Ocracoke Pre-K

10A NCAC 09 .3009 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 4/15/2026 Number Present: 10 Completed Date: 4/15/2026 Age: From 3 To 5 Total Minutes: 290 Time In: 09:40 AM Time Out: 02:30 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Annual Comp Full Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s visit was to monitor your program for compliance with applicable child care requirements for an annual compliance visit, including compliance with NCPre-K requirements located in Child Care Rule Section .3000, and to check on your progress with your preparations for the facility’s QRIS assessment using the new QRIS rules in Section .3200. Jennifer Bradshaw-Garrett, Child Care Consultant, accompanied me on the visit today. J. Owens, Administrator, assisted me with the visit. Your program currently operates with a five-star license, issued 6/14/22, earning 7 points in the education component, 7 points in the program standards component (meeting enhanced space and enhanced ratios minus one) and 1 quality point for 75% of lead teachers have a BA/BS or higher in ECE/CD. Your program was also monitored for compliance with implementing an approved curriculum as required for all four- and five-star licensed facilities where four-year-old children are enrolled. The last annual compliance visit was conducted May 14, 2025. The sanitation inspection was completed March 19, 2026, with a “Superior” classification. The last fire inspection was conducted August 15, 2025, with a Passed rating. Sanitation and fire inspections are required at least annually by the end of the month of the previous inspection. Send fire inspections to me within seven (7) days of the inspection. The center's compliance history was reviewed with the operator. The program’s compliance history was ninety-four percent as of April 10, 2026. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. License and contact information were current. Contact me to request any changes to your license or contact information. I monitored the classrooms and spaces used for child care and outdoor play areas for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 7/1/2025 and Item Numbers Listing, effective 4/2025. I monitored two staff records, two children’s records and all program records. Children enrolled in NCPre-K classroom were eating snacks before moving to indoor free play where they were given the opportunity to explore materials in the interest centers. They went outdoors to play on the fenced playground. Swings and two stationary climbers provided opportunities for large muscle development. Pieces of musical equipment, outdoor blocks, a chalk board, and sand area offered other outdoor experiences. When they returned indoors, they washed hands and ate lunch. After lunch, they rested on linen-covered mats. Lunch was observed. Lunches are brought from home. All children have Nutrition Opt-out forms in their files. The NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules were monitored for compliance. The NCPre-K Site Monitoring Tool was not available, but the NCPre-K Contract Administrator is sending a copy for review. Staff-child ratios and maximum group sizes required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3009 were verified in compliance. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teachers: B. Smith and NCPK Teacher Assistant: J. Baker (long-term sub). A selection of files was monitored for completed health assessments and developmental screenings. You stated Dial-4 screenings were completed in June 2025 or as children enrolled during the school year. The center uses the Teaching Strategies Gold instrument and other assessment tools to document evidence of children's ongoing progress. The first day of school was 8/25/25. The pre-k operates from daily from Monday – Thursday 7:45am – 3pm and Friday 7:45 – 11:15am.. Parent conferences are held two times per year. You stated that you use texts, written communication (English and Spanish) and newsletters to communicate with parents. The environment rating scale score completed on 5/18/22 and scored 5.89. I observed and documented the following violations during today’s visit. Two of the three violations were corrected during the visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 428 A current activity plan was not posted for each group of children for reference. The posted activity plan was dated November 17 - 21, 2025. GS 110-91(12); .0508(a) 805 Fire drills were not practiced monthly and/or the drill record was incomplete. Documentation of a monthly fire drills was not available for November 2025 and January 2026. .0604(t); .0302(d)(5) 1811 Shelter-in-place or lockdown drills were not practiced every three months and/or drill record was incomplete. Completion of emergency drills since the start of the 2025-26 school year was not documented on the Emergency Drill Log. .0604(u);.0302(d)(8) * Child Care programs are expected to achieve and maintain compliance at all times and are required by NC GS 110-90(4) (d) to achieve and maintain an eighteen-month compliance history score of at least seventy-five percent. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. The remaining violation related to activity plans must be corrected immediately. On or before April 29, 2026, I must receive a written, dated, and signed compliance letter that describes accurately and in detail how and when the Item #428 was corrected. Please be aware that any information submitted by you is considered legal documentation. If it is determined the information provided in the letter is not true, this may be considered falsification of information. If sufficient information is not received by the due date, a follow-up visit will be conducted. Mail or email the information to: Marjorie White, Child Care Consultant PO Box 116 Aydlett, NC 27916 Email – marjorie.white@dhhs.nc.gov If you email the compliance letter, it must be sent from the email address registered with the DCDEE which serves as your signature, tjordan@hyde.k12.nc.us, and the following information must be included: name, position, facility name, and facility ID number. An example is: Jane Doe, Administrator AAA Child Care ID # 12345678 Technical Assistance With Documented Violations: Activity Plans – Activity plans are essential to planning and preparing for children’s activities throughout the week and can make or break the flow of the classroom. Well-planned, intentional activities keep children engaged with less time for challenging behaviors. The posted activity plan was dated November 10, 2025. A current activity plan was not posted. The teacher stated that she had current activity plans available at home but had forgotten to bring them in this week after the spring break holiday. Weekly activity plans need to be dated and posted where they are visible to parents if they were to come to the classroom. For your compliance letter, describe how you will ensure that activity plans are current and posted and send a copy of your current activity plan. Fire Drills and Emergency Drills – Regular fire and emergency drills constitute an important safety practice. The routine practice of such drills fosters a calm, competent response to an emergency when it occurs. Documentation of a monthly fire drill was not available for November 2025 and January 2026. There was no documentation of an emergency drill (lock-down or shelter-in-place) every three months. The administrator stated that they occurred but were not written down on the emergency drill log. Fire drills were completed on November 20, 2025, and January 7, 2026. Lock-down drills were completed on October 2, 2025, and January 27, 2026. The teacher will update the Emergency Drill Log. These violations have been corrected. Licensed DPI programs are not required to complete a separate Emergency Preparedness Plan if they follow the school’s Critical Incident Plan (or similar type of plan for emergency responses). They are expected to have documentation of fire drills and emergency drills – shelter-in-place or lock-down). Fire drills must be completed for any month or partial month the Pre-K is operating. An emergency drill (lock-down or shelter-in-place) must be completed every 3 months (August/September – May/June). If the school does not complete emergency drills every three months, the Pre-K classrooms need to conduct their own drills. *Consider having a “soft” emergency drill in September with the Pre-K students to discuss the fire and emergency drills and practice going to the safe spaces without the noise and commotion of a school-wide drill. Resources: As a licensed child care facility, it is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and to teach your staff the rules to ensure your center remains in compliance. The following resources are available to you: 1. DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov – current laws and rules regarding child care facilities in North Carolina, “What’s New” tab, Items Number Listing which you can use as a checklist for your program. 2. Raise NC Newsletter – weekly newsletter emailed to facility email including relevant information from the Division, training opportunities, grants, and more. You can sign up to receive Raise NC on the What’s New tab. 3. NC Health & Safety Resource Center publishes a quarterly newsletter which provides topical information on a variety of health and safety topics. If you are not receiving these emails and newsletters, then please go to https://healthychildcare.unc.edu/resources/nc-child-care-health-and-safety-e-news/ and click on ‘Newsletter Signup’ to join their mailing list. The Spring 2026 edition, “Extending a Helping Hand - Partnerships!” highlighting the role of partnerships in creating inclusive classrooms and services. 4. Your local Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies and Child Care Health Consultants. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – A. Batts - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 or ashlyn@bhckids.org *Craven Smart Start, Inc. and Region 2 Child Care Resource and Referral: Phone (252) 672-5921; website - www.cravensmartstart.org. *Healthy Behaviors Specialist: S. Summer – sonia@cravensmartstart.org *The North Carolina Rated License Assessment Project (NCRLAP), www.ncrlap.org , has resources to help you and your staff prepare for the third editions of the Environment Rating Scales (ECERS-3 and ITERS-3). Visit the website for more information about updated resources, credit hour trainings, self-assessments and outreach assessment opportunities to help you become familiar with these tools. At this time the SACERS-U will continue to be the program assessment tool for school-age programs and classrooms. *Southwestern Child Development Commission, www.swcdcinc.org, Child Care Resources Inc., https://www.childcareresourcesinc.org/ and Early Years, https://www.earlyyearsnc.org/ offer DCDEE approved, on-line, self-paced and virtual real-time training and CEUs. SWCDC also offers affordable annual packages allowing you to take as many courses as you need or want for one price. Reminders: Required Water, Lead Paint, and Asbestos Testing - The Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids website reflects the following information about your center’s required three-year water testing and one-time lead paint testing, and asbestos testing: Three-year Water Testing – Not started for Ocracoke Pre-K; enrollment started for Ocracoke School Lead Paint Testing – Survey Review by RTI pending for OPK; enrollment started for OK Asbestos Testing – Survey Review by RTI pending for OPK; enrollment started for OK *The Clean Water for Carolina Kids website still reflects different information for the Ocracoke Pre-K and the overall school. This facility was built after 1988 and will likely be exempt from lead paint and asbestos testing when you complete enrollment and upload documentation such as property tax records to verify date building was built. This needs to be done as soon as possible. Maintain any paperwork received by mail or email in your Program Records file. *For more information check out the FAQ page at https://www.cleanwaterforuskids.org/en/carolina/. Go to the Contact Us tab if you need assistance or have questions. ABCMS Portal – T. Jordan has completed the ABCMS Provider Portal Training and is authorized to log in the ABCMS Provider Portal https://ncabcms.nc.gov/DCDEE/ using your Business NCID. You have not connected your all staff and created your roster. I am emailing the ABCMS Provider Portal Technical Assistance instructions which will assist with the step-by-step process of working in the ABCMS Portal, accessing your Pay Codes, helping your staff complete their Connecting Applications, and eventually “hiring” staff to your roster. If you are still having difficulties working through this process, consider completing the ABCMS Provider Portal Training on Moodle again and ensure that you are using the correct Business NCID to access the ABCMS Provider Portal and Individual NCID to access your own ABCMS Applicant Portal. Complete your roster and maintain it by updating it as staff are hired or terminated. *The following staff need to be connected to the center license number and hired to the roster: J. Owens, B. Smith, J. Baker. Staff Worksheets – We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that are coming due in the next year. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – Review Row 17 on Staff Worksheet for initial H&S Training due dates. New staff completed Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment and CPR/First Aid within three months of hire and can complete the rest of the training modules within twelve months. *On-going Training Hours – Review Row 18 (# hours to carry over) on the Staff Worksheets to determine how many on-going training hours returning staff will need by April 15, 2027, anniversary of today’s Annual Compliance visit). Staff Education and Works – J. Owens need to register for Works. Upload DPI Administrator Education Form and copy of Principal License. Current DPI Education Forms can be located on DCDEE website, https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/. Go to Services Tab. Scroll down to Workforce Education Unit link. Scroll down to locate appropriate DPI Education form for position. Use the instructions for DCDEE Works Registration I and II or DCDEE Works Account Update Instructions found in the blue DCDEE Works Resources box on the DCDEE Works webpage to assist you with this process. A current, active NCID is required to register for or update a Works account. Lunch Box Storage and Re-heating Food – Environmental Health Requirements state that potentially hazardous food requiring refrigeration after preparation shall be maintained at a temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Use the classroom refrigerator to store children’s lunch boxes if they contain food that is required to be refrigerated. If using a microwave to warm food, Environmental Health Requirements require that you use a food thermometer to ensure the food is heated to the correct temperature. Instead of using a microwave to reheat children’s food, ask parents who want their children to have hot food at lunch to pack it in a double-wall thermos. Parents can write a note that the thermos does not need to be refrigerated. Handwashing – Environmental Health Rules only require handwashing before eating; however, Item 8: Meals and snacks on the ECERS-3 requires handwashing before and after eating. This helps to ensure that classroom materials stay clean and do not accumulate food grime. It also prevents the transfer of allergens if a child is allergic or sensitive to different types of food such as peanut butter or nuts or other food items. Additional Comments: Healthy Behaviors Helpline - The Healthy Social Behaviors Project offers coaching for child care providers who would like support managing challenging classroom behaviors. The goal is to empower teachers to create learning environments that promote pro-social skills, like self-control and problem solving. Support is available by phone (888-600-1685, Option 1), email – HSB@childcareresourcesinc.org or through an online form. See Raise NC Newsletter dated 3/13/2026. Keep Your NCID Active – Save you and your staff a headache and set your calendar to remind you, your staff and your household members (CLIAR only) every 6 months to log in and out at https://myncid.nc.gov to keep your NCID account active so it will NOT be archived. *For assistance with NCID, contact ncid.nc.gov or 919.754.6000. QRIS (Quality Rating Improvement System) Technical Assistance: The facility will complete their QRIS Rated License using Pathway 1: Program Assessment. All information on the QRIS rated license assessments and documents will be posted at https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Provider/Licensing/Star-Rated-License/QRIS-Modernization and will also be provided through emails and Raise NC newsletters. You are planning to request an Outreach Assessment for the ECERS-3 in early July 2026 to be completed in September 2026. In August, you will need to re-submit your rated license application and ERS Request to your child care consultant so that you can request your ECERS-3 to be completed no later than late November 2026. Complete the 3-month Self-Study using either the Thinking More About Language or Thinking More About Activities worksheets or the self-guided assessment using the results of an Outreach Assessment. Check out information available on the NC Rated License Assessment website, www.ncrlap.org,including training and forms for the three-month self-study and other resources (videos, documents, live and recorded training) and opportunities for an Outreach Assessment. To request an Outreach Assessment - Email ncrlap@uncg.edu or call 1-866-362-7527. When the 3-month self-study is completed, the administrator will complete and submit the Self-Study Verification Form. Copies of the individual self-study will need to be available for review. *Individual Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) plans – to be completed by J. Owens, B. Smith, NCPK Teacher Assistant if needed *Facility Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) plan – to be completed by J. Owens or T. Jordan *Family and Community Engagement Plan – Meet all foundational practices and 4 additional practices. Document how you are meeting the foundational and additional practices with a copy of your parent handbook, written statements, and/or documentation of the practices including pictures, flyers, newsletters, emails, etc. *Education – Expected to be 5 Stars when all staff education is posted in Works At the completion of the visit, this visit summary was printed, reviewed, and a copy was left with you. Contact me, Marjorie White, by phone at (252) 373-9385 or by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov, or Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov if you have questions. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times

GS 110-91 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 4/15/2026 Number Present: 10 Completed Date: 4/15/2026 Age: From 3 To 5 Total Minutes: 290 Time In: 09:40 AM Time Out: 02:30 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Annual Comp Full Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s visit was to monitor your program for compliance with applicable child care requirements for an annual compliance visit, including compliance with NCPre-K requirements located in Child Care Rule Section .3000, and to check on your progress with your preparations for the facility’s QRIS assessment using the new QRIS rules in Section .3200. Jennifer Bradshaw-Garrett, Child Care Consultant, accompanied me on the visit today. J. Owens, Administrator, assisted me with the visit. Your program currently operates with a five-star license, issued 6/14/22, earning 7 points in the education component, 7 points in the program standards component (meeting enhanced space and enhanced ratios minus one) and 1 quality point for 75% of lead teachers have a BA/BS or higher in ECE/CD. Your program was also monitored for compliance with implementing an approved curriculum as required for all four- and five-star licensed facilities where four-year-old children are enrolled. The last annual compliance visit was conducted May 14, 2025. The sanitation inspection was completed March 19, 2026, with a “Superior” classification. The last fire inspection was conducted August 15, 2025, with a Passed rating. Sanitation and fire inspections are required at least annually by the end of the month of the previous inspection. Send fire inspections to me within seven (7) days of the inspection. The center's compliance history was reviewed with the operator. The program’s compliance history was ninety-four percent as of April 10, 2026. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. License and contact information were current. Contact me to request any changes to your license or contact information. I monitored the classrooms and spaces used for child care and outdoor play areas for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 7/1/2025 and Item Numbers Listing, effective 4/2025. I monitored two staff records, two children’s records and all program records. Children enrolled in NCPre-K classroom were eating snacks before moving to indoor free play where they were given the opportunity to explore materials in the interest centers. They went outdoors to play on the fenced playground. Swings and two stationary climbers provided opportunities for large muscle development. Pieces of musical equipment, outdoor blocks, a chalk board, and sand area offered other outdoor experiences. When they returned indoors, they washed hands and ate lunch. After lunch, they rested on linen-covered mats. Lunch was observed. Lunches are brought from home. All children have Nutrition Opt-out forms in their files. The NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules were monitored for compliance. The NCPre-K Site Monitoring Tool was not available, but the NCPre-K Contract Administrator is sending a copy for review. Staff-child ratios and maximum group sizes required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3009 were verified in compliance. