Tree of Life Learning Center, Inc. DBA the Learning Tree
A licensed child care center in Bear, Delaware 19701
1799 Pulaski Highway, Bear, Delaware 19701. (302) 838-5650.
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The short answer
Record last released by Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing on Nov 4, 2026.
Each figure’s source sits beside it, in its section below.
What these words mean4
- 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.
- 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 with violations in the last three years, the latest on Sep 8, 2026; Delaware doesn’t list visits that found nothing.
3 violations cited in the last three years.
Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Child Care Licensing Compliance Review Information. Released Nov 4, 2026. Updated daily.
When those violations happened
3 violations in 2 months of the last 36. Last cited Sep 2026. 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 violation, in its source’s words
Grouped by visit, newest first, with the level its source gave it.
Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Child Care Licensing Compliance Review Information. Released Nov 4, 2026. Updated daily.
Sep 8, 2026: unannounced Full Compliance Review2 violations
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Personnel Files
“Ensure personnel files are complete. Staff #1 needs OCCL health and safety training and health appraisal. Staff #3 needs OCCL health and safety training. Staff #4 needs updated annual adult abuse . Staff #5 needs updated annual adult abuse and safe sleep. Send documents to OCCL.”
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Child Files
“Ensure child files are complete. Child #14 needs current health appraisal and blood lead test result. Send documents to OCCL.”
Sep 6, 2024: unannounced Full Compliance Review1 violation
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Personnel Files
“Submit the following to complete staff files: OCCL H&S training for Staff #1, 2; a health appraisal for Staff #2; two references for Staff #4. Not determined: completion of annual training hours. #1 needs 1; #3 needs 9, and #5 needs 8. Will be non-compliant if not received by September 30, 2024.”
All 2 visits on record
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 8, 2026 | Unannounced Full Compliance Review | 2 violations cited |
| Sep 6, 2024 | Unannounced Full Compliance Review | 1 violation cited |
Is it licensed?
- Licensed Child Care Center.
- Ages served, in Delaware’s words: 6 weeks through 12 years.
- Takes part in: Child Care Food Program (meals reimbursed), Purchase of Care (state-subsidized child care).
- Licence number 1483614.
- Capacity: 157 children.
Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Licensed Child Care Providers and Facilities. Released Nov 4, 2026. Updated daily.
Has Delaware acted against it?
- 2 complaint investigations in the last three years. Results, in Delaware’s words: No Evidence to Substantiate (1), Substantiated (1).
Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Child Care Licensing Complaint Reviews and Licensed Child Care Providers and Facilities. Released Nov 4, 2026. Updated daily.
| Date | What | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 15, 2026 | OCCL Standards Complaint: Substantiated | On September 9, 2026, the Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) was notified by Administrator #1 of a child injury occurring on September 4, 2026, noting Child #1 was seen for medical observation on September 6, 2026, and they were awaiting medical documentation from Parent #1. OCCL received a complaint on September 11, 2026, regarding concerns of a lack of supervision, not using respectful communication in handling a parent concern, not maintaining child information three months prior to disenrollment, not having an organized system of business management, and the outdoor play area posing a safety hazard. An investigation began on September 11, 2026, and concluded on October 6, 2026, with unannounced visits occurring on September 17, 2026, and October 6, 2026. This complaint is substantiated for not utilizing an effective system of staff communication. Administrator #1 confirmed Parent #1 provided updated contact information prior to this injury occurring. However, attempts to contact Parent #1 outside of the Brightwheel application were made using Parent #1 s previous contact information. There is no evidence to substantiate this complaint for lack of supervision based on video footage reviewed. Video footage showed Child #1 running to get a ball, tripping and falling, and hitting their knees and head on the ground. Staff #1 stated they initially saw no signs of injury upon checking. Staff #1 stated a bump did appear on Child #1 s head shortly after, and a Brightwheel message with a photo of Child #1 s head was sent to Parent #1, meeting child care licensing requirements for immediate contact of a parent upon determination of a head injury. Parent #1 picked up Child #1 approximately 40 minutes after the fall occurred. An incident report was completed and provided to Parent #1 upon pick-up as required, and a copy was provided to OCCL. Licensing Supervisor #1 viewed the video footage on October 6, 2026, and noted the same observations. There is no evid ence to substantiate this complaint for not using respectful communication in handling a parent concern based on staff interviews conducted. All staff members denied using disrespectful communication. While screenshots were provided to LS #1 showing an error message that popped up when Parent #1 attempted to email Administrator #1 on September 14, 2026, an email chain was forwarded to LS #1 on September 24, 2026, showing successful email communication