Kids Smart @ Compass

Center · Golden · 4441 Salvia Street

What kind of place is this?

Size 30 children licensed Smaller than the middle half of Denver centers, where the middle half licenses 40–113. Measured across 1,156 Denver centers, 2026-08-17.

How this compares

Colorado Department of Early Childhood cited something at 4 of the 4 visits below. Across Denver centers it cites something at about 55% of visits. Each state decides what gets written up, so this compares Denver with Denver 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 Colorado Shines Level 1
License status Active

State record — Colorado Department of Early Childhood

Last visit
February 23, 2026
On file
4 visits since October 2023 — all of them cited findings
Fixed?
The latest correction deadline was March 23, 2026. Colorado Department of Early Childhood does not publish whether it was made.
Most serious
Colorado Department of Early Childhood does not publish a severity level for a citation, so there is no most-serious to name.

Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood lists each program’s complaints on its Colorado Shines page, with the department’s verdict on each and a report behind it, going back about three years. Older complaints are released only on request. The department does not rank complaints by severity in either place.

Feb 2026 Supervisory visit 2 findings

Supervisory visit · February 23, 2026

2.219.B.2 · Correction due March 23, 2026

Licensing Specialist reviewed 3 child files and observed one child under age 7 to have an expired health statement. Previously cited on 4/14/25.

Required correction: Obtain a current health statement. Correct by 3/23/26. Document compliance to Specialist by 3/23/26. Correct by 03/23/2026

A unlocked black metal cabinet, accessible to children, in the common area to contain a power sander,

State records file

Apr 2025 Supervisory visit 3 findings

Supervisory visit · April 14, 2025

2.219.B.2 · Correction due May 14, 2025

Reviewed 2 children's files and observed one child to have an expired health statement.

Required correction: Obtain a current health statement. Correct by 5/14/25. Document compliance to Specialist by 5/14/25. Correct by 05/14/2025

2.229.H

Four pairs of adult scissors on a work bench, accessible to children in the common room.

Required correction: Sharp tools and instruments must be stored in areas inaccessible to children. Correct by 4/14/25. Staff locked the four pairs of adult scissors in the work bench while the Licensing Specialist was present. Corrected at the time of

2.237.K · Correction due April 14, 2025

In the common room, a workbench, accessible to children, with an unlocked drawer that contained a saw and a hammer, posing a potential safety hazard. Previously cited on 11/28/22, 10/18/23 and 11/11/24.

Required correction: All hazardous items must not be stored in any area of the building used for child care. Correct by 4/14/25. Staff locked the workbench making the tools inaccessible to children, while the Licensing Specialist was present. Corrected at the time of inspection. No response necessary. Correct by 04/14/2025

State records file

Sep 2024 Supervisory visit 4 findings

Supervisory visit · September 9, 2024

2.229.C · Correction due September 9, 2024

One container of liquid whiteout in a lower unlocked cupboard, accessible to children, labeled keep out of reach of children.

Required correction: All items labeled keep out of reach of children must be inaccessible. Correct by 9/9/24. Document compliance to Specialist by 10/9/24. Correct by 09/09/2024

2.237.K

In the common room, a workbench, accessible to children, with unlocked drawers that contain tools such as a saw, staple gun and wire cutters posing a potential safety hazard. Previously cited on 11/28/22 and 10/18/23.

Required correction: All hazardous items must not be stored in any area of the building used for child care. Correct by 9/9/24.

2.217.C.8 · Correction due October 9, 2024

Child Care Health Consultant, Erica MacDonald to have an expired immuniztion training course.

Required correction: All Department-approved child care health consultants must complete the Department- approved Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment immunization course annually. The center must obtain and maintain proof of course completion. Correct by 10/9/24. Document compliance to Specialist by 10/9/24. Correct by 10/09/2024

2.229.H · Correction due September 9, 2024

Three pairs of adult scissors in in a lower unlocked cupboard, accessible to children, labeled keep out of reach of children.

Required correction: Sharp tools must be stored in areas inaccessible to children. Correct by 9/9/24. Document compliance to Specialsit by 10/9/24. Correct by 09/09/2024

State records file

Oct 2023 Supervisory visit 4 findings

Supervisory visit · October 18, 2023

7.702.72.C.1.a · Correction due October 18, 2023

Six swings on the school age playground to be lacking 6 inches of resilient surfacing. Maximum depth of wood chips under each swing was less than 2 inches. Previously cited on 11/28/22.

Required correction: All climbing equipment over 18 inches must have resilient surfacing of at least 6 inches in the use zone surrounding the equipment. Correct by 10/18/23. Document compliance to Specialist by 11/18/23. Correct by 10/18/2023

7.702.91.D · Correction due October 18, 2023

In the common room, a workbench, accessible to children, with unlocked drawers that contain tools such as pliers and hammers posing a potential safety hazard. Previously cited on 11/28/22.

Required correction: All hazardous items must not be stored in any area of the building used for child care. Correct by 10/18/23. Document compliance to Specialist by 11/18/23. Correct by 10/18/2023

One prescription inhaler to be missing the original pharmacy label.

7.702.41.G · Correction due November 18, 2023

Reviewed 2 staff files and observed Abcde A. to be missing a medical statement.

Required correction: All staff members must submit to the center a medical statement signed and dated by a physician or other health care provider. Correct by 11/18/23. Document compliance to Specialist by 11/18/23. Correct by 11/18/2023

State records file

Where this record comes from

The Department of Early Childhood keeps about three years of complaints on a program’s public page. Anything older is released only on request, as a single file covering the whole state. Shortlist asked for that file under the Colorado Open Records Act and renews it yearly; it is what this page shows for complaints older than the department’s own window.

The file this page is built from arrived on September 13, 2026 and covers complaints the department publishes today, and complaints back to January 2023 obtained by records request. The next request goes in September 2027.

The department publishes a report for each of these visits. Shortlist has not read those reports yet, so this page shows when the state came and not what it found.

Ask for this program’s record now

The department will also review one program’s complete file on request, which is more than either source above contains. Leave your email and Shortlist will ask for Kids Smart @ Compass’s file specifically, instead of waiting for the next one.

Before you tour

Kids Smart @ Compass hasn’t published

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

Ask which of these findings were serious, and what changed.Colorado Department of Early Childhood publishes a correction deadline, never whether the work was done or 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.

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 Kids Smart @ Compass? 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.