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teachers: B. Smith and NCPK Teacher Assistant: J. Baker (long-term sub). A selection of files was monitored for completed health assessments and developmental screenings. You stated Dial-4 screenings were completed in June 2025 or as children enrolled during the school year. The center uses the Teaching Strategies Gold instrument and other assessment tools to document evidence of children's ongoing progress. The first day of school was 8/25/25. The pre-k operates from daily from Monday – Thursday 7:45am – 3pm and Friday 7:45 – 11:15am.. Parent conferences are held two times per year. You stated that you use texts, written communication (English and Spanish) and newsletters to communicate with parents. The environment rating scale score completed on 5/18/22 and scored 5.89. I observed and documented the following violations during today’s visit. Two of the three violations were corrected during the visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 428 A current activity plan was not posted for each group of children for reference. The posted activity plan was dated November 17 - 21, 2025. GS 110-91(12); .0508(a) 805 Fire drills were not practiced monthly and/or the drill record was incomplete. Documentation of a monthly fire drills was not available for November 2025 and January 2026. .0604(t); .0302(d)(5) 1811 Shelter-in-place or lockdown drills were not practiced every three months and/or drill record was incomplete. Completion of emergency drills since the start of the 2025-26 school year was not documented on the Emergency Drill Log. .0604(u);.0302(d)(8) * Child Care programs are expected to achieve and maintain compliance at all times and are required by NC GS 110-90(4) (d) to achieve and maintain an eighteen-month compliance history score of at least seventy-five percent. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. The remaining violation related to activity plans must be corrected immediately. On or before April 29, 2026, I must receive a written, dated, and signed compliance letter that describes accurately and in detail how and when the Item #428 was corrected. Please be aware that any information submitted by you is considered legal documentation. If it is determined the information provided in the letter is not true, this may be considered falsification of information. If sufficient information is not received by the due date, a follow-up visit will be conducted. Mail or email the information to: Marjorie White, Child Care Consultant PO Box 116 Aydlett, NC 27916 Email – marjorie.white@dhhs.nc.gov If you email the compliance letter, it must be sent from the email address registered with the DCDEE which serves as your signature, tjordan@hyde.k12.nc.us, and the following information must be included: name, position, facility name, and facility ID number. An example is: Jane Doe, Administrator AAA Child Care ID # 12345678 Technical Assistance With Documented Violations: Activity Plans – Activity plans are essential to planning and preparing for children’s activities throughout the week and can make or break the flow of the classroom. Well-planned, intentional activities keep children engaged with less time for challenging behaviors. The posted activity plan was dated November 10, 2025. A current activity plan was not posted. The teacher stated that she had current activity plans available at home but had forgotten to bring them in this week after the spring break holiday. Weekly activity plans need to be dated and posted where they are visible to parents if they were to come to the classroom. For your compliance letter, describe how you will ensure that activity plans are current and posted and send a copy of your current activity plan. Fire Drills and Emergency Drills – Regular fire and emergency drills constitute an important safety practice. The routine practice of such drills fosters a calm, competent response to an emergency when it occurs. Documentation of a monthly fire drill was not available for November 2025 and January 2026. There was no documentation of an emergency drill (lock-down or shelter-in-place) every three months. The administrator stated that they occurred but were not written down on the emergency drill log. Fire drills were completed on November 20, 2025, and January 7, 2026. Lock-down drills were completed on October 2, 2025, and January 27, 2026. The teacher will update the Emergency Drill Log. These violations have been corrected. Licensed DPI programs are not required to complete a separate Emergency Preparedness Plan if they follow the school’s Critical Incident Plan (or similar type of plan for emergency responses). They are expected to have documentation of fire drills and emergency drills – shelter-in-place or lock-down). Fire drills must be completed for any month or partial month the Pre-K is operating. An emergency drill (lock-down or shelter-in-place) must be completed every 3 months (August/September – May/June). If the school does not complete emergency drills every three months, the Pre-K classrooms need to conduct their own drills. *Consider having a “soft” emergency drill in September with the Pre-K students to discuss the fire and emergency drills and practice going to the safe spaces without the noise and commotion of a school-wide drill. Resources: As a licensed child care facility, it is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and to teach your staff the rules to ensure your center remains in compliance. The following resources are available to you: 1. DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov – current laws and rules regarding child care facilities in North Carolina, “What’s New” tab, Items Number Listing which you can use as a checklist for your program. 2. Raise NC Newsletter – weekly newsletter emailed to facility email including relevant information from the Division, training opportunities, grants, and more. You can sign up to receive Raise NC on the What’s New tab. 3. NC Health & Safety Resource Center publishes a quarterly newsletter which provides topical information on a variety of health and safety topics. If you are not receiving these emails and newsletters, then please go to https://healthychildcare.unc.edu/resources/nc-child-care-health-and-safety-e-news/ and click on ‘Newsletter Signup’ to join their mailing list. The Spring 2026 edition, “Extending a Helping Hand - Partnerships!” highlighting the role of partnerships in creating inclusive classrooms and services. 4. Your local Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies and Child Care Health Consultants. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – A. Batts - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 or ashlyn@bhckids.org *Craven Smart Start, Inc. and Region 2 Child Care Resource and Referral: Phone (252) 672-5921; website - www.cravensmartstart.org. *Healthy Behaviors Specialist: S. Summer – sonia@cravensmartstart.org *The North Carolina Rated License Assessment Project (NCRLAP), www.ncrlap.org , has resources to help you and your staff prepare for the third editions of the Environment Rating Scales (ECERS-3 and ITERS-3). Visit the website for more information about updated resources, credit hour trainings, self-assessments and outreach assessment opportunities to help you become familiar with these tools. At this time the SACERS-U will continue to be the program assessment tool for school-age programs and classrooms. *Southwestern Child Development Commission, www.swcdcinc.org, Child Care Resources Inc., https://www.childcareresourcesinc.org/ and Early Years, https://www.earlyyearsnc.org/ offer DCDEE approved, on-line, self-paced and virtual real-time training and CEUs. SWCDC also offers affordable annual packages allowing you to take as many courses as you need or want for one price. Reminders: Required Water, Lead Paint, and Asbestos Testing - The Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids website reflects the following information about your center’s required three-year water testing and one-time lead paint testing, and asbestos testing: Three-year Water Testing – Not started for Ocracoke Pre-K; enrollment started for Ocracoke School Lead Paint Testing – Survey Review by RTI pending for OPK; enrollment started for OK Asbestos Testing – Survey Review by RTI pending for OPK; enrollment started for OK *The Clean Water for Carolina Kids website still reflects different information for the Ocracoke Pre-K and the overall school. This facility was built after 1988 and will likely be exempt from lead paint and asbestos testing when you complete enrollment and upload documentation such as property tax records to verify date building was built. This needs to be done as soon as possible. Maintain any paperwork received by mail or email in your Program Records file. *For more information check out the FAQ page at https://www.cleanwaterforuskids.org/en/carolina/. Go to the Contact Us tab if you need assistance or have questions. ABCMS Portal – T. Jordan has completed the ABCMS Provider Portal Training and is authorized to log in the ABCMS Provider Portal https://ncabcms.nc.gov/DCDEE/ using your Business NCID. You have not connected your all staff and created your roster. I am emailing the ABCMS Provider Portal Technical Assistance instructions which will assist with the step-by-step process of working in the ABCMS Portal, accessing your Pay Codes, helping your staff complete their Connecting Applications, and eventually “hiring” staff to your roster. If you are still having difficulties working through this process, consider completing the ABCMS Provider Portal Training on Moodle again and ensure that you are using the correct Business NCID to access the ABCMS Provider Portal and Individual NCID to access your own ABCMS Applicant Portal. Complete your roster and maintain it by updating it as staff are hired or terminated. *The following staff need to be connected to the center license number and hired to the roster: J. Owens, B. Smith, J. Baker. Staff Worksheets – We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that are coming due in the next year. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – Review Row 17 on Staff Worksheet for initial H&S Training due dates. New staff completed Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment and CPR/First Aid within three months of hire and can complete the rest of the training modules within twelve months. *On-going Training Hours – Review Row 18 (# hours to carry over) on the Staff Worksheets to determine how many on-going training hours returning staff will need by April 15, 2027, anniversary of today’s Annual Compliance visit). Staff Education and Works – J. Owens need to register for Works. Upload DPI Administrator Education Form and copy of Principal License. Current DPI Education Forms can be located on DCDEE website, https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/. Go to Services Tab. Scroll down to Workforce Education Unit link. Scroll down to locate appropriate DPI Education form for position. Use the instructions for DCDEE Works Registration I and II or DCDEE Works Account Update Instructions found in the blue DCDEE Works Resources box on the DCDEE Works webpage to assist you with this process. A current, active NCID is required to register for or update a Works account. Lunch Box Storage and Re-heating Food – Environmental Health Requirements state that potentially hazardous food requiring refrigeration after preparation shall be maintained at a temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Use the classroom refrigerator to store children’s lunch boxes if they contain food that is required to be refrigerated. If using a microwave to warm food, Environmental Health Requirements require that you use a food thermometer to ensure the food is heated to the correct temperature. Instead of using a microwave to reheat children’s food, ask parents who want their children to have hot food at lunch to pack it in a double-wall thermos. Parents can write a note that the thermos does not need to be refrigerated. Handwashing – Environmental Health Rules only require handwashing before eating; however, Item 8: Meals and snacks on the ECERS-3 requires handwashing before and after eating. This helps to ensure that classroom materials stay clean and do not accumulate food grime. It also prevents the transfer of allergens if a child is allergic or sensitive to different types of food such as peanut butter or nuts or other food items. Additional Comments: Healthy Behaviors Helpline - The Healthy Social Behaviors Project offers coaching for child care providers who would like support managing challenging classroom behaviors. The goal is to empower teachers to create learning environments that promote pro-social skills, like self-control and problem solving. Support is available by phone (888-600-1685, Option 1), email – HSB@childcareresourcesinc.org or through an online form. See Raise NC Newsletter dated 3/13/2026. Keep Your NCID Active – Save you and your staff a headache and set your calendar to remind you, your staff and your household members (CLIAR only) every 6 months to log in and out at https://myncid.nc.gov to keep your NCID account active so it will NOT be archived. *For assistance with NCID, contact ncid.nc.gov or 919.754.6000. QRIS (Quality Rating Improvement System) Technical Assistance: The facility will complete their QRIS Rated License using Pathway 1: Program Assessment. All information on the QRIS rated license assessments and documents will be posted at https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Provider/Licensing/Star-Rated-License/QRIS-Modernization and will also be provided through emails and Raise NC newsletters. You are planning to request an Outreach Assessment for the ECERS-3 in early July 2026 to be completed in September 2026. In August, you will need to re-submit your rated license application and ERS Request to your child care consultant so that you can request your ECERS-3 to be completed no later than late November 2026. Complete the 3-month Self-Study using either the Thinking More About Language or Thinking More About Activities worksheets or the self-guided assessment using the results of an Outreach Assessment. Check out information available on the NC Rated License Assessment website, www.ncrlap.org,including training and forms for the three-month self-study and other resources (videos, documents, live and recorded training) and opportunities for an Outreach Assessment. To request an Outreach Assessment - Email ncrlap@uncg.edu or call 1-866-362-7527. When the 3-month self-study is completed, the administrator will complete and submit the Self-Study Verification Form. Copies of the individual self-study will need to be available for review. *Individual Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) plans – to be completed by J. Owens, B. Smith, NCPK Teacher Assistant if needed *Facility Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) plan – to be completed by J. Owens or T. Jordan *Family and Community Engagement Plan – Meet all foundational practices and 4 additional practices. Document how you are meeting the foundational and additional practices with a copy of your parent handbook, written statements, and/or documentation of the practices including pictures, flyers, newsletters, emails, etc. *Education – Expected to be 5 Stars when all staff education is posted in Works At the completion of the visit, this visit summary was printed, reviewed, and a copy was left with you. Contact me, Marjorie White, by phone at (252) 373-9385 or by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov, or Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov if you have questions. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times

NC GS 110-90 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 4/15/2026 Number Present: 10 Completed Date: 4/15/2026 Age: From 3 To 5 Total Minutes: 290 Time In: 09:40 AM Time Out: 02:30 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Annual Comp Full Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s visit was to monitor your program for compliance with applicable child care requirements for an annual compliance visit, including compliance with NCPre-K requirements located in Child Care Rule Section .3000, and to check on your progress with your preparations for the facility’s QRIS assessment using the new QRIS rules in Section .3200. Jennifer Bradshaw-Garrett, Child Care Consultant, accompanied me on the visit today. J. Owens, Administrator, assisted me with the visit. Your program currently operates with a five-star license, issued 6/14/22, earning 7 points in the education component, 7 points in the program standards component (meeting enhanced space and enhanced ratios minus one) and 1 quality point for 75% of lead teachers have a BA/BS or higher in ECE/CD. Your program was also monitored for compliance with implementing an approved curriculum as required for all four- and five-star licensed facilities where four-year-old children are enrolled. The last annual compliance visit was conducted May 14, 2025. The sanitation inspection was completed March 19, 2026, with a “Superior” classification. The last fire inspection was conducted August 15, 2025, with a Passed rating. Sanitation and fire inspections are required at least annually by the end of the month of the previous inspection. Send fire inspections to me within seven (7) days of the inspection. The center's compliance history was reviewed with the operator. The program’s compliance history was ninety-four percent as of April 10, 2026. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. License and contact information were current. Contact me to request any changes to your license or contact information. I monitored the classrooms and spaces used for child care and outdoor play areas for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 7/1/2025 and Item Numbers Listing, effective 4/2025. I monitored two staff records, two children’s records and all program records. Children enrolled in NCPre-K classroom were eating snacks before moving to indoor free play where they were given the opportunity to explore materials in the interest centers. They went outdoors to play on the fenced playground. Swings and two stationary climbers provided opportunities for large muscle development. Pieces of musical equipment, outdoor blocks, a chalk board, and sand area offered other outdoor experiences. When they returned indoors, they washed hands and ate lunch. After lunch, they rested on linen-covered mats. Lunch was observed. Lunches are brought from home. All children have Nutrition Opt-out forms in their files. The NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules were monitored for compliance. The NCPre-K Site Monitoring Tool was not available, but the NCPre-K Contract Administrator is sending a copy for review. Staff-child ratios and maximum group sizes required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3009 were verified in compliance. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teachers: B. Smith and NCPK Teacher Assistant: J. Baker (long-term sub). A selection of files was monitored for completed health assessments and developmental screenings. You stated Dial-4 screenings were completed in June 2025 or as children enrolled during the school year. The center uses the Teaching Strategies Gold instrument and other assessment tools to document evidence of children's ongoing progress. The first day of school was 8/25/25. The pre-k operates from daily from Monday – Thursday 7:45am – 3pm and Friday 7:45 – 11:15am.. Parent conferences are held two times per year. You stated that you use texts, written communication (English and Spanish) and newsletters to communicate with parents. The environment rating scale score completed on 5/18/22 and scored 5.89. I observed and documented the following violations during today’s visit. Two of the three violations were corrected during the visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 428 A current activity plan was not posted for each group of children for reference. The posted activity plan was dated November 17 - 21, 2025. GS 110-91(12); .0508(a) 805 Fire drills were not practiced monthly and/or the drill record was incomplete. Documentation of a monthly fire drills was not available for November 2025 and January 2026. .0604(t); .0302(d)(5) 1811 Shelter-in-place or lockdown drills were not practiced every three months and/or drill record was incomplete. Completion of emergency drills since the start of the 2025-26 school year was not documented on the Emergency Drill Log. .0604(u);.0302(d)(8) * Child Care programs are expected to achieve and maintain compliance at all times and are required by NC GS 110-90(4) (d) to achieve and maintain an eighteen-month compliance history score of at least seventy-five percent. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. The remaining violation related to activity plans must be corrected immediately. On or before April 29, 2026, I must receive a written, dated, and signed compliance letter that describes accurately and in detail how and when the Item #428 was corrected. Please be aware that any information submitted by you is considered legal documentation. If it is determined the information provided in the letter is not true, this may be considered falsification of information. If sufficient information is not received by the due date, a follow-up visit will be conducted. Mail or email the information to: Marjorie White, Child Care Consultant PO Box 116 Aydlett, NC 27916 Email – marjorie.white@dhhs.nc.gov If you email the compliance letter, it must be sent from the email address registered with the DCDEE which serves as your signature, tjordan@hyde.k12.nc.us, and the following information must be included: name, position, facility name, and facility ID number. An example is: Jane Doe, Administrator AAA Child Care ID # 12345678 Technical Assistance With Documented Violations: Activity Plans – Activity plans are essential to planning and preparing for children’s activities throughout the week and can make or break the flow of the classroom. Well-planned, intentional activities keep children engaged with less time for challenging behaviors. The posted activity plan was dated November 10, 2025. A current activity plan was not posted. The teacher stated that she had current activity plans available at home but had forgotten to bring them in this week after the spring break holiday. Weekly activity plans need to be dated and posted where they are visible to parents if they were to come to the classroom. For your compliance letter, describe how you will ensure that activity plans are current and posted and send a copy of your current activity plan. Fire Drills and Emergency Drills – Regular fire and emergency drills constitute an important safety practice. The routine practice of such drills fosters a calm, competent response to an emergency when it occurs. Documentation of a monthly fire drill was not available for November 2025 and January 2026. There was no documentation of an emergency drill (lock-down or shelter-in-place) every three months. The administrator stated that they occurred but were not written down on the emergency drill log. Fire drills were completed on November 20, 2025, and January 7, 2026. Lock-down drills were completed on October 2, 2025, and January 27, 2026. The teacher will update the Emergency Drill Log. These violations have been corrected. Licensed DPI programs are not required to complete a separate Emergency Preparedness Plan if they follow the school’s Critical Incident Plan (or similar type of plan for emergency responses). They are expected to have documentation of fire drills and emergency drills – shelter-in-place or lock-down). Fire drills must be completed for any month or partial month the Pre-K is operating. An emergency drill (lock-down or shelter-in-place) must be completed every 3 months (August/September – May/June). If the school does not complete emergency drills every three months, the Pre-K classrooms need to conduct their own drills. *Consider having a “soft” emergency drill in September with the Pre-K students to discuss the fire and emergency drills and practice going to the safe spaces without the noise and commotion of a school-wide drill. Resources: As a licensed child care facility, it is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and to teach your staff the rules to ensure your center remains in compliance. The following resources are available to you: 1. DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov – current laws and rules regarding child care facilities in North Carolina, “What’s New” tab, Items Number Listing which you can use as a checklist for your program. 