between Parent #1 and Administrator #1 after this error message was received in response to the parent email. OCCL cannot determine what occurred that caused this error, but this indicates that this was an isolated incident and email communication between the reporter and the facility is not restricted or blocked. Administrator #1 denied blocking any families email addresses. When asked about the removal of Child #1 from the Brightwheel application, Administrator #1 stated they were attempting to remove multiple people from Child #1 s profile at the request of Parent #1 and accidentally removed/deactivated Child #1 s profile. Administrator #1 stated when this was brought to their attention by Parent #1, they immediately reactivated the account; however, the account has not been reactivated by Parent #1, so it is visible only to the facility, not the family. An email from Parent #1 states video footage of the incident has been requested multiple times. In this email chain, Administrator #1 asked Parent #1 to come to the facility to view the footage, and Parent #1 states they cannot get to the facility. Documentation of previous requests to view footage was not observed. It was confirmed by Administrator #1 on October 6, 2026, that Parent #1 did come to the center and observe the footage during the week of September 28, 2026. There is no evidence to substantiate this complaint for not maintaining child information for three months after disenrollment based on interviews conducted. Administrators #1 and #2 stated all children files are kept accessible for three years and all files are stored in the attic after the three years. The Brightwheel application profile for Child #1 was observed and included the required documentation. There is no evidence to substantiate this complaint for the outdoor play area having safety hazards. On October 6, 2026, the toddler outdoor play area was observed by Licensing Supervisor #1 and Licensing Specialist #1. The artificial turf surface was adhered to the hard surface underneath. No areas of this surface showed signs of rippling or bunching, and no tripping hazards were observed. There are no slides, swings, or other objects or anchored equipment requiring a protected fall zone in this play area. Based on the results of the investigation, this complaint was: Substantiated. |
| May 12, 2025 | OCCL Standards Complaint: No Evidence to Substantiate | On April 30, 2025, the Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) received a complaint regarding improper discipline. An investigation was conducted on May 2, 2025. Based on the results of this investigation there is no evidence to substantiate this complaint because all five staff members who were interviewed denied ever witnessing any staff member use improper discipline with children and no video evidence was available to support the allegation. |
Who does the caring?
- Delaware doesn’t publish staffing levels for individual providers.
Who owns it?
- Delaware’s open data doesn’t list owners.
How is it rated?
- 2026: 3 facility injuries. No facility deaths reported.
- 2024: 1 facility injury. No facility deaths reported.
Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Licensed Child Care Providers and Facilities. Released Nov 4, 2026. Updated daily.
How does it compare nearby?
- Providers aren’t compared: Delaware lists only the visits that found violations, so a count can’t tell a clean record from one never visited.
Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Child Care Licensing Compliance Review Information. Released Nov 4, 2026. Updated daily.
| Place | Violations cited in the last three years |
|---|---|
| Tree of Life Learning Center, Inc. DBA the Learning Tree This child care provider | Not given |
| Germaine Oden | Not given |
| Kidz Ink I | Not given |
| Lil’ Einstein’s Learning Academy | Not given |
| St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church Preschool | Not given |
| Valerie Chinn DBA A Kidz World LLC | Not given |
| Cornerstone Early Education and Youth Center, Inc. | Not given |
| Kidz Ink IV Academy of Early Learning | Not given |
| A. S. Academy of Learning 2 | Not given |
| Ashley Stanford DBA Little Arrows Childcare LLC | Not given |
| Grow N’ Learn | Not given |
| Dianne Peters | Not given |
| Bree Thompson | Not given |
What the record doesn’t say
- Delaware doesn’t grade violations by severity, so read what was cited.
- Delaware’s open data lists a visit only when a violation was cited there, so visits that found nothing aren’t shown.
- Delaware publishes five years of reviews and complaints; this page shows the last three.
- Delaware doesn’t publish staffing levels or owners for individual providers.
- Delaware lists only the visits that found violations, so a provider with none listed may not have been visited at all: no count of violations is used to headline, filter or compare its providers.
Sources
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Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Licensed Child Care Providers and Facilities (iuzd-3dbt).
Released Nov 4, 2026 and checked Nov 5, 2026. Updated daily. Public Domain.
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Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Child Care Licensing Compliance Review Information (wb83-pkcv).
Released Nov 4, 2026 and checked Nov 5, 2026. Updated daily. Public Domain.
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Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Child Care Licensing Complaint Reviews (pnbd-85r6).
Released Nov 4, 2026 and checked Nov 5, 2026. Updated daily. Public Domain.
If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing. Delaware’s own record is on data.delaware.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.