Kindercare - Waxpool

Lets set the record straight.

I am a former employee of KinderCare Broadlands ....

I worked at the center under Sandra and had left when during the beginnings of the child abuse investigation however am great friends with alot of those involved in un-covering this scandal......,,

Sandra "retired" (was asked to either retire or be fired) because of child abuse allegations in the Toddlers Room. The Lead Teacher in there and her assistant where pushing the kids, and hitting the kids. Another teacher working there and the receptionist at the time Reported it to Sandra & at that time Ms. Laraine.

Nothing was done.

A teacher in the Infant room called Social Services and opened a case with Susan Smith. Who frankly said there was not "enough evidence" for a child abuse claim even though there were many eye-witnesses who told Susan the same story.

Threats were made to theses teachers jobs for filing the report. And teachers were told NOT to contact Social Services or they would be fired.

A combination of Kindercare parents, former teachers and current teachers decided to get corporate involved in the case. That is where Estrella, Linda and the at the Assistant Director Andrienne got involved. They were sent in from corporate to investigate the "situation" . SANDRA was still there at this time. Sandra was also good friends with the Teacher being accused and tried to cover up the story to protect her friend.

We continued to call Social Services and a LC Sherrif was sent to the center to interview current staff.

So yes Sandra seemed like a wonderful person to the parents, and frankly was a good boss - but she made a BAD decision. The decision to protect her friend and NOT report the abuse in her center. (why would she want to look bad)...

Sandra KNEW of the acts reported and honestly it is TOO BAD she is not listed with those being charged.

The initial reports were made in DECEMBER. ... the police report did not come out until January 15th... but it was our complaints to corporate and to Social services that prompted this entire investigation.

 

The December incident is different from the January incident. Two separate incidents occurred. If you review the state licensing reports that should clear things up.

http://www.dss.virginia.gov/facility/search/licensed.cgi?rm=Details;ID=21909

 

thanks VA lady- facts especially in such an important matter are so vital, over conjecture, opinion and speculation. kudos to "whistleblowers" who put the children first.

 

Yes you are correct, after Sandra left (i take it too much heat from KLC Corporate)...

Another incident occurred in the Two's classroom, by a teacher that was also a bit of a shock, since she seemed to be very loving and kind to the children in her class.

This is the incident that for some reason has now caught the eyes of the media. I am not sure why all the other prior claims did not.

This will be an interesting case to follow as i am sure more is to come. A few people have plenty of documentation between themselves and Kindercare Corp. and Susan to suggest that this matter was going on long before the media caught it.

 

Are you really stating that an allegation of child abuse was made in December and it took police a month to respond? I find that pretty atypical for child abuse cases, no? Those reports get ratcheted up pretty quickly. And in this case the County charge is "failure to report" alleged abuse and not/not that there actually was anyone charged/convicted/fined with actual abuse/neglect - although both are very wrong, the latter is what would concern me more....

So are you alleging there was actual abuse at the center and the police/DSS did nothing? Have you personally called the police with your information, or are you just posting on forums? Please clarify. Thanks!

 

Thank you for your insight on the reporting process. That does help me understand the time delay.

I am still curious if the charge of "abuse/neglect" was ever found to be true or not true by law enforcement investigators.

I see that they charged three people with "failure to report" the allegation, but there is no further information on whether abuse/neglect (as asserted in VALady's comments) actually occurred or could be substantiated.

Could it be that further charges are pending or possibly insufficient evidence to proceed? Will the public really know (from an official in the capacity to report such information) the entire issue?
Thank you.

 

Has anyone heard any further details on this case? It's been almost a week since anything was posted.

 

I definitely don't agree with abusing other peoples kids. These situations happen way too often in Kindercare's here.

The question has to be asked...How many times are these kids abused by daycare providers and the kid doesn't have behavioral issues?

Half of the kids that live here are "bad", because they don't receive proper parenting. It amuses me that people are in awe when someone loses their cool with these kids. This abuse goes on way more often then reported and happens for reasons ranging from stress to being understaffed.

 

Update. The case charging three managers with "failure to report a suspected case of child abuse" has been settled out of court. They are on 12 months probation and are court ordered to take a class offered through CPS, which teaches them the proper way to detect and report child abuse.

This class will now be recorded in the court system so if it happens again they can not use the defense "we did not know".

It's bad enough that they would have only gotten a $500 fine if they had gone to court and were charged with "failure to report" but this seems like a slap on the hand for what they did.

To clear things up, this incident involved my daughter and it took place at Kindercare on Waxpool Road January 15, 2008 at ~12:30pm. We were told of the incident January 22, seven days later.

What we were told (from the director at that time) was that a witness in the adjoining room heard a bang against the wall, it caught her attention so she looked through the window and saw an adult 'aggressively shaking' a child.