2. Raise NC Newsletter – weekly newsletter emailed to facility email including relevant information from the Division, training opportunities, grants, and more. You can sign up to receive Raise NC on the What’s New tab. 3. NC Health & Safety Resource Center publishes a quarterly newsletter which provides topical information on a variety of health and safety topics. If you are not receiving these emails and newsletters, then please go to https://healthychildcare.unc.edu/resources/nc-child-care-health-and-safety-e-news/ and click on ‘Newsletter Signup’ to join their mailing list. The Spring 2026 edition, “Extending a Helping Hand - Partnerships!” highlighting the role of partnerships in creating inclusive classrooms and services. 4. Your local Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies and Child Care Health Consultants. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – A. Batts - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 or ashlyn@bhckids.org *Craven Smart Start, Inc. and Region 2 Child Care Resource and Referral: Phone (252) 672-5921; website - www.cravensmartstart.org. *Healthy Behaviors Specialist: S. Summer – sonia@cravensmartstart.org *The North Carolina Rated License Assessment Project (NCRLAP), www.ncrlap.org , has resources to help you and your staff prepare for the third editions of the Environment Rating Scales (ECERS-3 and ITERS-3). Visit the website for more information about updated resources, credit hour trainings, self-assessments and outreach assessment opportunities to help you become familiar with these tools. At this time the SACERS-U will continue to be the program assessment tool for school-age programs and classrooms. *Southwestern Child Development Commission, www.swcdcinc.org, Child Care Resources Inc., https://www.childcareresourcesinc.org/ and Early Years, https://www.earlyyearsnc.org/ offer DCDEE approved, on-line, self-paced and virtual real-time training and CEUs. SWCDC also offers affordable annual packages allowing you to take as many courses as you need or want for one price. Reminders: Required Water, Lead Paint, and Asbestos Testing - The Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids website reflects the following information about your center’s required three-year water testing and one-time lead paint testing, and asbestos testing: Three-year Water Testing – Not started for Ocracoke Pre-K; enrollment started for Ocracoke School Lead Paint Testing – Survey Review by RTI pending for OPK; enrollment started for OK Asbestos Testing – Survey Review by RTI pending for OPK; enrollment started for OK *The Clean Water for Carolina Kids website still reflects different information for the Ocracoke Pre-K and the overall school. This facility was built after 1988 and will likely be exempt from lead paint and asbestos testing when you complete enrollment and upload documentation such as property tax records to verify date building was built. This needs to be done as soon as possible. Maintain any paperwork received by mail or email in your Program Records file. *For more information check out the FAQ page at https://www.cleanwaterforuskids.org/en/carolina/. Go to the Contact Us tab if you need assistance or have questions. ABCMS Portal – T. Jordan has completed the ABCMS Provider Portal Training and is authorized to log in the ABCMS Provider Portal https://ncabcms.nc.gov/DCDEE/ using your Business NCID. You have not connected your all staff and created your roster. I am emailing the ABCMS Provider Portal Technical Assistance instructions which will assist with the step-by-step process of working in the ABCMS Portal, accessing your Pay Codes, helping your staff complete their Connecting Applications, and eventually “hiring” staff to your roster. If you are still having difficulties working through this process, consider completing the ABCMS Provider Portal Training on Moodle again and ensure that you are using the correct Business NCID to access the ABCMS Provider Portal and Individual NCID to access your own ABCMS Applicant Portal. Complete your roster and maintain it by updating it as staff are hired or terminated. *The following staff need to be connected to the center license number and hired to the roster: J. Owens, B. Smith, J. Baker. Staff Worksheets – We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that are coming due in the next year. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – Review Row 17 on Staff Worksheet for initial H&S Training due dates. New staff completed Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment and CPR/First Aid within three months of hire and can complete the rest of the training modules within twelve months. *On-going Training Hours – Review Row 18 (# hours to carry over) on the Staff Worksheets to determine how many on-going training hours returning staff will need by April 15, 2027, anniversary of today’s Annual Compliance visit). Staff Education and Works – J. Owens need to register for Works. Upload DPI Administrator Education Form and copy of Principal License. Current DPI Education Forms can be located on DCDEE website, https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/. Go to Services Tab. Scroll down to Workforce Education Unit link. Scroll down to locate appropriate DPI Education form for position. Use the instructions for DCDEE Works Registration I and II or DCDEE Works Account Update Instructions found in the blue DCDEE Works Resources box on the DCDEE Works webpage to assist you with this process. A current, active NCID is required to register for or update a Works account. Lunch Box Storage and Re-heating Food – Environmental Health Requirements state that potentially hazardous food requiring refrigeration after preparation shall be maintained at a temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Use the classroom refrigerator to store children’s lunch boxes if they contain food that is required to be refrigerated. If using a microwave to warm food, Environmental Health Requirements require that you use a food thermometer to ensure the food is heated to the correct temperature. Instead of using a microwave to reheat children’s food, ask parents who want their children to have hot food at lunch to pack it in a double-wall thermos. Parents can write a note that the thermos does not need to be refrigerated. Handwashing – Environmental Health Rules only require handwashing before eating; however, Item 8: Meals and snacks on the ECERS-3 requires handwashing before and after eating. This helps to ensure that classroom materials stay clean and do not accumulate food grime. It also prevents the transfer of allergens if a child is allergic or sensitive to different types of food such as peanut butter or nuts or other food items. Additional Comments: Healthy Behaviors Helpline - The Healthy Social Behaviors Project offers coaching for child care providers who would like support managing challenging classroom behaviors. The goal is to empower teachers to create learning environments that promote pro-social skills, like self-control and problem solving. Support is available by phone (888-600-1685, Option 1), email – HSB@childcareresourcesinc.org or through an online form. See Raise NC Newsletter dated 3/13/2026. Keep Your NCID Active – Save you and your staff a headache and set your calendar to remind you, your staff and your household members (CLIAR only) every 6 months to log in and out at https://myncid.nc.gov to keep your NCID account active so it will NOT be archived. *For assistance with NCID, contact ncid.nc.gov or 919.754.6000. QRIS (Quality Rating Improvement System) Technical Assistance: The facility will complete their QRIS Rated License using Pathway 1: Program Assessment. All information on the QRIS rated license assessments and documents will be posted at https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Provider/Licensing/Star-Rated-License/QRIS-Modernization and will also be provided through emails and Raise NC newsletters. You are planning to request an Outreach Assessment for the ECERS-3 in early July 2026 to be completed in September 2026. In August, you will need to re-submit your rated license application and ERS Request to your child care consultant so that you can request your ECERS-3 to be completed no later than late November 2026. Complete the 3-month Self-Study using either the Thinking More About Language or Thinking More About Activities worksheets or the self-guided assessment using the results of an Outreach Assessment. Check out information available on the NC Rated License Assessment website, www.ncrlap.org,including training and forms for the three-month self-study and other resources (videos, documents, live and recorded training) and opportunities for an Outreach Assessment. To request an Outreach Assessment - Email ncrlap@uncg.edu or call 1-866-362-7527. When the 3-month self-study is completed, the administrator will complete and submit the Self-Study Verification Form. Copies of the individual self-study will need to be available for review. *Individual Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) plans – to be completed by J. Owens, B. Smith, NCPK Teacher Assistant if needed *Facility Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) plan – to be completed by J. Owens or T. Jordan *Family and Community Engagement Plan – Meet all foundational practices and 4 additional practices. Document how you are meeting the foundational and additional practices with a copy of your parent handbook, written statements, and/or documentation of the practices including pictures, flyers, newsletters, emails, etc. *Education – Expected to be 5 Stars when all staff education is posted in Works At the completion of the visit, this visit summary was printed, reviewed, and a copy was left with you. Contact me, Marjorie White, by phone at (252) 373-9385 or by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov, or Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov if you have questions. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times

10A NCAC 09 .3009 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 11/18/2025 Number Present: 10 Completed Date: 11/18/2025 Age: From 3 To 5 Total Minutes: 370 Time In: 09:20 AM Time Out: 03:30 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Routine Unannounced Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s visit was to monitor your program for compliance with applicable child care requirements for a routine unannounced visit, including compliance with NCPre-K requirements located in Child Care Rule Section .3000, and to review QRIS rules in Section .3200 in preparation for the facility’s QRIS assessment. J. Owens, Administrator, assisted me with the visit. Your program currently operates with a five-star license, issued 6/14/22, earning 7 points in the education component, 7 points in the program standards component (meeting enhanced space and enhanced ratios minus one) and 1 quality point for 75% of lead teachers have a BA/BS or higher in ECE/CD. Your program was also monitored for compliance with implementing an approved curriculum as required for all four- and five-star licensed facilities where four-year-old children are enrolled. The last annual compliance visit was conducted 5/14/25. The sanitation inspection was completed 11/5/25 with a “Superior” classification. The last fire inspection was conducted 8/15/25 and your facility was approved for daytime care only. The center's compliance history was reviewed with the operator. The program’s compliance history was ninety-eight percent as of 11/14/25. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. License and contact information were current. Contact me to request any changes to your license or contact information. The license was posted, and the restrictions were in compliance. I monitored the classrooms and spaces used for child care and outdoor play areas for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 7/1/2025 and Item Numbers Listing, effective 4/2025. Files for new staff were reviewed along with program records. Children were engaged in a whole group activity playing with “slime”. Teachers assisted with them asking divergent questions about the sensations of touching and playing with the slimy material. They washed hands before going outdoors to play on the renovated playground that included swings, a new complex climber, a pirate ship, two spring rockers and other pieces of equipment for music, art, cognitive thinking, and sand play. Synthetic surfacing meeting ASTM standards provided the resilient surfacing. When they returned, they washed hands and ate lunch. After lunch they rested on linen-covered mats. Lunch was observed. Lunches are brought from home. All children have Nutrition Opt-out forms in their files. I will fully review the NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules for compliance at the next visit. I will review the NCPre-K Site Monitoring Tool at my next visit. Staff-child ratios and maximum group sizes required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3009 were verified in compliance. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teachers: B. Smith and NCPK Teacher Assistants: J. Baker (long-term sub). Because it was a Routine Unannounced visit, I only completed a cursory review of two children’s files to be able to provide technical assistance to the new staff. Both files included all required documents. You stated Dial-4 screenings were completed in June 2025 or as children enrolled during the school year. The center uses the Teaching Strategies Gold instrument to document evidence of children's ongoing progress. The checkpoint assessments are conducted three times per year: at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. The first day of school was 8/25/25. The pre-k operates from daily from Monday – Thursday 7:45am – 3pm and Friday 7:45 – 11:15am.. Parent conferences are held two times per year. You stated that you use texts, written communication (English and Spanish) and newsletters to communicate with parents. The environment rating scale score completed on 5/18/22 and scored 5.89. I observed and documented the following violations during today’s visit. Both violations were corrected during the visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 840 All corrosive agents, pesticides, bleaches, detergents, cleansers, polishes, any product which is under pressure in an aerosol dispenser, and any substance which may be hazardous to a child if ingested, inhaled, or handled were not stored in a locked room or cabinet. The following cleaning products were stored out of reach of children in an unlocked cabinet: full strength Clorox bleach, Febreze Aerosol Spray, Goof Off Adhesive Remover, Scentsy Counter Clean Spray (non-aerosol). .2820(b) 841 Medications including prescription and non-prescription items were not stored in a locked cabinet or other locked container. In the hallway leading to the bathrooms, a staff member’s backpack with a bottle of Excedrin and three individual Pain Reliever packets, was stored on a hook so that the backpack and medication were within reach of children and not maintained in locked storage. A staff backpack on top of the refrigerator contained a bottle of Tylenol. It was out of reach of children but was not locked. 15A NCAC 18A .2820(d) * Child Care programs are expected to achieve and maintain compliance at all times and are required by NC GS 110-90(4) (d) to achieve and maintain an eighteen-month compliance history score of at least seventy-five percent. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. The violations documented today were corrected during the visit. Technical Assistance With Documented Violations: Storage of Hazardous Items and Medication - Improper storge of hazardous items and medications results in millions of accidental poisonings in children annually. The following cleaning products were stored out of reach of children in a cabinet in the classroom but were not locked: full strength Clorox bleach, Febreze Aerosol Spray, Goof Off Adhesive Remover, Scentsy Counter Clean Spray (non-aerosol). In the hallway leading to the bathrooms, a staff member’s backpack with a bottle of Excedrin and three individual Pain Reliever packets, was stored on a hook so that the backpack and medication were within reach of children and not maintained in locked storage. A staff backpack on top of the refrigerator contained a bottle of Tylenol. It was out of reach of children (five feet off the finished floor) but was not locked. The teacher stated that she was not aware that the medication needed to be locked and thought that the cleaning supplies only had to be out of reach. She immediately locked all items and both bags in the locked cabinet. Cleaning supplies, other than non-aerosol EPA approved disinfectants, need to be maintained in locked storage. Non-aerosol EPA approved disinfectants (prepared bleach spray bottles, non-aerosol disinfectant sprays and wipes) may be stored out of reach of children. All medications (topical ointments and creams, OTC, and prescriptions) must be inaccessible to children. Diaper creams, hand sanitizer and lotions may be stored out of reach, on a shelf or in a cabinet at least five feet or higher. OTC and prescription medications must be locked. Emergency medications (inhalers, Epi Pens) are not required to be locked but must be stored out of reach so that they are accessible to the teacher but inaccessible to the children. You stated that none of the children enrolled use any type of medication. This item has been corrected. I also provided you with a Hazardous Items Storage for Child Care poster. When using a cabinet or closet with multiple shelves to store various types of materials, make sure that the following items are stored in the correct order. All food items (open or unopened) and non-medical or non-cleaning supplies (utensils, plates, cups, classroom supplies) must be stored on a shelf above medication (prescription, OTC, lotions, diaper cream, sunscreen, etc.) and cleaning supplies. Medication must be stored below food and other items and above cleaning supplies. Cleaning supplies must be stored on the lowest shelf in a cabinet so that they do not accidentally turn over and leak onto the shelves below. If you have a cabinet below a sink or a ground-level cabinet, you may store cleaning supplies in it if you can lock it. Resources: As a licensed child care facility, it is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and to teach your staff the rules to ensure your center remains in compliance. The following resources are available to you: 1. DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov – current laws and rules regarding child care facilities in North Carolina, “What’s New” tab, Items Number Listing which you can use as a checklist for your program. 2. Raise NC Newsletter – weekly newsletter emailed to facility email including relevant information from the Division, training opportunities, grants, and more. You can sign up to receive Raise NC on the What’s New tab. 3. Your local Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies and Child Care Health Consultants. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – A. Batts - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 or ashlyn@bhckids.org *Craven Smart Start, Inc. and Region 2 Child Care Resource and Referral: Phone (252) 672-5921; website - www.cravensmartstart.org. *Healthy Behaviors Specialist: S. Summer – sonia@cravensmartstart.org and B. Parnell – brandi@cravensmartstart.org Playground: You renovated your playground over the summer, installing poured synthetic surfacing and new stationary equipment. I reviewed documentation on the surfacing which stated that it meets ASTM 1292 testing standards. The dimensions of the playground did not change. I will update your outdoor diagram and provide you with a copy of it. Reminders: Required Water, Lead Paint, and Asbestos Testing - The Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids website reflects the following information about your center’s required three-year water testing and one-time lead paint testing, and asbestos testing: Three-year Water Testing – Not started for Ocracoke Pre-K; enrollment started for Ocracoke School Lead Paint Testing – Survey Review by RTI pending for OPK; enrollment started for OK Asbestos Testing – Survey Review by RTI pending for OPK; enrollment started for OK *The Clean Water for Carolina Kids website still reflects different information for the Ocracoke Pre-K and the overall school. This facility was built after 1988 and will likely be exempt from lead paint and asbestos testing when you complete enrollment and upload documentation such as property tax records to verify date building was built. This needs to be done as soon as possible. Maintain any paperwork received by mail or email in your Program Records file. *For more information check out the FAQ page at https://www.cleanwaterforuskids.org/en/carolina/. Go to the Contact Us tab if you need assistance or have questions. ABCMS Portal – T. Jordan completed the ABCMS Provider Portal Training and is now authorized to log in the ABCMS Provider Portal https://ncabcms.nc.gov/DCDEE/ using your Business NCID. You have not connected your staff and created your roster. I am emailing the ABCMS Provider Portal Access Guide which will assist with the step-by-step process of working in the ABCMS Portal, accessing your Pay Codes, helping your staff complete their Connecting Applications, and eventually “hiring” staff to your roster. The Provider Portal Access Guide also includes contact information for additional assistance. If you are still having difficulties working through this process, consider completing the ABCMS Provider Portal Training on Moodle again and ensure that you are using the correct Business NCID to access the ABCMS Provider Portal and Individual NCID to access your own ABCMS Applicant Portal. Staff will use their Individual NCID to log into the Applicant Portal and enter the Pay Code to connect to your center. You will then log into the ABCMS Provider Portal to add them to your roster. Complete your roster and maintain it by updating it as staff are hired or terminated. Staff Worksheets – We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that are coming due in the next year. