KinderCare Wallingford

Center · Wallingford · 400 NE 45th St

What kind of place is this?

Size 276 children licensed Larger than the middle half of Seattle centers, where the middle half licenses 43–121. Measured across 576 Seattle centers, 2026-08-17.

Who runs it

Chain KinderCare
Owner Partners Group (controlling) Public (NYSE: KLC) since Oct 2024; Partners Group holds 71.2% controlling interest per its SEC registration. sec.gov

KinderCare runs 27 licensed locations in Seattle.

Will it fit our family?

Hours 12 hours a day
Days / week 5

What will it cost us?

This provider does not publish pricing.

What Shortlist has verified

State quality rating Early Achievers Enrolled
License status Active

State record — Washington DCYF

Last visit
March 27, 2026
On file
3 visits since December 2023 — all of them cited findings · 8 complaint investigations
Fixed?
Washington DCYF does not publish whether a finding was corrected.
Most serious
SeriousOne staff member did not have a completed background check. MERIT showed expired with a new one currently in process. Date Disputed Date Disputed · March 27, 2026

Washington DCYF publishes the licensor’s own observation and a risk level for every citation it issues at a licensing visit, with the inspection report attached as a PDF.

Mar 2026 Licensing visit 3 findings

Licensing visit · March 27, 2026

Preservice requirements

WAC 110-300-0105(2) · Serious

One staff member did not have a completed background check. MERIT showed expired with a new one currently in process. Date Disputed Date Disputed

First-aid—CPR certification and supplies

WAC 110-300-0230(2) · Short Term

Licensor was given a first aid kit to inspect. Missing items- CPR mask, hand sanitizer, thermometer, scissors. Date Disputed Date Disputed

Individual care plan

WAC 110-300-0300(1)(a) · Short Term

Licensor reviewed five child files. One file had an outdated individual care plan. The plan needs to be updated.

Report (PDF)

Feb 2026 Complaint 1 valid issue

Complaint · February 18, 2026 · Resolved March 11, 2026

Reported to the state by the program

Serious injury, valid issues and self-report are Washington’s own fields on its complaint listing.

Prohibited behavior and discipline, and physical separation of children

WAC 110-300-0331(1) · Serious

Based on information gathered during the course of the complaint inspection it is determined that WAC 110-300-0331(1) was violated. A staff member reported to have observed another staff member hit a child on their bare bottom with an open hand. This information was conveyed to the center director. The licensor spoke with the parent of the child who reported that their child told the mother that they were hit by a staff member. The staff member reportedly called the parent to apologize for the incident. Based on this information this concern will be closed as Valid.

Report (PDF)

Oct 2025 Complaint 1 valid issue

Complaint · October 9, 2025 · Resolved November 25, 2025

Supervising children

WAC 110-300-0345(3) · Short Term

Based on sufficient evidence available at the time of the licensing inspection, more likely than not, applicable WAC 110-300-0345(3) was violated. After staff interviews, it was determined that staff were not in eyes view of the child during incident.

Report (PDF)

Jun 2025 Complaint 1 valid issue

Complaint · June 30, 2025 · Resolved August 26, 2025

Reported to the state by the program

Serious injury, valid issues and self-report are Washington’s own fields on its complaint listing.

The state lists this complaint on the provider’s record, but the state’s published report includes no citation detail.

Report (PDF)

Mar 2025 Complaint 4 findings

Complaint · March 25, 2025 · Resolved July 17, 2025

Serious injury: Severe neck or head injury · 8 valid issues · Reported to the state by the program

Serious injury, valid issues and self-report are Washington’s own fields on its complaint listing.

Training requirements

WAC 110-300-0106(12) · Serious

Multiple staff do not have documentation of current food worker card.

General staff qualifications

WAC 110-300-0100(6) / 110-300-0100(7) · Short Term

Multiple staff do not have documentation of minimum education requirment (high school diploma or equivalent).

Preservice requirements

WAC 110-300-0105(2) / 110-300-0105(3) · Serious / Short Term

3 staff working on-site do not have cleared background checks. This was discussed with the director and the staff will no longer be on-site and cannot return to work until their background check is cleared. Multiple staff do not have documentation of required TB testing.

Staff records

WAC 110-300-0115(1) · Long Term

Merit (electronic workforce registry) is not maintained. There are staff who are listed on the Merit page who no longer work at the facility. There are staff who work at the facility who are not listed on the Merit page. Numerous trainings are missing from the Merit page.

Report (PDF)

Jan 2025 Complaint 2 findings

Complaint · January 21, 2025 · Resolved April 3, 2025

2 valid issues · Reported to the state by the program

Serious injury, valid issues and self-report are Washington’s own fields on its complaint listing.

