Free Union Country School
A child day center in Free Union, Virginia 22940
4220 Free Union Road, Free Union, Virginia 22940. (434) 978-1700.
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
- 4 deficiencies in the last three years
- May 272026 the latest visit on record
- 40 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 May 27, 2026.
4 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
4 deficiencies in 2 months of the last 36. Last cited Aug 2025. 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.
Aug 25, 2025: inspection3 deficiencies
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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 zones on the small and large playgrounds are measured to be three feet when each piece of equipment requires at least six feet of a fall zone.
“Two pieces of climbing equipment did not have the required fall zone that included resilient surfacing.”
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The operational responsibilities of the licensee shall include ensuring that the center’s activities, services, and facilities are maintained in compliance with these standards, the center’s own policies and procedures that are required by these standards, and the terms of the current license issued by the department.
“The center’s license stated a capacity of 30 and there were 32 children in care.”
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The center shall develop written procedures for injury prevention.
“The injury prevention plan did not contain all components. It contained the playground safety portion.”
Feb 15, 2024: inspection1 deficiency
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8VAC20-780-245-A
The inspectors’ words, 97 words
“Repeat Violation Based on a review of staff records and interview, the center failed to obtain an annual minimum of 16 hours of training appropriate to the age of children in care for each staff. Evidence: 1. The record of staff #1 did not contain documentation of 16 hours of training from February 8, 2022 to February 7, 2023. Administration confirmed the training was not completed. 2. The record of staff #4 contained documentation of 6 hours of training from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. Administration confirmed staff #4 didn’t complete 16 hours of training.”
Aug 30, 2023: inspection2 deficiencies
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8VAC20-780-245-A
“Based on a review of staff records and interview, the center failed to obtain an annual minimum of 16 hours of training appropriate to the age of children in care for each staff. Evidence: 1. The record of staff #2, hired 08/31/2022, did not contain documentation of 16 hours of annual training. 2. The record of staff #5, hired 07/15/2021, did not contain documentation of 16 hours of annual training. 3. Staff #5 confirmed the 16 hours of training was not completed for each staff.”
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8VAC20-780-330-B
“Based on observation, the center failed to ensure where playground equipment is provided, resilient surfacing shall comply with minimum safety standards. Evidence: 1. Observed on the preschool playground the resilient surfacing under a play structure that measured 5ft. 4in. tall did not meet the minimum requirement of 12 inches of surfacing. The center utilizes pea gravel as resilient surfacing and bare ground was showing in several areas. Staff #5 acknowledged the resilient surfacing was not sufficient.”
May 17, 2023: inspection1 deficiency
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Based on the review of five staff files, the program failed to ensure that the VDOE-sponsored orientation course is completed within 90 days of employment for one staff.
“Evidence: 1. The first day of employment for Staff #5 was 08/22/2022. There was no certificate in file. 2. The administrator confirmed that the course had not been completed.”
Dec 14, 2022: inspection1 deficiency
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Based on review of medication and paperwork, program failed to ensure that it administers only those drugs that were dispensed from a pharmacy and maintained in the original, labeled container.
“Evidence: 1. Prescription medication was administered to 1M on 12/13/2022 and 12/14/2022. 2. The medication was not in it’s original, labeled container. 3. Administrator confirmed that they did not have the original container and that the parent would be contacted for it to be provided.”
All 9 visits on record
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| May 27, 2026 | Inspection | No violations cited |
| Aug 25, 2025 | Inspection | 3 violations cited |
| May 7, 2025 | Inspection | No violations cited |
| May 7, 2025 | Inspection | No violations cited |
| Nov 22, 2024 | Inspection | No violations cited |
| Feb 15, 2024 | Inspection | 1 violation cited |
| Aug 30, 2023 | Inspection | 2 violations cited |
| May 17, 2023 | Inspection | 1 violation cited |
| Dec 14, 2022 | Inspection | 1 violation cited |
Is it licensed?
- Child Day Center: Two Year license, expires Sep 12, 2027.
- Ages: 2 years 6 months - 11 years 11 months.
- Capacity: 40 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 64 child care providers in Albemarle County, the middle value for violations cited in the last three years was 7; this one had 4.
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 |
|---|---|
| Free Union Country School This child care provider | 4 |
| Mountaintop Montessori | 0 |
| Millstone of Ivy | 10 |
| C-Street Cooperative Preschool | 3 |
| Chestnut Grove Baptist Church | 3 |
| Trinity Presbyterian Church | 0 |
| Peabody School | 17 |
| Bright Beginnings, Inc. - Forest Lakes | 20 |
| Congregation Beth Israel | 8 |
| Bright Beginnings, Inc. - Crozet | 14 |
| Atlantic Coast Athletic Clubs of Virginia, LLC | 1 |
| Hillsboro Baptist Church | 0 |
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.