Gateway Freewill Baptist Church
A religious exempt child day center in Virginia Beach, Virginia 23462
5473 Virginia Beach Boulevard, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23462. (757) 499-6551.
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
- 15 deficiencies in the last three years
- Jan 222026 the latest visit on record
- 150 children, its capacity in the state’s list
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?
4 inspections on record, the latest on Jan 22, 2026.
15 violations cited in the last three years.
Virginia Department of Education, Search for Child Day Care: each inspection’s page, with its violations. Checked Nov 2, 2026. Updated weekly.
When those deficiencies happened
15 deficiencies in 2 months of the last 36. Last cited Jan 2026. 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 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 Nov 2, 2026. Updated weekly.
Jan 22, 2026: subsidy health and safety inspection7 deficiencies
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22.1-289.035-A
“All applicants for employment will undergo a background check as required prior to employment and every five years thereafter. Staff #1 and 2 did not have fingerprint background check updated five years after the most recent background check was obtained. The background checks are past due for update.”
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22.1-289.057-A
“Each child day program that serves preschool-age children will develop and implement a plan to test potable water. The facility did not have documentation of a plan to test potable water in either education/child care building.”
-
8VAC20-790-600-B
“Within the first 90 days of employment or subsidy vendor approval all staff who work directly with children shall complete Virginia Preservice Training for Child Care Staff. The vendor stated that not all staff working in the subsidy program have completed the required preservice training.”
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8VAC20-790-600-D-1
“All staff who work directly with children shall have within 90 days of the date of employment current certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) appropriate to the ages of children in care. The vendor stated that not all staff working in the subsidy program have completed the required (CPR) or first aid course.”
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8VAC20-790-600-F
“Staff who work directly with children, in addition to preservice and orientation training, will annually attend at least 16 hours of training. The vendor stated that not all staff working in the subsidy program have not obtained the required 16 hours of annual training.”
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8VAC20-790-630-A
“Areas and equipment of the center, inside and outside, shall be maintained in safe condition. There are shelving units in classrooms that are not secured to the wall and pose a toppling hazard.”
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8VAC20-790-640-A
“Hazardous substances such as cleaning materials, insecticides, and pesticides shall be kept in a locked place using a safe locking method that prevents access. There are unlocked cleaning materials in classrooms that are accessible to children in care.”
Nov 18, 2024: subsidy health and safety inspection7 deficiencies
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8VAC20-790-560-A
“Staff shall be evaluated by a health professional and be issued a statement that the individual is determined to be free of communicable tuberculosis (TB). Nine out of nine staff records reviewed did not contain documentation of staff being free of TB in a communicable form.”
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8VAC20-790-600-I
“There shall be at least one staff on duty who has obtained within the last three years instruction in performing a daily health observation of children. There was not any documentation that any staff has current daily health observation in the staff records.”
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8VAC20-790-630-A
“Areas and equipment of the center, inside and outside, shall be maintained in a Safe condition. The egress to outside was blocked by a latched child safety gate in the older toddler room.”
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8VAC20-790-770-B-4
“The vendor may administer medication provided the medication is given only at the dose, duration, and method of administration specified on the manufacturers? label for the age or weight of the child needing the medication. Child #1, a 12-month-old, was administered medication with out documentation that a doctor was asked prior to administration as the manufacturer label states.”
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8VAC20-790-780-C-2
“The following nonmedical emergency supplies shall be required: One working, battery-operated radio. There was not a battery-operated radio available during the inspection.”
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8VAC20-790-790-A
“The vendor shall have a written emergency preparedness plan. There was not a written emergency preparedness plan available during the inspection.”
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8VAC20-790-820-E
“Prepared infant formula shall be dated. None of the bottles stored in the infant room refrigerator were labeled with the date.”
Nov 18, 2024: inspection1 deficiency
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22.1-289.058
“Each building that was built before 2015 and that houses a child day program that serves preschool-age children shall be equipped with at least one carbon monoxide detector. There was not a carbon monoxide detector in the child care building.”
Mar 22, 2022: complaint inspection1 deficiency
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22.1-289.031-B-5
The inspectors’ words, 197 words
“Based on observations and interviews the center failed to ensure that the premises accessible to children are free of obvious injury hazards. Infant room: 1 - Infant 1 was left unattended with the bottle while laying on top of a horseshoe shaped pillow. a. There was a loose fitting pillow case over the horseshoe shaped pillow that posed an entanglement hazard. Staff 1 stated that the pillow case was not the original case for the pillow. 2 - Plastic sandwich baggies were observed hanging above each infant crib. The baggies were attached to the wall with push pins. Push pins pose a potential choking hazard. Plastic baggies pose a suffocation hazard. 3 - Infant 2 was sleeping in a crib with a loose fitting sheet. A loose fitting sheet poses an entanglement hazard. Physical plant 4- Additionally, a loosely installed plastic fencing was observed in the two-year-old room where a child in care was able to push the fencing over and landed on top of the barrier. Infant feeding: 5 - Staff 1 stated verbally and in writing that the feeding schedule was which lead to infant 1 not being fed for a period of three hours.”
All 4 visits on record
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 22, 2026 | Subsidy health and safety inspection | 7 violations cited |
| Nov 18, 2024 | Inspection | 1 violation cited |
| Nov 18, 2024 | Subsidy health and safety inspection | 7 violations cited |
| Mar 22, 2022 | Complaint inspection | 1 violation cited |
Is it licensed?
- Religious Exempt Child Day Center: Exempt from licensure, expires May 2, 2027.
- A current subsidy provider.
- Ages: 1 month - 12 years 11 months.
- Capacity: 150 children.
Virginia Department of Education, Search for Child Day Care: each facility’s page. Checked Nov 2, 2026. Updated weekly.
Has Virginia acted against it?
- 1 complaint inspection 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 Nov 2, 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 194 child care providers in the City of Virginia Beach, the middle value for violations cited in the last three years was 10; this one had 15.
Virginia Department of Education, Search for Child Day Care: each inspection’s page, with its violations. Checked Nov 2, 2026. Updated weekly.
| Place | Violations cited in the last three years |
|---|---|
| Gateway Freewill Baptist Church This child care provider | 15 |
| KINDERCARE EDUCATION-KEMPSVILLE #1331 | 53 |
| Kempsville Church of God | 5 |
| Emmanuel Episcopal Church | 1 |
| Diane McEwen | 5 |
| Virginia Beach Free Will Baptist Church | Not given |
| Toddler Station II | 14 |
| Sharon Dillard | 24 |
| Kid’s Town Learning Center, LLC | 14 |
| Montessori Academy of Virginia - Virginia Beach | 28 |
| Steppin Stones Academy and Preschool Inc. | 37 |
| Learn with Me Academy | 2 |
| City o VA Beach Parks & Recration Early Childhood?Williams Farm | 9 |
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 Nov 2, 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 Nov 2, 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 Nov 2, 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 Nov 2, 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.