Academy of Excellence
A day care center in Lancaster, California 93534
1324 W Ave J Ste 5, Lancaster, California 93534. (661) 206-9344.
What California’s list coversNo small family homes
Child care centers, and family child care homes licensed for more than eight children: the files California’s Community Care Licensing Division publishes. Smaller family child care homes, for eight children or fewer, aren’t in those files, so they aren’t here yet.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. California’s own record is on ccld.dss.ca.gov.
The short answer
Record last released by California Department of Social Services on Nov 1, 2026.
- 5 citations in the last three years
- 0 at the state’s most serious level
- Feb 242026 the latest visit on record
- 53 children, its licensed capacity
Each figure’s source sits beside it, in its section below.
What these words mean5
- Inspection (survey)
- A visit by state inspectors, often unannounced, who check a place against the rules it must meet. For nursing homes and other places Medicare pays, CMS calls these visits surveys: a standard survey of a nursing home comes at least every 15 months, and a complaint survey whenever a complaint calls for one. Source: CMS; 42 CFR 488.308.
- Deficiency, citation, violation
- What inspectors write up when a place didn’t meet a rule: the rule, what they saw, and when. CMS calls it a deficiency; states may say citation or violation. It is the inspectors’ finding, not a court’s, and the place is usually asked for a plan to correct it. Source: CMS, statement of deficiencies (Form CMS-2567); each state’s licensing agency.
- The state’s most serious level
- Each state grades findings on its own scale and in its own words, so the record counts a state’s findings at that state’s top level. Two states’ top levels aren’t the same thing, so the counts aren’t compared across states. Source: How this site reads each state’s scale.
- Licence status
- Whether the state’s licence lets the place operate now, in the state’s own words: licensed, on probation (allowed to keep operating on conditions, after problems), provisional, pending or expired. Source: Each state’s licensing agency.
- Capacity
- The most people the licence or certification lets the place care for at once: residents, children, beds or apartments, as the state counts them. It isn’t how many are there now. Source: Each state’s licensing agency.
What did inspectors find?
2 visits in the last three years, 2 of them inspections.
5 citations in the last three years, from California’s reports of each visit.
California Department of Social Services, Child care centers. Released Nov 1, 2026. Updated weekly.
California Department of Social Services, Facility evaluation and complaint investigation reports. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
When those citations happened
5 citations in 2 months of the last 36. Last cited Feb 2026. Most serious: Type B. The last 3 years, to Nov 5, 2026.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Dec | |||||||||||
| 2024 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2025 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2026 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov |
Hover or focus a month to read it.
Hearth Record drew this from the dates and levels in the source’s own records.
Each citation, in its source’s words
Grouped by visit, newest first, with the level its source gave it.
California Department of Social Services, Facility evaluation and complaint investigation reports. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Feb 24, 2026: annual/Random UNANNOUNCED3 citations
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Disaster and Mass Casualty Plan (d) Disaster drills shall be conducted at least every six months.
“Based on observation, interview, record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above in earthquake disaster drill was last conducted 3/25/25 which poses a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.”
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Buildings and Grounds (a) The child care center shall be clean, safe, sanitary and in good repair at all times to ensure the safety and well-being of children, employees and visitors.
The inspectors’ words aren’t shown here yet: this record is being refreshed. The official record has them.
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§1596.841 Current roster of children provided care in facility required Each child day care facility shall maintain a current roster of children who are provided care in the facility. The roster shall include the name, address, and daytime telephone number of the child’s parent or guardian, and the name and telephone number of the child’s physician. This roster shall be available to the licensing agency upon request.
“Based on observation, interview, record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above in the child/parent roster was missing the physician’s names/phone numbers for several children during the inspection which poses a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.”
Feb 21, 2025: annual/Random UNANNOUNCED2 citations
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Reporting Requirements (b) The name of the child care center director, and any fully qualified teacher(s) designated to act in the child care center director’s absence, shall be reported to the Department within 10 days of a change of child care center director or designee(s).
“Based on observation, interview, record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above in new director packet which poses/posed a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.”
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Lead Testing (1) A licensed child day care center, as defined in Section 1596.76, that is located in a building that was constructed before January 1, 2010, shall have its drinking water tested for lead contamination levels on or after January 1, 2020, but no later than January 1, 2023, and every five years after the date of the initial test.
“Based on observation, interview, record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above in no lead water testing results which poses/posed a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.”
All 2 visits on record
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 24, 2026 | Inspection | 3 citations: 0 Type A, 3 Type B |
| Feb 21, 2025 | Inspection | 2 citations: 0 Type A, 2 Type B |
Is it licensed?
- Day Care Center, first licensed Jun 16, 2023.
- Licensed for 53 children.
- Licence 197750161.
California Department of Social Services, Child care centers. Released Nov 1, 2026. Updated weekly.
Has California acted against it?
- No complaints in the last three years.
California Department of Social Services, Child care centers. Released Nov 1, 2026. Updated weekly.
Who does the caring?
- California doesn’t publish staffing levels for individual providers.
Who owns it?
- Licensed to Chauncy Smith.
California Department of Social Services, Child care centers. Released Nov 1, 2026. Updated weekly.
How is it rated?
- California’s file has no quality rating.
How does it compare nearby?
- Among 6295 child care providers in Los Angeles County, the middle value for citations in the last three years was 0; this one had 5.
California Department of Social Services, Child care centers. Released Nov 1, 2026. Updated weekly.
| Place | Citations in the last three years |
|---|---|
| Academy of Excellence This child care provider | 5 |
| Lancaster United Methodist Church Pre School | 2 |
| Lancaster-Sierra Elementary State Preschool | 0 |
| Ledesma Family Child Care | 1 |
| Lancaster United Methodist Childrens Center | 0 |
| Lancaster United Methodist Childrens Center | 2 |
| Vheru and Hernandez Family Child Care | 1 |
| Nilanduwa Family Child Care | 5 |
| Walker Family Child Care | 0 |
| All My Children Learning Institute | 0 |
| All My Children Learning Institute | 5 |
| Learning Tree Preschool, the | 4 |
| All My Children Learning Institute | 1 |
What the record doesn’t say
- California grades citations Type A (an immediate risk to health, safety or personal rights) or Type B (a potential risk).
- This page shows California’s records from the last three years.
- California doesn’t publish staffing levels for individual providers.
Sources
-
California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division, Child care centers (ChildCareCenters11012026.csv).
Released Nov 1, 2026 and checked Nov 5, 2026. Updated weekly. Considered in the public domain (California Department of Social Services).
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California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division, Facility evaluation and complaint investigation reports.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Considered in the public domain (California Department of Social Services).
If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: California Department of Social Services. California’s own record is on ccld.dss.ca.gov. If Hearth Record copied something wrongly, it will fix it and log the correction publicly, with its date: how corrections work.
This copy of the record was made on Nov 5, 2026.
From the provider
The public record above comes first. Anything the provider adds will appear here, below it, and say who wrote it.
Replies
None. Replies aren’t open yet. When they open, the provider will be able to answer any finding for free, and the reply will show beside that finding, unedited and dated.
Paid listing
None. Paid listings aren’t open yet. When they open, anything paid for will say “Paid by the provider”, and paying will never change a finding, a rating or the order of results.