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – Review Row 17 on Staff Worksheet for initial H&S Training due dates. New staff need to complete Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment (specific course available on NC Positive Childhood Alliance website, https://www.positivechildhoodalliancenc.org/ ) and CPR/First Aid within three months of hire and the rest of the training modules within twelve months. *B. Smith has documentation of completion of CPR/FA and some of the other H&S modules. See H&S Training Log in staff file for modules that still need to be completed. RRSCM needs to be completed by 11/25/25. Remaining modules need to be completed by 8/25/26. *J. Baker has completed Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment and CPR & First Aid Training and needs to complete the remaining modules by 8/25/65. Staff Education and Works – J. Owens needs to complete DPI Administrator Education Form (signed by you and Superintendent) and create a Works account. Go to the Works page, https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Services/DCDEE-WORKS , or find a link under the Services tab or the Provider tab on the DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. Review information in the blue box. Then log into Works and set up your Works account. Apply for a DPI Administrator position and upload your DPI Administrator Form and your Principal License. NCPre-K Teacher Assistant Education - All teacher assistants shall have a high school diploma or its equivalent and a CDA or AAS-ECE. All teacher assistants shall complete a minimum of 15 hours of annual on-going training. A combination of college coursework, Continuing Education Units (CEUs), or clock hours may be used to complete the requirements of this Rule. *J. Baker stated that she has additional education above the NCECC + 20 ECE. If this additional education is the equivalent to an AAS-ECE degree or higher and Ms. Baker is going to remain in the teacher assistant position, have additional transcripts sent to the Division and update JB’s Works account. School Critical Incident Plan - Licensed DPI programs are not required to complete a separate Emergency Preparedness Plan if they follow the school’s Critical Incident Plan (or similar type of plan for emergency responses). They are expected to have documentation of fire drills and emergency drills – shelter-in-place or lock-down). Fire drills must be completed for any month or partial month the Pre-K is operating. An emergency drill must be completed every 3 months (August/September – May/June). If the school does not complete emergency drills every three months, the Pre-K classrooms need to conduct their own drills. *Consider having a “soft” emergency drill in September with the Pre-K students to discuss the fire and emergency drills and practice going to the safe spaces without the noise and commotion of a school-wide drill. *Monthly fire drills have been completed and documented. Complete your first emergency drill by 11/25/25 and complete and document subsequent drills every three months. Additional Comments: Keep Your NCID Active - Did you know that if you do not login on to any DCDEE platforms (e.g., Moodle, WORKS, CBC) for a period of 12 months, your account will be archived? An archived account cannot be reinstated. You will need to create a new one and then email all platforms (e.g., Moodle, WORKS, CBC) to merge accounts. *Pro Tip: Set your calendar to remind you, your staff and your household members (CLIAR only) every 6 months to log in and out at https://myncid.nc.gov to keep your account activated and it will NOT be archived. *For assistance with NCID, contact ncid.nc.gov or 919.754.6000. QRIS (Quality Rating Improvement System) Technical Assistance: T. Jordan, NCPre-K Contractor, and I previously reviewed the three pathways by phone. She elected Ocracoke Pre-K to complete their QRIS assessment using Pathway 1. J. Owens, Administrator, and B. Smith, NCPre-K Teacher, and I discussed the facility’s plan for completing a rated license assessment using the new QRIS rules found in Section .3200 of the NC Child Care Rules. All information on the QRIS rated license assessments and documents will be posted at https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Provider/Licensing/Star-Rated-License/QRIS-Modernization and will also be provided through emails and Raise NC newsletters. During the visit we completed the QRIS Conversation Template with a focus on the selected pathway. Pathway 1 – Program Assessment: Since Ocracoke Pre-K is electing to complete Pathway 1, we focused on the components of that pathway: *Current staff education (50% of Lead Teaches and 50% of Other Educators) based on education currently available or expected in Works is 5 Stars. Any staff person who will be evaluated as part of the Lead Teachers or Other Educators needs to register for a Works account and submit original, official transcripts or update their current Works account and submit new education. *We walked through the Individual and Facility Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) forms (individual and center). Each staff member will complete an Individual CQI annually. (This will also count as their Professional Development Plan!) The administrator will also complete the Facility CQI Plan to create an overall goal for the center. Maintain these in your staff files. *We reviewed the Family and Community Engagement Plan. Staff reviewed the Foundational Practices and Optional Practices and described how the Pre-K already meets these practices. One idea for documenting the foundational and optional practices is to create a notebook to collect documentation of the practices including pictures, flyers, newsletters, emails, etc. *Because an ERS program assessment (ECERS-3) is required, the classroom will complete a 3-month ERS Self-Study using the ECERS-3 manual, available at Teachers College Press, https://www.tcpress.com/ for $28.99 or from other vendors. Complete the 3-month Self-Study using either the Thinking More About Language or Thinking More About Activities worksheets or the self-guided assessment using the results of an Outreach Assessment. We discussed information available on the NC Rated License Assessment website, www.ncrlap.org,including training and forms for the three-month self-study and other resources (videos, documents, live and recorded training) and opportunities for an Outreach Assessment. To request an Outreach Assessment - Email ncrlap@uncg.edu or call 1-866-362-7527. When the 3-month self-studies are completed, the administrator will complete and submit the Self-Study Verification Form. Copies of the individual self-studies will need to be available for review. We completed the QRIS Conversation Template reviewing documents and resources available to you and you listed the areas where you feel you need support. Submit any education needed to be assessed to DCDEE Works by 1/31/2026. Your rated license assessment is currently due by 12/31/2026 but your expected timeline is to complete this by the end of the 2025-26 school year. At the completion of the visit, this visit summary was printed, reviewed, and a copy was left with you. Contact me, Marjorie White, by phone at (252) 373-9385 or by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov, or Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov if you have questions. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times

NC GS 110-90 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 11/18/2025 Number Present: 10 Completed Date: 11/18/2025 Age: From 3 To 5 Total Minutes: 370 Time In: 09:20 AM Time Out: 03:30 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Routine Unannounced Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s visit was to monitor your program for compliance with applicable child care requirements for a routine unannounced visit, including compliance with NCPre-K requirements located in Child Care Rule Section .3000, and to review QRIS rules in Section .3200 in preparation for the facility’s QRIS assessment. J. Owens, Administrator, assisted me with the visit. Your program currently operates with a five-star license, issued 6/14/22, earning 7 points in the education component, 7 points in the program standards component (meeting enhanced space and enhanced ratios minus one) and 1 quality point for 75% of lead teachers have a BA/BS or higher in ECE/CD. Your program was also monitored for compliance with implementing an approved curriculum as required for all four- and five-star licensed facilities where four-year-old children are enrolled. The last annual compliance visit was conducted 5/14/25. The sanitation inspection was completed 11/5/25 with a “Superior” classification. The last fire inspection was conducted 8/15/25 and your facility was approved for daytime care only. The center's compliance history was reviewed with the operator. The program’s compliance history was ninety-eight percent as of 11/14/25. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. License and contact information were current. Contact me to request any changes to your license or contact information. The license was posted, and the restrictions were in compliance. I monitored the classrooms and spaces used for child care and outdoor play areas for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 7/1/2025 and Item Numbers Listing, effective 4/2025. Files for new staff were reviewed along with program records. Children were engaged in a whole group activity playing with “slime”. Teachers assisted with them asking divergent questions about the sensations of touching and playing with the slimy material. They washed hands before going outdoors to play on the renovated playground that included swings, a new complex climber, a pirate ship, two spring rockers and other pieces of equipment for music, art, cognitive thinking, and sand play. Synthetic surfacing meeting ASTM standards provided the resilient surfacing. When they returned, they washed hands and ate lunch. After lunch they rested on linen-covered mats. Lunch was observed. Lunches are brought from home. All children have Nutrition Opt-out forms in their files. I will fully review the NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules for compliance at the next visit. I will review the NCPre-K Site Monitoring Tool at my next visit. Staff-child ratios and maximum group sizes required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3009 were verified in compliance. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teachers: B. Smith and NCPK Teacher Assistants: J. Baker (long-term sub). Because it was a Routine Unannounced visit, I only completed a cursory review of two children’s files to be able to provide technical assistance to the new staff. Both files included all required documents. You stated Dial-4 screenings were completed in June 2025 or as children enrolled during the school year. The center uses the Teaching Strategies Gold instrument to document evidence of children's ongoing progress. The checkpoint assessments are conducted three times per year: at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. The first day of school was 8/25/25. The pre-k operates from daily from Monday – Thursday 7:45am – 3pm and Friday 7:45 – 11:15am.. Parent conferences are held two times per year. You stated that you use texts, written communication (English and Spanish) and newsletters to communicate with parents. The environment rating scale score completed on 5/18/22 and scored 5.89. I observed and documented the following violations during today’s visit. Both violations were corrected during the visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 840 All corrosive agents, pesticides, bleaches, detergents, cleansers, polishes, any product which is under pressure in an aerosol dispenser, and any substance which may be hazardous to a child if ingested, inhaled, or handled were not stored in a locked room or cabinet. The following cleaning products were stored out of reach of children in an unlocked cabinet: full strength Clorox bleach, Febreze Aerosol Spray, Goof Off Adhesive Remover, Scentsy Counter Clean Spray (non-aerosol). .2820(b) 841 Medications including prescription and non-prescription items were not stored in a locked cabinet or other locked container. In the hallway leading to the bathrooms, a staff member’s backpack with a bottle of Excedrin and three individual Pain Reliever packets, was stored on a hook so that the backpack and medication were within reach of children and not maintained in locked storage. A staff backpack on top of the refrigerator contained a bottle of Tylenol. It was out of reach of children but was not locked. 15A NCAC 18A .2820(d) * Child Care programs are expected to achieve and maintain compliance at all times and are required by NC GS 110-90(4) (d) to achieve and maintain an eighteen-month compliance history score of at least seventy-five percent. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. The violations documented today were corrected during the visit. Technical Assistance With Documented Violations: Storage of Hazardous Items and Medication - Improper storge of hazardous items and medications results in millions of accidental poisonings in children annually. The following cleaning products were stored out of reach of children in a cabinet in the classroom but were not locked: full strength Clorox bleach, Febreze Aerosol Spray, Goof Off Adhesive Remover, Scentsy Counter Clean Spray (non-aerosol). In the hallway leading to the bathrooms, a staff member’s backpack with a bottle of Excedrin and three individual Pain Reliever packets, was stored on a hook so that the backpack and medication were within reach of children and not maintained in locked storage. A staff backpack on top of the refrigerator contained a bottle of Tylenol. It was out of reach of children (five feet off the finished floor) but was not locked. The teacher stated that she was not aware that the medication needed to be locked and thought that the cleaning supplies only had to be out of reach. She immediately locked all items and both bags in the locked cabinet. Cleaning supplies, other than non-aerosol EPA approved disinfectants, need to be maintained in locked storage. Non-aerosol EPA approved disinfectants (prepared bleach spray bottles, non-aerosol disinfectant sprays and wipes) may be stored out of reach of children. All medications (topical ointments and creams, OTC, and prescriptions) must be inaccessible to children. Diaper creams, hand sanitizer and lotions may be stored out of reach, on a shelf or in a cabinet at least five feet or higher. OTC and prescription medications must be locked. Emergency medications (inhalers, Epi Pens) are not required to be locked but must be stored out of reach so that they are accessible to the teacher but inaccessible to the children. You stated that none of the children enrolled use any type of medication. This item has been corrected. I also provided you with a Hazardous Items Storage for Child Care poster. When using a cabinet or closet with multiple shelves to store various types of materials, make sure that the following items are stored in the correct order. All food items (open or unopened) and non-medical or non-cleaning supplies (utensils, plates, cups, classroom supplies) must be stored on a shelf above medication (prescription, OTC, lotions, diaper cream, sunscreen, etc.) and cleaning supplies. Medication must be stored below food and other items and above cleaning supplies. Cleaning supplies must be stored on the lowest shelf in a cabinet so that they do not accidentally turn over and leak onto the shelves below. If you have a cabinet below a sink or a ground-level cabinet, you may store cleaning supplies in it if you can lock it. Resources: As a licensed child care facility, it is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and to teach your staff the rules to ensure your center remains in compliance. The following resources are available to you: 1. DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov – current laws and rules regarding child care facilities in North Carolina, “What’s New” tab, Items Number Listing which you can use as a checklist for your program. 2. Raise NC Newsletter – weekly newsletter emailed to facility email including relevant information from the Division, training opportunities, grants, and more. You can sign up to receive Raise NC on the What’s New tab. 3. Your local Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies and Child Care Health Consultants. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – A. Batts - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 or ashlyn@bhckids.org *Craven Smart Start, Inc. and Region 2 Child Care Resource and Referral: Phone (252) 672-5921; website - www.cravensmartstart.org. *Healthy Behaviors Specialist: S. Summer – sonia@cravensmartstart.org and B. Parnell – brandi@cravensmartstart.org Playground: You renovated your playground over the summer, installing poured synthetic surfacing and new stationary equipment. I reviewed documentation on the surfacing which stated that it meets ASTM 1292 testing standards. The dimensions of the playground did not change. I will update your outdoor diagram and provide you with a copy of it. Reminders: Required Water, Lead Paint, and Asbestos Testing - The Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids website reflects the following information about your center’s required three-year water testing and one-time lead paint testing, and asbestos testing: Three-year Water Testing – Not started for Ocracoke Pre-K; enrollment started for Ocracoke School Lead Paint Testing – Survey Review by RTI pending for OPK; enrollment started for OK Asbestos Testing – Survey Review by RTI pending for OPK; enrollment started for OK *The Clean Water for Carolina Kids website still reflects different information for the Ocracoke Pre-K and the overall school. This facility was built after 1988 and will likely be exempt from lead paint and asbestos testing when you complete enrollment and upload documentation such as property tax records to verify date building was built. This needs to be done as soon as possible. Maintain any paperwork received by mail or email in your Program Records file. *For more information check out the FAQ page at https://www.cleanwaterforuskids.org/en/carolina/. Go to the Contact Us tab if you need assistance or have questions. ABCMS Portal – T. Jordan completed the ABCMS Provider Portal Training and is now authorized to log in the ABCMS Provider Portal https://ncabcms.nc.gov/DCDEE/ using your Business NCID. You have not connected your staff and created your roster. I am emailing the ABCMS Provider Portal Access Guide which will assist with the step-by-step process of working in the ABCMS Portal, accessing your Pay Codes, helping your staff complete their Connecting Applications, and eventually “hiring” staff to your roster. The Provider Portal Access Guide also includes contact information for additional assistance. If you are still having difficulties working through this process, consider completing the ABCMS Provider Portal Training on Moodle again and ensure that you are using the correct Business NCID to access the ABCMS Provider Portal and Individual NCID to access your own ABCMS Applicant Portal. Staff will use their Individual NCID to log into the Applicant Portal and enter the Pay Code to connect to your center. You will then log into the ABCMS Provider Portal to add them to your roster. Complete your roster and maintain it by updating it as staff are hired or terminated. Staff Worksheets – We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that are coming due in the next year. