Merit Children’s Academy
A licensed child care center in Dallas, Texas 75206
5835 Penrose Ave, Dallas, Texas 75206. (214) 764-0179.
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The short answer
Record last released by Texas Workforce Commission on Nov 2, 2026.
- 5 deficiencies cited in the last three years Middle in Dallas County: 2
- 5 rated High by Texas, its most serious level (needs attention)
- 14 inspections on record
- Not rated Texas Rising Star rating
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.
- Texas’s risk levels
- Texas gives each child care deficiency a risk level, by how likely it is to harm a child: Low, Medium Low, Medium, Medium High or High. High is its most serious. Source: Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation.
- 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?
5 deficiencies cited in the last three years
The middle of the 986 child care providers in Dallas County had 2.
14 inspections on record. The latest, on Jul 9, 2026: no violation found.
Rated High by Texas: Prohibited Punishments - Grabbing and Pulling, at the report to the state on Nov 3, 2025
Rated High by Texas: Prohibited Punishments - Grabbing and Pulling, at the report to the state on Oct 10, 2025
Rated High by Texas: Mark Cleaning Supplies, Toxic Materials; Keep Separate from Food and Inaccessible to Children, at the inspection on Jul 11, 2025
2 more rated High; all are listed below.
Texas HHSC, deficiencies (non-compliance data) and inspections and investigations. Released Oct 31, 2026. Updated daily.
When those deficiencies happened
5 deficiencies in 4 months of the last 36. Last cited Nov 2025. Most serious: High. The last 3 years, to Nov 2, 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 deficiency, in Texas’s words
Grouped by visit, newest first, with the risk level Texas gave it, from Low to High.
Texas HHSC, deficiencies (non-compliance data). Released Oct 31, 2026. Updated daily.
Nov 3, 2025: report to the state1 deficiency
-
Prohibited Punishments - Grabbing and Pulling
“It was determined that a caregiver inappropriately grabbed a child resulting in multiple contusions to the child’s arm.”
Oct 10, 2025: report to the state1 deficiency
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Prohibited Punishments - Grabbing and Pulling
“It was determined that a caregiver inappropriately grabbed a child resulting in minor abrasions being left on the child’s arm.”
Jul 11, 2025: inspection1 deficiency
-
Mark Cleaning Supplies, Toxic Materials; Keep Separate from Food and Inaccessible to Children
“A cleaning spray was left on a shelf in reach of children in the classroom. The operation came into complaince when the spray was moved to the cabinet.”
Jul 10, 2025: report to the state1 deficiency
-
Prohibited Punishments - Grabbing and Pulling
“A caregiver inappropriately grabbed a child, resulting in minor abrasions on the child’s arm.”
Apr 2, 2025: report to the state1 deficiency
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Prohibited Punishments - No Harsh, Cruel or Unusual
“A child was handled in a harsh manner when a caregiver forced the child onto a nap mat.”
All 19 visits on record
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 2026 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Jun 29, 2026 | Report to the state | No violation found |
| Jun 11, 2026 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Dec 3, 2025 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Nov 5, 2025 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Nov 3, 2025 | Report to the state | 1 deficiency cited |
| Oct 22, 2025 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Oct 14, 2025 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Oct 10, 2025 | Report to the state | 1 deficiency cited |
| Jul 29, 2025 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Jul 11, 2025 | Inspection | 1 deficiency cited |
| Jul 10, 2025 | Report to the state | 1 deficiency cited |
| May 19, 2025 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Apr 16, 2025 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Apr 4, 2025 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Apr 2, 2025 | Report to the state | 1 deficiency cited |
| Mar 26, 2025 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Feb 20, 2025 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Nov 14, 2024 | Inspection | No violation found |
Is it licensed?
- Licensed Center, permit issued Jun 19, 2025.
- Licensed for ages: Toddler, Pre-Kindergarten, School.
- Capacity: 102 children.
Texas HHSC, child care operations. Released Oct 31, 2026. Updated daily.
Has Texas acted against it?
- No corrective or adverse action by Texas on record.
- 5 reports to the state on record; Texas doesn’t publish whether they were A complaint allegation the state investigated and found true: the evidence showed it more likely than not happened. Inconclusive means the evidence couldn’t show it either way. Neither inconclusive nor unsubstantiated proves it didn’t happen. Source: California Department of Social Services, complaint findings; each state’s licensing agency..
Texas HHSC, child care operations and inspections and investigations. Released Oct 31, 2026. Updated daily.
Who does the caring?
- Texas doesn’t publish staffing levels for individual providers. State rules set staff-to-child ratios by age.
Who owns it?
- Texas’s open data doesn’t list owners.
How is it rated?
- Not rated in Texas Rising Star.
Texas Workforce Commission, subsidy providers and Texas Rising Star. Released Nov 2, 2026. Updated daily.
How does it compare nearby?
- Among 986 child care providers in Dallas County, the middle value for deficiencies cited in the last three years was 2; this one had 5.
Texas HHSC, deficiencies (non-compliance data). Released Oct 31, 2026. Updated daily.
| Place | Deficiencies, 3 years |
|---|---|
| Spanish World School - Skillman | 4 |
| East Dallas Development Center | 16 |
| YMCA @ Mockingbird Dallas | 2 |
| Nido Maria Montessori | 8 |
| St. Andrews Presbyterian Children’s Center | 9 |
| YMCA @ Solar Prep for Girls | 7 |
| YMCA @ Solar Prep for Boys | 1 |
| Moody Family Childcare & Youth Services Center | 10 |
| Cathedral Montessori School | 14 |
| Skillman Child Development | 1 |
| Merit Children’s Academy This child care provider | 5 |
| Comunidad Child Care Center | 8 |
What the record doesn’t say
- Texas doesn’t publish whether a complaint was substantiated.
- Texas rates some paperwork slips as High risk, so read what was actually cited.
- Texas doesn’t publish staffing levels or owners for individual providers.
Sources
-
Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child care operations (bc5r-88dy).
Released Oct 31, 2026 and checked Nov 2, 2026. Updated daily. Creative Commons 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication).
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Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Inspections and investigations (m5q4-3y3d).
Released Oct 31, 2026 and checked Nov 2, 2026. Updated daily. Creative Commons 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication).
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Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Deficiencies (non-compliance data) (tqgd-mf4x).
Released Oct 31, 2026 and checked Nov 2, 2026. Updated daily. Creative Commons 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication).
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Texas Workforce Commission, Subsidy providers and Texas Rising Star.
Released Nov 2, 2026 and checked Nov 2, 2026. Updated daily. No licence stated.
If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: Texas HHSC or Texas Workforce Commission. Texas’s own record is on its child care search. 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 2, 2026.
From the provider
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Replies
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Paid listing
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