Kindercare's director, at that time, reported this incident after their internal investigation was complete, seven days later. They have 72 hours to report a case of child abuse or suspected child abuse - they waited seven days before reporting this incident. The law states that any case of child abuse or suspected child abuse requires immediate reporting to CPS and the police department. Child abuse is a criminal act and requires the police to be involved.

Once reported CPS, the police, and the State Licensing Board were all called in and held their investigations.

I was there that day 15mins after the incident occurred. They had my daughter in the office and when I asked what happened I was told that everything was fine, that she had some difficultly with nap time.

One thing we have significant issue with, besides the fact that this happened to our daughter much less any child, is that she could have been injured! How did they know she did not sustain an injury? We should have had her evaluated by her physician but they took that right away from us when they didn't tell us she had been aggressively shaken (aggressively shaken are the 'exact' words used by the director).

I felt that this situation needed updating as well as some clarity.

 

Wow. I'm glad to hear your daughter is doing well though. What a traumatic experience to go through not only for her, but for you.

 

I hope you have retained a good lawyer!

 

hello. i personally worked here with sandra. she was so mean to most of her workers. i personally quit form the inants room because of her. i LOVED the babies and kids, however she was just horrible. she one day asked me into her office and bumbarded me with rude and personal questions, one of which was if i was pregnant, and when i said no, she said good, and you better not get pregnant!!! she would come in and yell at us if any BABY was crying... she would come in several times during the day and make remarks and or yell at us for things that had nothing to do with our jobs. she once came to me and told me i didnt smile enough and that if i didnt start smiling all the time, she would make me quit... which i found intresting cause i was one of the happiest workers there. i cried at work about five times because of her, the other workers would tell me to ignore her... but how could you???!! she also would not let us tell parents the TRUTH about how their children did that day, ex, if the misbehaved... one boy was a nightmare there and i was tired of lying to his mom and having to deal with his bad behavior because of it, and i told his mom, she was shocked and told me i must be making it up and went and told sandra, i was removed from that classroom, and got a verbal beating from sandra... her goal was to make every parent believe that their child was a prine/princess there, and that everyone was happy... for walk ins for potential parents, she would come in before they got there to warn us, so we could make sure everything was perfect and that it looked like a fairy tale in our rooms!

and a certain teacher in the toddler room, one after the babies, she has worked there for quite some time, and i believe still does... she verbally yells at the kids and goes out to SMOKE while they nap and on her breaks... out in the play yard!

 

Does anyone know if this Kindercare is better now? Is the current director better? I was hoping to send my son there since it is within walking distance but when I visited many months ago I was not impressed with Sandra. She was a poor listener and evaded several of my questions. I'm not surprise by what twinboys said. Sandra seem a bit bossy which made me wonder how she could attract and keep good workers.

 

If it were me, I would look at Open Arms. I believe they have a waiting list, but I think they are going to open the new addition soon.

 

i dont think sandra is there anymore.

but if there is another center around you i might try that first... i reported all of what happened to sandras boss at the time (management could ave changed) but they did nothing and where no help at all... i have found that when management is bad, the daycare is not so great, workers are just not happy, and it reflects on the kids sometimes.

my friend is a teacher at beantree, and LOVES it. she even said she would put her little girl in there, its just too expensive for a single mom! go figure. lol

 

After the child abuse charges & convictions earlier in the year we opted NOT to use this Kindercare center...even after we met with the Dir CarrieAnne (sp?). It tooks us 4 months to get our refund from Kindercare,after repeated calls & visits to the center and escalation to HQ...

Now we are on the 9 month waiting list for BeanTree.

 

I can't help it... but I think that was a wise decision.

 

BeanTree is overrated IMO. It's the same programs...just a fancy setting. They say that they require degrees for their teachers, but it's just the teachers of the older kids (the infant and toddler teachers are not required to be degreed). I checked out the place and it reminds me of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. I'm sure it's a great place, but I'd rather spend my money on teachers and not the building. Again, this is just my opinion. We ended up choosing Minnieland (across from Broad Run).

 

Beantree is expensive, it's true. But included in the price are things unavailable elsewhere such as...

Daily lessons in music, computers, and Spanish (generally offered only weekly and for extra fees at other daycares)

A cleaning staff on site for the whole day, freeing up the teachers to focus on teaching, and keeping the spread of germs down (our son had only one bad cold since he started there 3 years ago)

Multiple directors on site at all times.

Multiple playgrounds and an indoor gym, a vegetable garden, and a sprinkler park.

Most important, kids are happy to be there and can't wait to get to their classrooms in the morning. The kids at Beantree know that learning can be fun and exciting.