file did not have the the signed acknowledgement for this policy.

Violation corrected during visit

DCDEE facility lookup

Sep 2024 Announced visit nothing cited

Before you tour

The Kids Loft Academy hasn’t published

Cost, 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.

All checked July 2026.

What kind of place is this

Not yet reported: established, teaching approach.

Will it fit our family

Not yet reported: 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 The Kids Loft Academy? 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.