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – Review Row 17 on Staff Worksheet for initial H&S Training due dates. New staff need to complete Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment (specific course available on NC Positive Childhood Alliance website, https://www.positivechildhoodalliancenc.org/ ) and CPR/First Aid within three months of hire and the rest of the training modules within twelve months. *B. Smith has documentation of completion of CPR/FA and some of the other H&S modules. See H&S Training Log in staff file for modules that still need to be completed. RRSCM needs to be completed by 11/25/25. Remaining modules need to be completed by 8/25/26. *J. Baker has completed Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment and CPR & First Aid Training and needs to complete the remaining modules by 8/25/65. Staff Education and Works – J. Owens needs to complete DPI Administrator Education Form (signed by you and Superintendent) and create a Works account. Go to the Works page, https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Services/DCDEE-WORKS , or find a link under the Services tab or the Provider tab on the DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. Review information in the blue box. Then log into Works and set up your Works account. Apply for a DPI Administrator position and upload your DPI Administrator Form and your Principal License. NCPre-K Teacher Assistant Education - All teacher assistants shall have a high school diploma or its equivalent and a CDA or AAS-ECE. All teacher assistants shall complete a minimum of 15 hours of annual on-going training. A combination of college coursework, Continuing Education Units (CEUs), or clock hours may be used to complete the requirements of this Rule. *J. Baker stated that she has additional education above the NCECC + 20 ECE. If this additional education is the equivalent to an AAS-ECE degree or higher and Ms. Baker is going to remain in the teacher assistant position, have additional transcripts sent to the Division and update JB’s Works account. School Critical Incident Plan - Licensed DPI programs are not required to complete a separate Emergency Preparedness Plan if they follow the school’s Critical Incident Plan (or similar type of plan for emergency responses). They are expected to have documentation of fire drills and emergency drills – shelter-in-place or lock-down). Fire drills must be completed for any month or partial month the Pre-K is operating. An emergency drill must be completed every 3 months (August/September – May/June). If the school does not complete emergency drills every three months, the Pre-K classrooms need to conduct their own drills. *Consider having a “soft” emergency drill in September with the Pre-K students to discuss the fire and emergency drills and practice going to the safe spaces without the noise and commotion of a school-wide drill. *Monthly fire drills have been completed and documented. Complete your first emergency drill by 11/25/25 and complete and document subsequent drills every three months. Additional Comments: Keep Your NCID Active - Did you know that if you do not login on to any DCDEE platforms (e.g., Moodle, WORKS, CBC) for a period of 12 months, your account will be archived? An archived account cannot be reinstated. You will need to create a new one and then email all platforms (e.g., Moodle, WORKS, CBC) to merge accounts. *Pro Tip: Set your calendar to remind you, your staff and your household members (CLIAR only) every 6 months to log in and out at https://myncid.nc.gov to keep your account activated and it will NOT be archived. *For assistance with NCID, contact ncid.nc.gov or 919.754.6000. QRIS (Quality Rating Improvement System) Technical Assistance: T. Jordan, NCPre-K Contractor, and I previously reviewed the three pathways by phone. She elected Ocracoke Pre-K to complete their QRIS assessment using Pathway 1. J. Owens, Administrator, and B. Smith, NCPre-K Teacher, and I discussed the facility’s plan for completing a rated license assessment using the new QRIS rules found in Section .3200 of the NC Child Care Rules. All information on the QRIS rated license assessments and documents will be posted at https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Provider/Licensing/Star-Rated-License/QRIS-Modernization and will also be provided through emails and Raise NC newsletters. During the visit we completed the QRIS Conversation Template with a focus on the selected pathway. Pathway 1 – Program Assessment: Since Ocracoke Pre-K is electing to complete Pathway 1, we focused on the components of that pathway: *Current staff education (50% of Lead Teaches and 50% of Other Educators) based on education currently available or expected in Works is 5 Stars. Any staff person who will be evaluated as part of the Lead Teachers or Other Educators needs to register for a Works account and submit original, official transcripts or update their current Works account and submit new education. *We walked through the Individual and Facility Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) forms (individual and center). Each staff member will complete an Individual CQI annually. (This will also count as their Professional Development Plan!) The administrator will also complete the Facility CQI Plan to create an overall goal for the center. Maintain these in your staff files. *We reviewed the Family and Community Engagement Plan. Staff reviewed the Foundational Practices and Optional Practices and described how the Pre-K already meets these practices. One idea for documenting the foundational and optional practices is to create a notebook to collect documentation of the practices including pictures, flyers, newsletters, emails, etc. *Because an ERS program assessment (ECERS-3) is required, the classroom will complete a 3-month ERS Self-Study using the ECERS-3 manual, available at Teachers College Press, https://www.tcpress.com/ for $28.99 or from other vendors. Complete the 3-month Self-Study using either the Thinking More About Language or Thinking More About Activities worksheets or the self-guided assessment using the results of an Outreach Assessment. We discussed information available on the NC Rated License Assessment website, www.ncrlap.org,including training and forms for the three-month self-study and other resources (videos, documents, live and recorded training) and opportunities for an Outreach Assessment. To request an Outreach Assessment - Email ncrlap@uncg.edu or call 1-866-362-7527. When the 3-month self-studies are completed, the administrator will complete and submit the Self-Study Verification Form. Copies of the individual self-studies will need to be available for review. We completed the QRIS Conversation Template reviewing documents and resources available to you and you listed the areas where you feel you need support. Submit any education needed to be assessed to DCDEE Works by 1/31/2026. Your rated license assessment is currently due by 12/31/2026 but your expected timeline is to complete this by the end of the 2025-26 school year. At the completion of the visit, this visit summary was printed, reviewed, and a copy was left with you. Contact me, Marjorie White, by phone at (252) 373-9385 or by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov, or Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov if you have questions. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times

10A NCAC 09 .0514 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 9/3/2024 Number Present: 12 Completed Date: 9/3/2024 Age: From 3 To 4 Total Minutes: 320 Time In: 09:40 AM Time Out: 03:00 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Annual Comp Full Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s Annual Compliance visit was to monitor compliance with applicable child care requirements. Monitoring included NC Pre-K requirements in the NC Child Care Rules Section .3000 which are applicable to Space 1. Last Annual Compliance visit – 10/2/23 18-month compliance history from 3/1/23 – 8/30/24 = 100% Last Sanitation Inspection – 5/20/24 - Superior Last Fire Inspection – 10/30/23 - Passed with Comments *Sanitation and fire inspections are required at least annually by the date of the previous inspection. Send fire inspections to me within seven (7) days of the inspection. The Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids website reflects the following information about your center’s required three-year water testing, lead paint testing, and asbestos testing: Three-year Water Testing – 4/2/21; due again 4/2024 Lead Paint Testing – not completed; due 12/31/24 Asbestos Testing – not completed; due 12/31/24 Maintain any paperwork received by mail or email in your Program Records file. *Because program is part of a larger DPI school, testing for the school may count as testing for the licensed Pre-K. See below for more information. J. Owens, Administrator, was present. She and the NCPre-K staff assisted me with the visit. The facility currently operates with a Five-Star Center License, issued 6/14/2022, earning points in the following components: Program (7 PTS) + Education (6 PTS) + Quality Point (1 PT) = 14 Points = 5 Stars *The Quality Point is no longer met; however, the NCPre-K program meets the following QP: Meets the following: 1. Staff Benefits (offers 4 of the following: paid leave for professional development, paid planning time, vacation, sick time, retirement or health insurance) 2. Enhanced Parent Involvement (offers 2 of the following: quarterly newsletter, parent advisory board, periodic conferences for all children, quarterly parent meetings) The program was also monitored for compliance with implementing an approved curriculum (Creative Curriculum 5th edition) as required for all four and five star facilities where four-year old children are enrolled. The next rated license assessment is due by 6/14/2025, but new legislation (Senate Bill 425) has extended the “hold harmless” period until the new Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) is implemented. At this time, you may choose to complete a rated license assessment using the current rated license process or you may wait until the new QRIS is implemented. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. Please contact me prior to any information change regarding the ownership of this facility. License information was current. Contact me to make any changes to address, phone, or email or to request changes to the license. I monitored the classrooms and outdoor play area for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 1/1/2024 and Item Numbers Listing, effective 3/2024. I monitored two children’s records, two staff records and all program records. The facility does not offer transportation. The NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules were monitored for compliance in Space 1. I did not review the NCPre-K Site Monitoring Tool because it is not due until November 1st. I reviewed the NC Pre-K Site Monitoring Tool. Staff-child ratios were 1:9 or 2:18 or better, as required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3909. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teachers: D. Locke and NCPK Teacher Assistant, Y. Contreras. I monitored two children’s files for completed health assessments (dental, hearing, and vision), developmental screenings, and on-going instructional assessments. The facility uses the Dial-4 developmental screening which were completed for children in June 2024 or as they entered the program throughout the year. The NCPreK program uses Creative Curriculum and Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment tool to document evidence of each child’s progress three times throughout the school year: Fall, Mid-Winter, Spring and had completed the second checkpoint. The NCPre-K operates daily from 8/26/2024 – 6/11/2025 from Monday – Thursday 7:55am – 3:15pm and Friday 7:55 – 11:30am. Parent conferences are held twice a year. You stated that you use the Ready Rosie for family engagement and Class DoJo app to communicate with families, along with daily notes that goes back and forth with reminders, and information for families and from families. The NCPreK program completed an Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R) on 5/18/22 and scored 5.89. *Update the NCPre-K Plan to reflect that you use Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment instead of the Work Sampling System. Center Observations: Twelve of thirteen children, three and four years of age, enrolled in the Pre-K classroom were present today. The two teachers and children were on the playground that the school had moved back to its original location since the school renovations. The school is still working to add a complex climber but had brought a tunnel climber over. The building provided shade and trees had been planted to offer shady spots in a few years. A sandbox with sand toys offered opportunities for digging, sifting, and pouring. The teacher tried to use a plastic shower curtain for painting, but the wind was high today so she put it way for a calmer day. When they returned indoors, they washed hands and transferred to free play. The children selected toys and materials from various centers including art, books, blocks, dramatic play and manipulatives. They washed hands and ate lunch. Lunches are lunches are brought from home. The teacher stated that all families complete the Nutrition Opt-out form. After lunch they rested on mats. I observed and documented the following violations during today’s visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 114 A summary of the NC Child Care Law was not given to a parent of every child enrolled in the center. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Summary of NC Law was not available. GS 110-102 1203 Operational policies were not discussed with parents on or before the child's first day and/or they were not notified in writing of all changes. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the parent handbook was not available. 10A NCAC 09 .0514(b) 1207 Parent participation plan was not discussed with parents on or before the child's first day of attendance and/or a copy was not given to them or posted in the center. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Parent Participation Plan was not available. 10A NCAC 09 .0515(a) 1316 Emergency medical care information did not contain information needed for safe medical treatment. In one of two children's files reviewed, the parent did not complete the Health Care Needs section. .0802 (c)(4) 1322 A written statement from each child's parent giving standing permission which may be valid for up to twelve months for participation in off premise activities that occur on a regular basis was not available. In one of two children's files reviewed, the statement to participate in off-premise activities was not available. In the second file the parent checked "yes" and "no" for the statement of authorization for off-premise activities. .1005(b)(4) 1908 A child's file did not have a statement with parent signature acknowledging receipt and explanation of the Prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma policy and/or the acknowledgement did not have all the required information. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Prevention of Abusive Head Trauma Policy was not available. .0608(b)(1-6) * Child care programs are expected to achieve and always maintain compliance and are required by NC GS 110-90(4)(d) to achieve and maintain an 18-month compliance history score of at least 75%. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. I completed an electronic copy of the visit summary and provided a printed copy of it to J. Owens, Administrator. We reviewed the visit summary and violation(s) documented during today’s visit. Correct these immediately. Send evidence of correction to me so that I receive it no later than 9/17/2024. The compliance verification letter needs to state the facility name and license number and list each violation by Item # and describe in detail when and how each violation has been corrected. If referring to staff or children in your compliance letter, refer to them by initials or position. Also include the following documents/pictures to verify compliance: Send compliance verification letter in an email from the center’s official email address, tjordan@hyde.k12.nc.us to my email address, Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. If sent from another email address, the center’s official address must be Cc’d in the compliance email. You may include the compliance verification as an attachment or in the body of the email. If sufficient information is not received by the due date, a follow-up visit may be conducted. *I will email a sample compliance verification letter to you. *Please be aware that any information submitted by you is legal documentation. If it is determined the information provided in the compliance letter is not true, this may be considered falsification of information. If I may be of further assistance, please contact me by phone at (252) 373-9385, by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. You may also call Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov. Technical Assistance With Documented Violations: Maintaining accurate records on the children in your care helps to ensure their health and safety, informs families of rules you are required to follow and your center’s policies, and provides a certain transfer of knowledge so that you can provide the best care possible for their children. In one of two children’s files reviewed, verification of the parents’ receipt of policies was not available and the health care needs section was not completed on the Child’s Application. The following items were missing for NR (age 3). #114 – Receipt of Summary of NC Child Care Law #1203 – Receipt of parent handbook #1207 – Receipt of the parent participation plan #1316 – Completion of the Health Care Needs section on the Child’s Application – Even if the child does not have a Medical Action Plan, the parent needs to answer each question or write N/A. This section provides additional information that could be important in a medical emergency. #1322 – Permission to participate in off-premises activities that do not involve transportation (walking field trips, playing on other parts of the school playground, etc. (Also, the parent of NS answered yes and no to giving permission to off-premises activities. Check with her/him to verify. #1908 – Receipt of Prevention of Shaken Baby/Abusive Head Trauma Policy Use Children’s File Checklist to verify you have received all required enrollment documents. You also use a signature page to document receipt of policies, but this was not available in the file for NR. Build in time to review enrollment documents with families explaining that they need to be fully completed, signed and dated. Check them before the parent leaves their children with you the first day of school. The empty blank might be the signature you need to seek emergency medical care if the child is injured. If these forms are completed at registration, have a staff person available to review for completeness when the parent is present. If needed, have a bilingual staff person available to assist Spanish speaking families. For your compliance letter, state the date when the parent of NR has completed the health care needs section and documented receipt of the listed policies. Also take time to review all children’s files to ensure they are complete General Visit Information: As a licensed child care facility, it is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and to teach your staff the rules to ensure your center remains in compliance. The most recent versions of laws and rules regarding child care facilities in North Carolina are available on the DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. You can also review the “What’s New” section and download a copy of the Items Number Listing which you can use as a checklist for your program. Check the designated facility email at least weekly to stay current with communication and email blasts from DCDEE. If your email is not the facility email, sign up for email blasts on the What’s New page for general information and communication from DCDEE. Your local and regional Smart Start Partnerships and Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and Child Care Health Consultants provide general training to meet on-going training hours, health and safety training requirements, Environment Rating Scale training and training specific to your center’s needs. They can also work with you to provide on-site technical assistance. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – Call for information - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 *Craven Smart Start, Inc. and Region 2 Child Care Resource and Referral: Phone (252) 672-5921; website - www.cravensmartstart.org. *D. Bryant – Birth to 3 Specialist: demeka@cravensmartstart.org *S. Sumner – Healthy Social Behaviors Specialist: sonia@cravensmartstart.org *B. Parnell – Healthy Social Behaviors Specialist: brandi@cravensmartstart.org Consultation: Playground – Since the building renovations were completed last year, the school moved the preschool playground back to the front of the building accessible from the building by a set of steps. I measured the playground today. It has a capacity of 34 children at 100 square feet to meet enhanced space requirements. If you install a complex climber that is required to be anchored, it will need a fall zone with surfacing at the appropriate depth under the structure and at least six feet all around. Reminders: Staff Worksheets – Your Staff Worksheets are a great tool to help you track when items such as Criminal Background Checks, required trainings and staff forms expire and need to be updated. I encourage you to update information on the staff worksheets throughout the year as items are updated and/or staff change. *Encourage staff to maintain copies of all initial hire documents, Qualifying Letters, training certificates, etc. in their own professional file maintained at home. *When I email staff worksheets to you prior to your Annual Compliance visit, you are expected to update them and return them prior to the date provided in the email. If you cannot open or work with an Excel document, I can send you a list of questions to answer. Use your staff worksheet as a working document and keep it updated as staff information is updated or changes *We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that were that are coming due in the next year. Criminal Background Checks (CBC) – Federal requirements require all staff who work in licensed afterschool or pre-k programs operated by public schools complete a DCDEE Criminal Background Check (CBC) before hire and then every five years. This includes administrators, teachers, teacher assistants, substitutes, one-on-one assistants, and therapists if therapy does not take place in the classroom. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – New staff are required to complete Health & Safety Training (H&S Training) within one year of hire (CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment within 3 months of hire) and then complete training in all topic areas every five years. *Y. Contreras completed CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment and needs to complete the rest of H&S Training by 8/26/25. On-going Training Hours – D. Locke needs to complete 2.5 on-going training hours by 10/2/24 and document on On-going Training Log. Then she needs 5 hours by 9/3/25. ECE college coursework or coursework leading to an ECE degree or B-K License counts towards on-going training hours. Each semester credit counts as 16 hours so a 3-credit classes also earns 48 hours of on-going training. Teacher Assistant Education - All teacher assistants shall have a high school diploma or its equivalent and a CDA or AAS-ECE. Teacher assistants not holding a CDA or AAS-ECE must complete at least 6 hours annually towards AAS-ECE. All teacher assistants shall complete a minimum of 15 hours of annual in-service professional development. A combination of college coursework, Continuing Education Units (CEUs), or clock hours may be used to complete the requirements of this Rule. NCPre-K Staff Requirements – To provide high quality instructional activities for children, NCPre-K teachers and teacher assistants need dedicated time to work together for planning purposes and to work on individual education requirements. NCPre-K requirements as outlined in the 2024-25 Program Requirements and Guidance require at least 32.5 hours weekly of direct instructional time with children and 7.5 hours weekly to complete related instructional activities such as lesson planning and preparation, college coursework, training, and contact with families. NCPre-K teachers and teacher assistants may not substitute in other classrooms, provide transportation services (driving or bus monitoring), provide wrap-around care services, provide administrative services, or provide any other duties that do not involve delivery of NCPre-K services. Works - D. Locke needs to upload NC B-K Residency License to Works. I will email instructions. Required Water, Lead Paint, and Asbestos Testing - New child care rules require child care facilities to test for lead in drinking water, lead paint, and asbestos. Testing is required by 12/31/24 but enrollment should have been completed already. Check out the FAQ in the updated Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids. Currently there is funding to pay for the testing and to mitigate lead paint or asbestos hazards. Depending on the age of your building and the information you provide in the enrollment process, testing for lead paint and asbestos may not be required and you will receive an exemption letter. (Lead paint was not used in buildings built after 1978. Asbestos was not used in buildings after 1988.) Water testing will only be required once for family child care homes. For more information go to https://www.cleanwaterforuskids.org/en/carolina/. Naptime Linen – Children may not sleep directly on their mats and need to have a sheet, a blanket, or a beach towel between them and the mat. They can also sleep with a covering over them. If they sleep with a comfort item, it must be one that is brought from home and stored in their cubby and sent home weekly with the linen to be washed. To prevent the spread of germs, children may not sleep with classroom stuffed animals. Nutrition – Staff are required to model healthy eating habits when consuming food and beverages in front of children. Cans or bottles of soda pop (or cups from fast food restaurants) may not be visible in the classroom or in front of children. Staff may use opaque cups, if needed. Hooks in the hallway – If children use hooks to hang their backpacks and coats (instead of cubbies), the hooks need to be at least 12 inches apart to prevent the spread of germs from one child’s personal items to the next. Additional Comments: I shared information on the following topics and emailed the information to you after the visit: 1. Environment Rating Scales – Get Ready for the 3’s 2. QRIS Update 3. Criminal Background Check Reminders 4. Moodle Support Info 5. Provider Access to the Background Check Management System 6. NCID – Keep it active! Thank you for your time and assistance today. Refer to this visit summary for a refresher of our discussions today, and I encourage you to share with staff and use the information as a teaching tool. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call or email me at the contact information listed above. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times