Duty to protect children and report incidents

WAC 110-300-0475(2) · Serious

Based on sufficient evidence available at the time of the licensing inspection, WAC 110-300-0475(2) was violated. Staff are mandated reporters and failed to report the allegation of a staff member spraying children with water as a form of discipline.

Prohibited behavior and discipline, and physical separation of children

WAC 110-300-0331(1) · Serious

Based on sufficient evidence available at the time of the licensing inspection, WAC 110-300-0331(1) was violated. The licensor A.S. found evidence to support the allegation of a staff member spraying children with water as a form of discipline.

Report (PDF)

Dec 2024 Licensing visit 3 findings

Licensing visit · December 19, 2024

Training requirements

WAC 110-300-0106(8) · Short Term

2 staff need to update annual safe sleep training.

Storage of hazardous and maintenance supplies

WAC 110-300-0260(5) · Serious

toilet brush was accessible in a pre-k bathroom.

Emergency preparedness plan

WAC 110-300-0470(4)(a) / 110-300-0470(4)(b) · Short Term

Need to be recording fire drills each month on department form. Need to be recording emergency drills every 3 months on department form.

Report (PDF)

Sep 2024 Complaint 1 valid issue

Complaint · September 25, 2024 · Resolved December 11, 2024

Reported to the state by the program

Serious injury, valid issues and self-report are Washington’s own fields on its complaint listing.

Prohibited behavior and discipline, and physical separation of children

WAC 110-300-0331(1) · Serious

WAC 0331 is valid. Jacob admitted to yelling and grabbing the child by the shoulders.

Report (PDF)

Jan 2024 Complaint 2 findings

Complaint · January 31, 2024 · Resolved April 18, 2024

4 valid issues

Serious injury, valid issues and self-report are Washington’s own fields on its complaint listing.

Training requirements

WAC 110-300-0106(1) · Long Term

WAC 110-300-0106 is valid. Licensor observed that there were multiple staff members with missing or expired trainings.

Emergency preparedness plan

WAC 110-300-0470(4)(d) / 110-300-0470(4)(a) · Short Term

During the on-site inspection licensor Mohamud observed the emergency drills were last completed in August 2023.

Report (PDF)

Dec 2023 Licensing visit 5 findings

Licensing visit · December 6, 2023

Safe food practices

WAC 110-300-0197(4) · Short Term

food in pantry and fridge needs to be labeled and dated.

Medication

WAC 110-300-0215(3) / 110-300-0215(3)(a)(i) / 110-300-0215(3)(a)(ii) / 110-300-0215(3)(a)(iii) · Serious / Short Term

In Discovery ps2- 2 children did not have any authorization form with diaper creams/ointment. some perscription medication was missing the perscription label. non perscription medication was missing the box.

Preservice requirements

WAC 110-300-0105(2) · Serious

some staff missing current cleared background check.

Training requirements

WAC 110-300-0106(1) / 110-300-0106(12) / 110-300-0106(3) / 110-300-0106(8) · Long Term / Serious / Short Term

some staff do not have complete training requirements within 3 months. some staff missing food handlers training. some staff missing 30 hrs. initial training. some staff missing current safe sleep training.

Emergency preparedness plan

WAC 110-300-0470(1) · Short Term

need to review emergency prep plan with staff annually and document. need to update fire drills, and record notes.

Report (PDF)

May 2023 Complaint 1 valid issue

Complaint · May 31, 2023 · Resolved September 3, 2023

Reported to the state by the program

Serious injury, valid issues and self-report are Washington’s own fields on its complaint listing.

Prohibited behavior and discipline, and physical separation of children

WAC 110-300-0331(1) · Serious

110-300-0331(1)(b); Based on the information gathered from our licensing inspection of this complaint, the teacher stated, there was a lot going on this day. He stated he may have held childs arm tight and out of frustration he yelled at child.

Report (PDF)

Before you tour

KinderCare Wallingford hasn’t published

Cost, a typical day, sick and biting policies.

Ask what changed after the 12 findings Washington DCYF ranked Serious, most recently in March 2026.It does not publish whether a finding was fixed. The rest carry its lower risk levels.

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

  • Owner — Checked September 2026 · sec.gov

Will it fit our family

Not yet reported: ages served, schedule, holiday closures.

Licensing and contact

  • State quality rating — Checked March 2026 · data.wa.gov
  • License status — Checked March 2026
  • Phone — Checked April 2026 · kindercare.com

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 KinderCare Wallingford? 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.