North Branch School
A child day center in Afton, Virginia 22920
221 Mickens Road, Afton, Virginia 22920. (540) 456-8450.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. Virginia’s own record is on legacy.dss.virginia.gov.
The short answer
- 2 deficiencies in the last three years
- Apr 232026 the latest visit on record
- 25 children, its licensed capacity
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?
9 inspections on record, the latest on Apr 23, 2026.
2 violations cited in the last three years.
Virginia Department of Education, Search for Child Day Care: each inspection’s page, with its violations. Checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated weekly.
When those deficiencies happened
2 deficiencies in 2 months of the last 36. Last cited Apr 2026. The last 3 years, to Oct 27, 2026.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Nov | 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 |
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 its source’s words
Grouped by visit, newest first, with the level its source gave it.
Virginia Department of Education, Search for Child Day Care: each inspection’s page, with its violations. Checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated weekly.
Apr 23, 2026: inspection1 deficiency
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A written care plan for each child with a diagnosed food allergy, to include instructions from a physician regarding the food to which the child is allergic and the steps to be taken in the event of a suspected or confirmed allergic reaction.
“Child #2 has a diagnosed food allergy and there was no allergy care plan.”
Oct 20, 2025: inspection1 deficiency
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Playground equipment with moving parts or climbing apparatus must have appropriate fall zones that encompass sufficient area to include the child’s trajectory in the event of a fall.
“The fall zone on the playground measured to be less than 6 feet when each piece of equipment required at least six feet of a fall zone.”
Oct 12, 2023: inspection4 deficiencies
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Based on record review of two corporate officers, the center failed to ensure that required background checks are repeated every 5 years per the Code of Virginia.
“Evidence: 1.Staff # 4 had a sworn statement date of 10/17/2017. The sworn statement was not updated after 5 years.”
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Based on record review and interviews, the center failed to ensure that each child shall have a physical examination by or under the direction of a physician before the child’s attendance or within 30 days after the first day of attendance.
“Evidence: 1. The record for Child # 2 contained documentation that the first date of attendance was 08/31/2023. There was no physical exam in child # 2 record.”
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Based on observation, the center failed to ensure that all chemicals were locked using a safe locking method that prevents access by children.
“Evidence: 1.In the kitchen area sitting on the floor was a can of FlexFuel that was accessible. The door between the kitchen and preschool classroom is unlocked.”
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Based on observation, the center failed to ensure that all children under the age of 10 years was within actual sight and sound supervision of staff.
“Evidence: According to the attendance at 9:13 AM there were 12 children in care with three staff members. Children # 1 and 2 could not be located on the playground which is surrounded by woods. Staff # 3 was looking for the two missing children. At approximately 9:17 the two missing children were found hiding in the woods. The two children were observed to be out of sight and sound supervision for approximately four minutes.”
Dec 5, 2022: inspection1 deficiency
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Based on review of three staff’s records, the center failed to ensure that all repeat TB screenings/test were completed every two years.
“Evidence Staff # 1 most recent TB screening was dated 8/13/2020.”
May 16, 2022: inspection2 deficiencies
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Based on observation, the center failed to ensure that all playground equipment had the required amount of resilient surfacing.
“Evidence: 1. Directly under the swings and climbing equipment there was not enough resilient surfacing to measure. The required amount would be 6 inches.”
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Based on review of five children’s records, the center failed to ensure that all records were complete per the standard.
“Evidence: 1. Child # 1 was missing allergies and actions to be taken in case of the allergy. 2. 2. Child # 5 was missing the Physician’s Name and phone number.”
All 9 visits on record
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 2026 | Inspection | 1 violation cited |
| Oct 20, 2025 | Inspection | 1 violation cited |
| May 6, 2025 | Inspection | No violations cited |
| Oct 28, 2024 | Inspection | No violations cited |
| Apr 22, 2024 | Inspection | No violations cited |
| Oct 12, 2023 | Inspection | 4 violations cited |
| Apr 24, 2023 | Inspection | No violations cited |
| Dec 5, 2022 | Inspection | 1 violation cited |
| May 16, 2022 | Inspection | 2 violations cited |
Is it licensed?
- Child Day Center: Two Year license, expires Nov 22, 2027.
- Ages: 2 years 9 months - 5 years 11 months.
- Capacity: 25 children.
Virginia Department of Education, Search for Child Day Care: each facility’s page. Checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated weekly.
Has Virginia acted against it?
- 0 complaint inspections on record.
- No complaint allegations published with findings.
Virginia Department of Education, Search for Child Day Care: each inspection’s page, with its violations and Search for Child Day Care: each complaint’s page, with its allegations and findings. Checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated weekly.
Who does the caring?
- Virginia doesn’t publish staffing levels for individual providers. State rules set staff-to-child ratios by age.
Who owns it?
- Virginia’s search doesn’t list owners.
How is it rated?
- Virginia’s search doesn’t show a quality rating.
How does it compare nearby?
- Among 2 child care providers in Nelson County, the middle value for violations cited in the last three years was 2.5; this one had 2.
Virginia Department of Education, Search for Child Day Care: each inspection’s page, with its violations. Checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated weekly.
| Place | Violations cited in the last three years |
|---|---|
| North Branch School This child care provider | 2 |
| Woodland Baptist Church | 3 |
What the record doesn’t say
- Virginia doesn’t grade how serious a violation is, so no severity is shown.
- Virginia publishes a complaint’s allegations and findings only when its inspection found a violation and the records are linked.
- Virginia doesn’t publish staffing levels or owners for individual providers.
- A plan of correction sent late, or not at all, isn’t online: Virginia says to ask the inspector.
- Virginia’s pages show about the last five years of inspections; for older ones, Virginia says to contact the licensing inspector.
- Virginia says this information may not be accurate, up to date or complete, and shouldn’t be the only source in choosing care.
Sources
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Virginia Department of Education, Search for Child Day Care: each facility’s page.
Checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated weekly. No open licence; Virginia allows non-commercial use, so Care Ledger shows it free.
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Virginia Department of Education, Search for Child Day Care: each inspection’s page, with its violations.
Checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated weekly. No open licence; Virginia allows non-commercial use, so Care Ledger shows it free.
-
Virginia Department of Education, Search for Child Day Care: each complaint’s page, with its allegations and findings.
Checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated weekly. No open licence; Virginia allows non-commercial use, so Care Ledger shows it free.
If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: Virginia Department of Education. Virginia’s own record is on legacy.dss.virginia.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 Oct 27, 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.