10A NCAC 09 .0515 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 9/3/2024 Number Present: 12 Completed Date: 9/3/2024 Age: From 3 To 4 Total Minutes: 320 Time In: 09:40 AM Time Out: 03:00 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Annual Comp Full Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s Annual Compliance visit was to monitor compliance with applicable child care requirements. Monitoring included NC Pre-K requirements in the NC Child Care Rules Section .3000 which are applicable to Space 1. Last Annual Compliance visit – 10/2/23 18-month compliance history from 3/1/23 – 8/30/24 = 100% Last Sanitation Inspection – 5/20/24 - Superior Last Fire Inspection – 10/30/23 - Passed with Comments *Sanitation and fire inspections are required at least annually by the date of the previous inspection. Send fire inspections to me within seven (7) days of the inspection. The Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids website reflects the following information about your center’s required three-year water testing, lead paint testing, and asbestos testing: Three-year Water Testing – 4/2/21; due again 4/2024 Lead Paint Testing – not completed; due 12/31/24 Asbestos Testing – not completed; due 12/31/24 Maintain any paperwork received by mail or email in your Program Records file. *Because program is part of a larger DPI school, testing for the school may count as testing for the licensed Pre-K. See below for more information. J. Owens, Administrator, was present. She and the NCPre-K staff assisted me with the visit. The facility currently operates with a Five-Star Center License, issued 6/14/2022, earning points in the following components: Program (7 PTS) + Education (6 PTS) + Quality Point (1 PT) = 14 Points = 5 Stars *The Quality Point is no longer met; however, the NCPre-K program meets the following QP: Meets the following: 1. Staff Benefits (offers 4 of the following: paid leave for professional development, paid planning time, vacation, sick time, retirement or health insurance) 2. Enhanced Parent Involvement (offers 2 of the following: quarterly newsletter, parent advisory board, periodic conferences for all children, quarterly parent meetings) The program was also monitored for compliance with implementing an approved curriculum (Creative Curriculum 5th edition) as required for all four and five star facilities where four-year old children are enrolled. The next rated license assessment is due by 6/14/2025, but new legislation (Senate Bill 425) has extended the “hold harmless” period until the new Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) is implemented. At this time, you may choose to complete a rated license assessment using the current rated license process or you may wait until the new QRIS is implemented. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. Please contact me prior to any information change regarding the ownership of this facility. License information was current. Contact me to make any changes to address, phone, or email or to request changes to the license. I monitored the classrooms and outdoor play area for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 1/1/2024 and Item Numbers Listing, effective 3/2024. I monitored two children’s records, two staff records and all program records. The facility does not offer transportation. The NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules were monitored for compliance in Space 1. I did not review the NCPre-K Site Monitoring Tool because it is not due until November 1st. I reviewed the NC Pre-K Site Monitoring Tool. Staff-child ratios were 1:9 or 2:18 or better, as required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3909. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teachers: D. Locke and NCPK Teacher Assistant, Y. Contreras. I monitored two children’s files for completed health assessments (dental, hearing, and vision), developmental screenings, and on-going instructional assessments. The facility uses the Dial-4 developmental screening which were completed for children in June 2024 or as they entered the program throughout the year. The NCPreK program uses Creative Curriculum and Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment tool to document evidence of each child’s progress three times throughout the school year: Fall, Mid-Winter, Spring and had completed the second checkpoint. The NCPre-K operates daily from 8/26/2024 – 6/11/2025 from Monday – Thursday 7:55am – 3:15pm and Friday 7:55 – 11:30am. Parent conferences are held twice a year. You stated that you use the Ready Rosie for family engagement and Class DoJo app to communicate with families, along with daily notes that goes back and forth with reminders, and information for families and from families. The NCPreK program completed an Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R) on 5/18/22 and scored 5.89. *Update the NCPre-K Plan to reflect that you use Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment instead of the Work Sampling System. Center Observations: Twelve of thirteen children, three and four years of age, enrolled in the Pre-K classroom were present today. The two teachers and children were on the playground that the school had moved back to its original location since the school renovations. The school is still working to add a complex climber but had brought a tunnel climber over. The building provided shade and trees had been planted to offer shady spots in a few years. A sandbox with sand toys offered opportunities for digging, sifting, and pouring. The teacher tried to use a plastic shower curtain for painting, but the wind was high today so she put it way for a calmer day. When they returned indoors, they washed hands and transferred to free play. The children selected toys and materials from various centers including art, books, blocks, dramatic play and manipulatives. They washed hands and ate lunch. Lunches are lunches are brought from home. The teacher stated that all families complete the Nutrition Opt-out form. After lunch they rested on mats. I observed and documented the following violations during today’s visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 114 A summary of the NC Child Care Law was not given to a parent of every child enrolled in the center. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Summary of NC Law was not available. GS 110-102 1203 Operational policies were not discussed with parents on or before the child's first day and/or they were not notified in writing of all changes. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the parent handbook was not available. 10A NCAC 09 .0514(b) 1207 Parent participation plan was not discussed with parents on or before the child's first day of attendance and/or a copy was not given to them or posted in the center. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Parent Participation Plan was not available. 10A NCAC 09 .0515(a) 1316 Emergency medical care information did not contain information needed for safe medical treatment. In one of two children's files reviewed, the parent did not complete the Health Care Needs section. .0802 (c)(4) 1322 A written statement from each child's parent giving standing permission which may be valid for up to twelve months for participation in off premise activities that occur on a regular basis was not available. In one of two children's files reviewed, the statement to participate in off-premise activities was not available. In the second file the parent checked "yes" and "no" for the statement of authorization for off-premise activities. .1005(b)(4) 1908 A child's file did not have a statement with parent signature acknowledging receipt and explanation of the Prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma policy and/or the acknowledgement did not have all the required information. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Prevention of Abusive Head Trauma Policy was not available. .0608(b)(1-6) * Child care programs are expected to achieve and always maintain compliance and are required by NC GS 110-90(4)(d) to achieve and maintain an 18-month compliance history score of at least 75%. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. I completed an electronic copy of the visit summary and provided a printed copy of it to J. Owens, Administrator. We reviewed the visit summary and violation(s) documented during today’s visit. Correct these immediately. Send evidence of correction to me so that I receive it no later than 9/17/2024. The compliance verification letter needs to state the facility name and license number and list each violation by Item # and describe in detail when and how each violation has been corrected. If referring to staff or children in your compliance letter, refer to them by initials or position. Also include the following documents/pictures to verify compliance: Send compliance verification letter in an email from the center’s official email address, tjordan@hyde.k12.nc.us to my email address, Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. If sent from another email address, the center’s official address must be Cc’d in the compliance email. You may include the compliance verification as an attachment or in the body of the email. If sufficient information is not received by the due date, a follow-up visit may be conducted. *I will email a sample compliance verification letter to you. *Please be aware that any information submitted by you is legal documentation. If it is determined the information provided in the compliance letter is not true, this may be considered falsification of information. If I may be of further assistance, please contact me by phone at (252) 373-9385, by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. You may also call Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov. Technical Assistance With Documented Violations: Maintaining accurate records on the children in your care helps to ensure their health and safety, informs families of rules you are required to follow and your center’s policies, and provides a certain transfer of knowledge so that you can provide the best care possible for their children. In one of two children’s files reviewed, verification of the parents’ receipt of policies was not available and the health care needs section was not completed on the Child’s Application. The following items were missing for NR (age 3). #114 – Receipt of Summary of NC Child Care Law #1203 – Receipt of parent handbook #1207 – Receipt of the parent participation plan #1316 – Completion of the Health Care Needs section on the Child’s Application – Even if the child does not have a Medical Action Plan, the parent needs to answer each question or write N/A. This section provides additional information that could be important in a medical emergency. #1322 – Permission to participate in off-premises activities that do not involve transportation (walking field trips, playing on other parts of the school playground, etc. (Also, the parent of NS answered yes and no to giving permission to off-premises activities. Check with her/him to verify. #1908 – Receipt of Prevention of Shaken Baby/Abusive Head Trauma Policy Use Children’s File Checklist to verify you have received all required enrollment documents. You also use a signature page to document receipt of policies, but this was not available in the file for NR. Build in time to review enrollment documents with families explaining that they need to be fully completed, signed and dated. Check them before the parent leaves their children with you the first day of school. The empty blank might be the signature you need to seek emergency medical care if the child is injured. If these forms are completed at registration, have a staff person available to review for completeness when the parent is present. If needed, have a bilingual staff person available to assist Spanish speaking families. For your compliance letter, state the date when the parent of NR has completed the health care needs section and documented receipt of the listed policies. Also take time to review all children’s files to ensure they are complete General Visit Information: As a licensed child care facility, it is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and to teach your staff the rules to ensure your center remains in compliance. The most recent versions of laws and rules regarding child care facilities in North Carolina are available on the DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. You can also review the “What’s New” section and download a copy of the Items Number Listing which you can use as a checklist for your program. Check the designated facility email at least weekly to stay current with communication and email blasts from DCDEE. If your email is not the facility email, sign up for email blasts on the What’s New page for general information and communication from DCDEE. Your local and regional Smart Start Partnerships and Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and Child Care Health Consultants provide general training to meet on-going training hours, health and safety training requirements, Environment Rating Scale training and training specific to your center’s needs. They can also work with you to provide on-site technical assistance. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – Call for information - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 *Craven Smart Start, Inc. and Region 2 Child Care Resource and Referral: Phone (252) 672-5921; website - www.cravensmartstart.org. *D. Bryant – Birth to 3 Specialist: demeka@cravensmartstart.org *S. Sumner – Healthy Social Behaviors Specialist: sonia@cravensmartstart.org *B. Parnell – Healthy Social Behaviors Specialist: brandi@cravensmartstart.org Consultation: Playground – Since the building renovations were completed last year, the school moved the preschool playground back to the front of the building accessible from the building by a set of steps. I measured the playground today. It has a capacity of 34 children at 100 square feet to meet enhanced space requirements. If you install a complex climber that is required to be anchored, it will need a fall zone with surfacing at the appropriate depth under the structure and at least six feet all around. Reminders: Staff Worksheets – Your Staff Worksheets are a great tool to help you track when items such as Criminal Background Checks, required trainings and staff forms expire and need to be updated. I encourage you to update information on the staff worksheets throughout the year as items are updated and/or staff change. *Encourage staff to maintain copies of all initial hire documents, Qualifying Letters, training certificates, etc. in their own professional file maintained at home. *When I email staff worksheets to you prior to your Annual Compliance visit, you are expected to update them and return them prior to the date provided in the email. If you cannot open or work with an Excel document, I can send you a list of questions to answer. Use your staff worksheet as a working document and keep it updated as staff information is updated or changes *We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that were that are coming due in the next year. Criminal Background Checks (CBC) – Federal requirements require all staff who work in licensed afterschool or pre-k programs operated by public schools complete a DCDEE Criminal Background Check (CBC) before hire and then every five years. This includes administrators, teachers, teacher assistants, substitutes, one-on-one assistants, and therapists if therapy does not take place in the classroom. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – New staff are required to complete Health & Safety Training (H&S Training) within one year of hire (CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment within 3 months of hire) and then complete training in all topic areas every five years. *Y. Contreras completed CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment and needs to complete the rest of H&S Training by 8/26/25. On-going Training Hours – D. Locke needs to complete 2.5 on-going training hours by 10/2/24 and document on On-going Training Log. Then she needs 5 hours by 9/3/25. ECE college coursework or coursework leading to an ECE degree or B-K License counts towards on-going training hours. Each semester credit counts as 16 hours so a 3-credit classes also earns 48 hours of on-going training. Teacher Assistant Education - All teacher assistants shall have a high school diploma or its equivalent and a CDA or AAS-ECE. Teacher assistants not holding a CDA or AAS-ECE must complete at least 6 hours annually towards AAS-ECE. All teacher assistants shall complete a minimum of 15 hours of annual in-service professional development. A combination of college coursework, Continuing Education Units (CEUs), or clock hours may be used to complete the requirements of this Rule. NCPre-K Staff Requirements – To provide high quality instructional activities for children, NCPre-K teachers and teacher assistants need dedicated time to work together for planning purposes and to work on individual education requirements. NCPre-K requirements as outlined in the 2024-25 Program Requirements and Guidance require at least 32.5 hours weekly of direct instructional time with children and 7.5 hours weekly to complete related instructional activities such as lesson planning and preparation, college coursework, training, and contact with families. NCPre-K teachers and teacher assistants may not substitute in other classrooms, provide transportation services (driving or bus monitoring), provide wrap-around care services, provide administrative services, or provide any other duties that do not involve delivery of NCPre-K services. Works - D. Locke needs to upload NC B-K Residency License to Works. I will email instructions. Required Water, Lead Paint, and Asbestos Testing - New child care rules require child care facilities to test for lead in drinking water, lead paint, and asbestos. Testing is required by 12/31/24 but enrollment should have been completed already. Check out the FAQ in the updated Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids. Currently there is funding to pay for the testing and to mitigate lead paint or asbestos hazards. Depending on the age of your building and the information you provide in the enrollment process, testing for lead paint and asbestos may not be required and you will receive an exemption letter. (Lead paint was not used in buildings built after 1978. Asbestos was not used in buildings after 1988.) Water testing will only be required once for family child care homes. For more information go to https://www.cleanwaterforuskids.org/en/carolina/. Naptime Linen – Children may not sleep directly on their mats and need to have a sheet, a blanket, or a beach towel between them and the mat. They can also sleep with a covering over them. If they sleep with a comfort item, it must be one that is brought from home and stored in their cubby and sent home weekly with the linen to be washed. To prevent the spread of germs, children may not sleep with classroom stuffed animals. Nutrition – Staff are required to model healthy eating habits when consuming food and beverages in front of children. Cans or bottles of soda pop (or cups from fast food restaurants) may not be visible in the classroom or in front of children. Staff may use opaque cups, if needed. Hooks in the hallway – If children use hooks to hang their backpacks and coats (instead of cubbies), the hooks need to be at least 12 inches apart to prevent the spread of germs from one child’s personal items to the next. Additional Comments: I shared information on the following topics and emailed the information to you after the visit: 1. Environment Rating Scales – Get Ready for the 3’s 2. QRIS Update 3. Criminal Background Check Reminders 4. Moodle Support Info 5. Provider Access to the Background Check Management System 6. NCID – Keep it active! Thank you for your time and assistance today. Refer to this visit summary for a refresher of our discussions today, and I encourage you to share with staff and use the information as a teaching tool. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call or email me at the contact information listed above. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times

10A NCAC 09 .3909 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 9/3/2024 Number Present: 12 Completed Date: 9/3/2024 Age: From 3 To 4 Total Minutes: 320 Time In: 09:40 AM Time Out: 03:00 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Annual Comp Full Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s Annual Compliance visit was to monitor compliance with applicable child care requirements. Monitoring included NC Pre-K requirements in the NC Child Care Rules Section .3000 which are applicable to Space 1. Last Annual Compliance visit – 10/2/23 18-month compliance history from 3/1/23 – 8/30/24 = 100% Last Sanitation Inspection – 5/20/24 - Superior Last Fire Inspection – 10/30/23 - Passed with Comments *Sanitation and fire inspections are required at least annually by the date of the previous inspection. Send fire inspections to me within seven (7) days of the inspection. The Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids website reflects the following information about your center’s required three-year water testing, lead paint testing, and asbestos testing: Three-year Water Testing – 4/2/21; due again 4/2024 Lead Paint Testing – not completed; due 12/31/24 Asbestos Testing – not completed; due 12/31/24 Maintain any paperwork received by mail or email in your Program Records file. *Because program is part of a larger DPI school, testing for the school may count as testing for the licensed Pre-K. See below for more information. J. Owens, Administrator, was present. She and the NCPre-K staff assisted me with the visit. The facility currently operates with a Five-Star Center License, issued 6/14/2022, earning points in the following components: Program (7 PTS) + Education (6 PTS) + Quality Point (1 PT) = 14 Points = 5 Stars *The Quality Point is no longer met; however, the NCPre-K program meets the following QP: Meets the following: 1. Staff Benefits (offers 4 of the following: paid leave for professional development, paid planning time, vacation, sick time, retirement or health insurance) 2. Enhanced Parent Involvement (offers 2 of the following: quarterly newsletter, parent advisory board, periodic conferences for all children, quarterly parent meetings) The program was also monitored for compliance with implementing an approved curriculum (Creative Curriculum 5th edition) as required for all four and five star facilities where four-year old children are enrolled. The next rated license assessment is due by 6/14/2025, but new legislation (Senate Bill 425) has extended the “hold harmless” period until the new Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) is implemented. At this time, you may choose to complete a rated license assessment using the current rated license process or you may wait until the new QRIS is implemented. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. Please contact me prior to any information change regarding the ownership of this facility. License information was current. Contact me to make any changes to address, phone, or email or to request changes to the license. I monitored the classrooms and outdoor play area for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 1/1/2024 and Item Numbers Listing, effective 3/2024. I monitored two children’s records, two staff records and all program records. The facility does not offer transportation. The NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules were monitored for compliance in Space 1. I did not review the NCPre-K Site Monitoring Tool because it is not due until November 1st. I reviewed the NC Pre-K Site Monitoring Tool. Staff-child ratios were 1:9 or 2:18 or better, as required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3909. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teachers: D. Locke and NCPK Teacher Assistant, Y. Contreras. I monitored two children’s files for completed health assessments (dental, hearing, and vision), developmental screenings, and on-going instructional assessments. The facility uses the Dial-4 developmental screening which were completed for children in June 2024 or as they entered the program throughout the year. The NCPreK program uses Creative Curriculum and Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment tool to document evidence of each child’s progress three times throughout the school year: Fall, Mid-Winter, Spring and had completed the second checkpoint. The NCPre-K operates daily from 8/26/2024 – 6/11/2025 from Monday – Thursday 7:55am – 3:15pm and Friday 7:55 – 11:30am. Parent conferences are held twice a year. You stated that you use the Ready Rosie for family engagement and Class DoJo app to communicate with families, along with daily notes that goes back and forth with reminders, and information for families and from families. The NCPreK program completed an Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R) on 5/18/22 and scored 5.89. *Update the NCPre-K Plan to reflect that you use Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment instead of the Work Sampling System. Center Observations: Twelve of thirteen children, three and four years of age, enrolled in the Pre-K classroom were present today. The two teachers and children were on the playground that the school had moved back to its original location since the school renovations. The school is still working to add a complex climber but had brought a tunnel climber over. The building provided shade and trees had been planted to offer shady spots in a few years. A sandbox with sand toys offered opportunities for digging, sifting, and pouring. The teacher tried to use a plastic shower curtain for painting, but the wind was high today so she put it way for a calmer day. When they returned indoors, they washed hands and transferred to free play. The children selected toys and materials from various centers including art, books, blocks, dramatic play and manipulatives. They washed hands and ate lunch. Lunches are lunches are brought from home. The teacher stated that all families complete the Nutrition Opt-out form. After lunch they rested on mats. I observed and documented the following violations during today’s visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 114 A summary of the NC Child Care Law was not given to a parent of every child enrolled in the center. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Summary of NC Law was not available. GS 110-102 1203 Operational policies were not discussed with parents on or before the child's first day and/or they were not notified in writing of all changes. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the parent handbook was not available. 10A NCAC 09 .0514(b) 1207 Parent participation plan was not discussed with parents on or before the child's first day of attendance and/or a copy was not given to them or posted in the center. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Parent Participation Plan was not available. 10A NCAC 09 .0515(a) 1316 Emergency medical care information did not contain information needed for safe medical treatment. In one of two children's files reviewed, the parent did not complete the Health Care Needs section. .0802 (c)(4) 1322 A written statement from each child's parent giving standing permission which may be valid for up to twelve months for participation in off premise activities that occur on a regular basis was not available. In one of two children's files reviewed, the statement to participate in off-premise activities was not available. In the second file the parent checked "yes" and "no" for the statement of authorization for off-premise activities. .1005(b)(4) 1908 A child's file did not have a statement with parent signature acknowledging receipt and explanation of the Prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma policy and/or the acknowledgement did not have all the required information. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Prevention of Abusive Head Trauma Policy was not available. .0608(b)(1-6) * Child care programs are expected to achieve and always maintain compliance and are required by NC GS 110-90(4)(d) to achieve and maintain an 18-month compliance history score of at least 75%. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. I completed an electronic copy of the visit summary and provided a printed copy of it to J. Owens, Administrator. We reviewed the visit summary and violation(s) documented during today’s visit. Correct these immediately. Send evidence of correction to me so that I receive it no later than 9/17/2024. The compliance verification letter needs to state the facility name and license number and list each violation by Item # and describe in detail when and how each violation has been corrected. If referring to staff or children in your compliance letter, refer to them by initials or position. Also include the following documents/pictures to verify compliance: Send compliance verification letter in an email from the center’s official email address, tjordan@hyde.k12.nc.us to my email address, Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. If sent from another email address, the center’s official address must be Cc’d in the compliance email. You may include the compliance verification as an attachment or in the body of the email. If sufficient information is not received by the due date, a follow-up visit may be conducted. *I will email a sample compliance verification letter to you. *Please be aware that any information submitted by you is legal documentation. If it is determined the information provided in the compliance letter is not true, this may be considered falsification of information. If I may be of further assistance, please contact me by phone at (252) 373-9385, by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. You may also call Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov. Technical Assistance With Documented Violations: Maintaining accurate records on the children in your care helps to ensure their health and safety, informs families of rules you are required to follow and your center’s policies, and provides a certain transfer of knowledge so that you can provide the best care possible for their children. In one of two children’s files reviewed, verification of the parents’ receipt of policies was not available and the health care needs section was not completed on the Child’s Application. The following items were missing for NR (age 3). #114 – Receipt of Summary of NC Child Care Law #1203 – Receipt of parent handbook #1207 – Receipt of the parent participation plan #1316 – Completion of the Health Care Needs section on the Child’s Application – Even if the child does not have a Medical Action Plan, the parent needs to answer each question or write N/A. This section provides additional information that could be important in a medical emergency. #1322 – Permission to participate in off-premises activities that do not involve transportation (walking field trips, playing on other parts of the school playground, etc. (Also, the parent of NS answered yes and no to giving permission to off-premises activities. Check with her/him to verify. #1908 – Receipt of Prevention of Shaken Baby/Abusive Head Trauma Policy Use Children’s File Checklist to verify you have received all required enrollment documents. You also use a signature page to document receipt of policies, but this was not available in the file for NR. Build in time to review enrollment documents with families explaining that they need to be fully completed, signed and dated. Check them before the parent leaves their children with you the first day of school. The empty blank might be the signature you need to seek emergency medical care if the child is injured. If these forms are completed at registration, have a staff person available to review for completeness when the parent is present. If needed, have a bilingual staff person available to assist Spanish speaking families. For your compliance letter, state the date when the parent of NR has completed the health care needs section and documented receipt of the listed policies. Also take time to review all children’s files to ensure they are complete General Visit Information: As a licensed child care facility, it is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and to teach your staff the rules to ensure your center remains in compliance. The most recent versions of laws and rules regarding child care facilities in North Carolina are available on the DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. You can also review the “What’s New” section and download a copy of the Items Number Listing which you can use as a checklist for your program. Check the designated facility email at least weekly to stay current with communication and email blasts from DCDEE. If your email is not the facility email, sign up for email blasts on the What’s New page for general information and communication from DCDEE. Your local and regional Smart Start Partnerships and Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and Child Care Health Consultants provide general training to meet on-going training hours, health and safety training requirements, Environment Rating Scale training and training specific to your center’s needs. They can also work with you to provide on-site technical assistance. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – Call for information - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 *Craven Smart Start, Inc. and Region 2 Child Care Resource and Referral: Phone (252) 672-5921; website - www.cravensmartstart.org. *D. Bryant – Birth to 3 Specialist: demeka@cravensmartstart.org *S. Sumner – Healthy Social Behaviors Specialist: sonia@cravensmartstart.org *B. Parnell – Healthy Social Behaviors Specialist: brandi@cravensmartstart.org Consultation: Playground – Since the building renovations were completed last year, the school moved the preschool playground back to the front of the building accessible from the building by a set of steps. I measured the playground today. It has a capacity of 34 children at 100 square feet to meet enhanced space requirements. If you install a complex climber that is required to be anchored, it will need a fall zone with surfacing at the appropriate depth under the structure and at least six feet all around. Reminders: Staff Worksheets – Your Staff Worksheets are a great tool to help you track when items such as Criminal Background Checks, required trainings and staff forms expire and need to be updated. I encourage you to update information on the staff worksheets throughout the year as items are updated and/or staff change. *Encourage staff to maintain copies of all initial hire documents, Qualifying Letters, training certificates, etc. in their own professional file maintained at home. *When I email staff worksheets to you prior to your Annual Compliance visit, you are expected to update them and return them prior to the date provided in the email. If you cannot open or work with an Excel document, I can send you a list of questions to answer. Use your staff worksheet as a working document and keep it updated as staff information is updated or changes *We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that were that are coming due in the next year. Criminal Background Checks (CBC) – Federal requirements require all staff who work in licensed afterschool or pre-k programs operated by public schools complete a DCDEE Criminal Background Check (CBC) before hire and then every five years. This includes administrators, teachers, teacher assistants, substitutes, one-on-one assistants, and therapists if therapy does not take place in the classroom. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – New staff are required to complete Health & Safety Training (H&S Training) within one year of hire (CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment within 3 months of hire) and then complete training in all topic areas every five years. *Y. Contreras completed CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment and needs to complete the rest of H&S Training by 8/26/25. On-going Training Hours – D. Locke needs to complete 2.5 on-going training hours by 10/2/24 and document on On-going Training Log. Then she needs 5 hours by 9/3/25. ECE college coursework or coursework leading to an ECE degree or B-K License counts towards on-going training hours. Each semester credit counts as 16 hours so a 3-credit classes also earns 48 hours of on-going training. Teacher Assistant Education - All teacher assistants shall have a high school diploma or its equivalent and a CDA or AAS-ECE. Teacher assistants not holding a CDA or AAS-ECE must complete at least 6 hours annually towards AAS-ECE. All teacher assistants shall complete a minimum of 15 hours of annual in-service professional development. A combination of college coursework, Continuing Education Units (CEUs), or clock hours may be used to complete the requirements of this Rule. NCPre-K Staff Requirements – To provide high quality instructional activities for children, NCPre-K teachers and teacher assistants need dedicated time to work together for planning purposes and to work on individual education requirements. NCPre-K requirements as outlined in the 2024-25 Program Requirements and Guidance require at least 32.5 hours weekly of direct instructional time with children and 7.5 hours weekly to complete related instructional activities such as lesson planning and preparation, college coursework, training, and contact with families. NCPre-K teachers and teacher assistants may not substitute in other classrooms, provide transportation services (driving or bus monitoring), provide wrap-around care services, provide administrative services, or provide any other duties that do not involve delivery of NCPre-K services. Works - D. Locke needs to upload NC B-K Residency License to Works. I will email instructions. Required Water, Lead Paint, and Asbestos Testing - New child care rules require child care facilities to test for lead in drinking water, lead paint, and asbestos. Testing is required by 12/31/24 but enrollment should have been completed already. Check out the FAQ in the updated Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids. Currently there is funding to pay for the testing and to mitigate lead paint or asbestos hazards. Depending on the age of your building and the information you provide in the enrollment process, testing for lead paint and asbestos may not be required and you will receive an exemption letter. (Lead paint was not used in buildings built after 1978. Asbestos was not used in buildings after 1988.) Water testing will only be required once for family child care homes. For more information go to https://www.cleanwaterforuskids.org/en/carolina/. Naptime Linen – Children may not sleep directly on their mats and need to have a sheet, a blanket, or a beach towel between them and the mat. They can also sleep with a covering over them. If they sleep with a comfort item, it must be one that is brought from home and stored in their cubby and sent home weekly with the linen to be washed. To prevent the spread of germs, children may not sleep with classroom stuffed animals. Nutrition – Staff are required to model healthy eating habits when consuming food and beverages in front of children. Cans or bottles of soda pop (or cups from fast food restaurants) may not be visible in the classroom or in front of children. Staff may use opaque cups, if needed. Hooks in the hallway – If children use hooks to hang their backpacks and coats (instead of cubbies), the hooks need to be at least 12 inches apart to prevent the spread of germs from one child’s personal items to the next. Additional Comments: I shared information on the following topics and emailed the information to you after the visit: 1. Environment Rating Scales – Get Ready for the 3’s 2. QRIS Update 3. Criminal Background Check Reminders 4. Moodle Support Info 5. Provider Access to the Background Check Management System 6. NCID – Keep it active! Thank you for your time and assistance today. Refer to this visit summary for a refresher of our discussions today, and I encourage you to share with staff and use the information as a teaching tool. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call or email me at the contact information listed above. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times

GS 110-102 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 9/3/2024 Number Present: 12 Completed Date: 9/3/2024 Age: From 3 To 4 Total Minutes: 320 Time In: 09:40 AM Time Out: 03:00 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Annual Comp Full Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s Annual Compliance visit was to monitor compliance with applicable child care requirements. Monitoring included NC Pre-K requirements in the NC Child Care Rules Section .3000 which are applicable to Space 1. Last Annual Compliance visit – 10/2/23 18-month compliance history from 3/1/23 – 8/30/24 = 100% Last Sanitation Inspection – 5/20/24 - Superior Last Fire Inspection – 10/30/23 - Passed with Comments *Sanitation and fire inspections are required at least annually by the date of the previous inspection. Send fire inspections to me within seven (7) days of the inspection. The Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids website reflects the following information about your center’s required three-year water testing, lead paint testing, and asbestos testing: Three-year Water Testing – 4/2/21; due again 4/2024 Lead Paint Testing – not completed; due 12/31/24 Asbestos Testing – not completed; due 12/31/24 Maintain any paperwork received by mail or email in your Program Records file. *Because program is part of a larger DPI school, testing for the school may count as testing for the licensed Pre-K. See below for more information. J. Owens, Administrator, was present. She and the NCPre-K staff assisted me with the visit. The facility currently operates with a Five-Star Center License, issued 6/14/2022, earning points in the following components: Program (7 PTS) + Education (6 PTS) + Quality Point (1 PT) = 14 Points = 5 Stars *The Quality Point is no longer met; however, the NCPre-K program meets the following QP: Meets the following: 1. Staff Benefits (offers 4 of the following: paid leave for professional development, paid planning time, vacation, sick time, retirement or health insurance) 2. Enhanced Parent Involvement (offers 2 of the following: quarterly newsletter, parent advisory board, periodic conferences for all children, quarterly parent meetings) The program was also monitored for compliance with implementing an approved curriculum (Creative Curriculum 5th edition) as required for all four and five star facilities where four-year old children are enrolled. The next rated license assessment is due by 6/14/2025, but new legislation (Senate Bill 425) has extended the “hold harmless” period until the new Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) is implemented. At this time, you may choose to complete a rated license assessment using the current rated license process or you may wait until the new QRIS is implemented. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. Please contact me prior to any information change regarding the ownership of this facility. License information was current. Contact me to make any changes to address, phone, or email or to request changes to the license. I monitored the classrooms and outdoor play area for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 1/1/2024 and Item Numbers Listing, effective 3/2024. I monitored two children’s records, two staff records and all program records. The facility does not offer transportation. The NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules were monitored for compliance in Space 1. I did not review the NCPre-K Site Monitoring Tool because it is not due until November 1st. I reviewed the NC Pre-K Site Monitoring Tool. Staff-child ratios were 1:9 or 2:18 or better, as required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3909. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teachers: D. Locke and NCPK Teacher Assistant, Y. Contreras. I monitored two children’s files for completed health assessments (dental, hearing, and vision), developmental screenings, and on-going instructional assessments. The facility uses the Dial-4 developmental screening which were completed for children in June 2024 or as they entered the program throughout the year. The NCPreK program uses Creative Curriculum and Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment tool to document evidence of each child’s progress three times throughout the school year: Fall, Mid-Winter, Spring and had completed the second checkpoint. The NCPre-K operates daily from 8/26/2024 – 6/11/2025 from Monday – Thursday 7:55am – 3:15pm and Friday 7:55 – 11:30am. Parent conferences are held twice a year. You stated that you use the Ready Rosie for family engagement and Class DoJo app to communicate with families, along with daily notes that goes back and forth with reminders, and information for families and from families. The NCPreK program completed an Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R) on 5/18/22 and scored 5.89. *Update the NCPre-K Plan to reflect that you use Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment instead of the Work Sampling System. Center Observations: Twelve of thirteen children, three and four years of age, enrolled in the Pre-K classroom were present today. The two teachers and children were on the playground that the school had moved back to its original location since the school renovations. The school is still working to add a complex climber but had brought a tunnel climber over. The building provided shade and trees had been planted to offer shady spots in a few years. A sandbox with sand toys offered opportunities for digging, sifting, and pouring. The teacher tried to use a plastic shower curtain for painting, but the wind was high today so she put it way for a calmer day. When they returned indoors, they washed hands and transferred to free play. The children selected toys and materials from various centers including art, books, blocks, dramatic play and manipulatives. They washed hands and ate lunch. Lunches are lunches are brought from home. The teacher stated that all families complete the Nutrition Opt-out form. After lunch they rested on mats. I observed and documented the following violations during today’s visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 114 A summary of the NC Child Care Law was not given to a parent of every child enrolled in the center. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Summary of NC Law was not available. GS 110-102 1203 Operational policies were not discussed with parents on or before the child's first day and/or they were not notified in writing of all changes. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the parent handbook was not available. 10A NCAC 09 .0514(b) 1207 Parent participation plan was not discussed with parents on or before the child's first day of attendance and/or a copy was not given to them or posted in the center. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Parent Participation Plan was not available. 10A NCAC 09 .0515(a) 1316 Emergency medical care information did not contain information needed for safe medical treatment. In one of two children's files reviewed, the parent did not complete the Health Care Needs section. .0802 (c)(4) 1322 A written statement from each child's parent giving standing permission which may be valid for up to twelve months for participation in off premise activities that occur on a regular basis was not available. In one of two children's files reviewed, the statement to participate in off-premise activities was not available. In the second file the parent checked "yes" and "no" for the statement of authorization for off-premise activities. .1005(b)(4) 1908 A child's file did not have a statement with parent signature acknowledging receipt and explanation of the Prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma policy and/or the acknowledgement did not have all the required information. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Prevention of Abusive Head Trauma Policy was not available. .0608(b)(1-6) * Child care programs are expected to achieve and always maintain compliance and are required by NC GS 110-90(4)(d) to achieve and maintain an 18-month compliance history score of at least 75%. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. I completed an electronic copy of the visit summary and provided a printed copy of it to J. Owens, Administrator. We reviewed the visit summary and violation(s) documented during today’s visit. Correct these immediately. Send evidence of correction to me so that I receive it no later than 9/17/2024. The compliance verification letter needs to state the facility name and license number and list each violation by Item # and describe in detail when and how each violation has been corrected. If referring to staff or children in your compliance letter, refer to them by initials or position. Also include the following documents/pictures to verify compliance: Send compliance verification letter in an email from the center’s official email address, tjordan@hyde.k12.nc.us to my email address, Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. If sent from another email address, the center’s official address must be Cc’d in the compliance email. You may include the compliance verification as an attachment or in the body of the email. If sufficient information is not received by the due date, a follow-up visit may be conducted. *I will email a sample compliance verification letter to you. *Please be aware that any information submitted by you is legal documentation. If it is determined the information provided in the compliance letter is not true, this may be considered falsification of information. If I may be of further assistance, please contact me by phone at (252) 373-9385, by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. You may also call Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov. Technical Assistance With Documented Violations: Maintaining accurate records on the children in your care helps to ensure their health and safety, informs families of rules you are required to follow and your center’s policies, and provides a certain transfer of knowledge so that you can provide the best care possible for their children. In one of two children’s files reviewed, verification of the parents’ receipt of policies was not available and the health care needs section was not completed on the Child’s Application. The following items were missing for NR (age 3). #114 – Receipt of Summary of NC Child Care Law #1203 – Receipt of parent handbook #1207 – Receipt of the parent participation plan #1316 – Completion of the Health Care Needs section on the Child’s Application – Even if the child does not have a Medical Action Plan, the parent needs to answer each question or write N/A. This section provides additional information that could be important in a medical emergency. #1322 – Permission to participate in off-premises activities that do not involve transportation (walking field trips, playing on other parts of the school playground, etc. (Also, the parent of NS answered yes and no to giving permission to off-premises activities. Check with her/him to verify. #1908 – Receipt of Prevention of Shaken Baby/Abusive Head Trauma Policy Use Children’s File Checklist to verify you have received all required enrollment documents. You also use a signature page to document receipt of policies, but this was not available in the file for NR. Build in time to review enrollment documents with families explaining that they need to be fully completed, signed and dated. Check them before the parent leaves their children with you the first day of school. The empty blank might be the signature you need to seek emergency medical care if the child is injured. If these forms are completed at registration, have a staff person available to review for completeness when the parent is present. If needed, have a bilingual staff person available to assist Spanish speaking families. For your compliance letter, state the date when the parent of NR has completed the health care needs section and documented receipt of the listed policies. Also take time to review all children’s files to ensure they are complete General Visit Information: As a licensed child care facility, it is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and to teach your staff the rules to ensure your center remains in compliance. The most recent versions of laws and rules regarding child care facilities in North Carolina are available on the DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. You can also review the “What’s New” section and download a copy of the Items Number Listing which you can use as a checklist for your program. Check the designated facility email at least weekly to stay current with communication and email blasts from DCDEE. If your email is not the facility email, sign up for email blasts on the What’s New page for general information and communication from DCDEE. Your local and regional Smart Start Partnerships and Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and Child Care Health Consultants provide general training to meet on-going training hours, health and safety training requirements, Environment Rating Scale training and training specific to your center’s needs. They can also work with you to provide on-site technical assistance. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – Call for information - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 *Craven Smart Start, Inc. and Region 2 Child Care Resource and Referral: Phone (252) 672-5921; website - www.cravensmartstart.org. *D. Bryant – Birth to 3 Specialist: demeka@cravensmartstart.org *S. Sumner – Healthy Social Behaviors Specialist: sonia@cravensmartstart.org *B. Parnell – Healthy Social Behaviors Specialist: brandi@cravensmartstart.org Consultation: Playground – Since the building renovations were completed last year, the school moved the preschool playground back to the front of the building accessible from the building by a set of steps. I measured the playground today. It has a capacity of 34 children at 100 square feet to meet enhanced space requirements. If you install a complex climber that is required to be anchored, it will need a fall zone with surfacing at the appropriate depth under the structure and at least six feet all around. Reminders: Staff Worksheets – Your Staff Worksheets are a great tool to help you track when items such as Criminal Background Checks, required trainings and staff forms expire and need to be updated. I encourage you to update information on the staff worksheets throughout the year as items are updated and/or staff change. *Encourage staff to maintain copies of all initial hire documents, Qualifying Letters, training certificates, etc. in their own professional file maintained at home. *When I email staff worksheets to you prior to your Annual Compliance visit, you are expected to update them and return them prior to the date provided in the email. If you cannot open or work with an Excel document, I can send you a list of questions to answer. Use your staff worksheet as a working document and keep it updated as staff information is updated or changes *We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that were that are coming due in the next year. Criminal Background Checks (CBC) – Federal requirements require all staff who work in licensed afterschool or pre-k programs operated by public schools complete a DCDEE Criminal Background Check (CBC) before hire and then every five years. This includes administrators, teachers, teacher assistants, substitutes, one-on-one assistants, and therapists if therapy does not take place in the classroom. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – New staff are required to complete Health & Safety Training (H&S Training) within one year of hire (CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment within 3 months of hire) and then complete training in all topic areas every five years. *Y. Contreras completed CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment and needs to complete the rest of H&S Training by 8/26/25. On-going Training Hours – D. Locke needs to complete 2.5 on-going training hours by 10/2/24 and document on On-going Training Log. Then she needs 5 hours by 9/3/25. ECE college coursework or coursework leading to an ECE degree or B-K License counts towards on-going training hours. Each semester credit counts as 16 hours so a 3-credit classes also earns 48 hours of on-going training. Teacher Assistant Education - All teacher assistants shall have a high school diploma or its equivalent and a CDA or AAS-ECE. Teacher assistants not holding a CDA or AAS-ECE must complete at least 6 hours annually towards AAS-ECE. All teacher assistants shall complete a minimum of 15 hours of annual in-service professional development. A combination of college coursework, Continuing Education Units (CEUs), or clock hours may be used to complete the requirements of this Rule. NCPre-K Staff Requirements – To provide high quality instructional activities for children, NCPre-K teachers and teacher assistants need dedicated time to work together for planning purposes and to work on individual education requirements. NCPre-K requirements as outlined in the 2024-25 Program Requirements and Guidance require at least 32.5 hours weekly of direct instructional time with children and 7.5 hours weekly to complete related instructional activities such as lesson planning and preparation, college coursework, training, and contact with families. NCPre-K teachers and teacher assistants may not substitute in other classrooms, provide transportation services (driving or bus monitoring), provide wrap-around care services, provide administrative services, or provide any other duties that do not involve delivery of NCPre-K services. Works - D. Locke needs to upload NC B-K Residency License to Works. I will email instructions. Required Water, Lead Paint, and Asbestos Testing - New child care rules require child care facilities to test for lead in drinking water, lead paint, and asbestos. Testing is required by 12/31/24 but enrollment should have been completed already. Check out the FAQ in the updated Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids. Currently there is funding to pay for the testing and to mitigate lead paint or asbestos hazards. Depending on the age of your building and the information you provide in the enrollment process, testing for lead paint and asbestos may not be required and you will receive an exemption letter. (Lead paint was not used in buildings built after 1978. Asbestos was not used in buildings after 1988.) Water testing will only be required once for family child care homes. For more information go to https://www.cleanwaterforuskids.org/en/carolina/. Naptime Linen – Children may not sleep directly on their mats and need to have a sheet, a blanket, or a beach towel between them and the mat. They can also sleep with a covering over them. If they sleep with a comfort item, it must be one that is brought from home and stored in their cubby and sent home weekly with the linen to be washed. To prevent the spread of germs, children may not sleep with classroom stuffed animals. Nutrition – Staff are required to model healthy eating habits when consuming food and beverages in front of children. Cans or bottles of soda pop (or cups from fast food restaurants) may not be visible in the classroom or in front of children. Staff may use opaque cups, if needed. Hooks in the hallway – If children use hooks to hang their backpacks and coats (instead of cubbies), the hooks need to be at least 12 inches apart to prevent the spread of germs from one child’s personal items to the next. Additional Comments: I shared information on the following topics and emailed the information to you after the visit: 1. Environment Rating Scales – Get Ready for the 3’s 2. QRIS Update 3. Criminal Background Check Reminders 4. Moodle Support Info 5. Provider Access to the Background Check Management System 6. NCID – Keep it active! Thank you for your time and assistance today. Refer to this visit summary for a refresher of our discussions today, and I encourage you to share with staff and use the information as a teaching tool. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call or email me at the contact information listed above. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times

NC GS 110-90 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 9/3/2024 Number Present: 12 Completed Date: 9/3/2024 Age: From 3 To 4 Total Minutes: 320 Time In: 09:40 AM Time Out: 03:00 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Annual Comp Full Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s Annual Compliance visit was to monitor compliance with applicable child care requirements. Monitoring included NC Pre-K requirements in the NC Child Care Rules Section .3000 which are applicable to Space 1. Last Annual Compliance visit – 10/2/23 18-month compliance history from 3/1/23 – 8/30/24 = 100% Last Sanitation Inspection – 5/20/24 - Superior Last Fire Inspection – 10/30/23 - Passed with Comments *Sanitation and fire inspections are required at least annually by the date of the previous inspection. Send fire inspections to me within seven (7) days of the inspection. The Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids website reflects the following information about your center’s required three-year water testing, lead paint testing, and asbestos testing: Three-year Water Testing – 4/2/21; due again 4/2024 Lead Paint Testing – not completed; due 12/31/24 Asbestos Testing – not completed; due 12/31/24 Maintain any paperwork received by mail or email in your Program Records file. *Because program is part of a larger DPI school, testing for the school may count as testing for the licensed Pre-K. See below for more information. J. Owens, Administrator, was present. She and the NCPre-K staff assisted me with the visit. The facility currently operates with a Five-Star Center License, issued 6/14/2022, earning points in the following components: Program (7 PTS) + Education (6 PTS) + Quality Point (1 PT) = 14 Points = 5 Stars *The Quality Point is no longer met; however, the NCPre-K program meets the following QP: Meets the following: 1. Staff Benefits (offers 4 of the following: paid leave for professional development, paid planning time, vacation, sick time, retirement or health insurance) 2. Enhanced Parent Involvement (offers 2 of the following: quarterly newsletter, parent advisory board, periodic conferences for all children, quarterly parent meetings) The program was also monitored for compliance with implementing an approved curriculum (Creative Curriculum 5th edition) as required for all four and five star facilities where four-year old children are enrolled. The next rated license assessment is due by 6/14/2025, but new legislation (Senate Bill 425) has extended the “hold harmless” period until the new Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) is implemented. At this time, you may choose to complete a rated license assessment using the current rated license process or you may wait until the new QRIS is implemented. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. Please contact me prior to any information change regarding the ownership of this facility. License information was current. Contact me to make any changes to address, phone, or email or to request changes to the license. I monitored the classrooms and outdoor play area for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 1/1/2024 and Item Numbers Listing, effective 3/2024. I monitored two children’s records, two staff records and all program records. The facility does not offer transportation. The NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules were monitored for compliance in Space 1. I did not review the NCPre-K Site Monitoring Tool because it is not due until November 1st. I reviewed the NC Pre-K Site Monitoring Tool. Staff-child ratios were 1:9 or 2:18 or better, as required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3909. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teachers: D. Locke and NCPK Teacher Assistant, Y. Contreras. I monitored two children’s files for completed health assessments (dental, hearing, and vision), developmental screenings, and on-going instructional assessments. The facility uses the Dial-4 developmental screening which were completed for children in June 2024 or as they entered the program throughout the year. The NCPreK program uses Creative Curriculum and Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment tool to document evidence of each child’s progress three times throughout the school year: Fall, Mid-Winter, Spring and had completed the second checkpoint. The NCPre-K operates daily from 8/26/2024 – 6/11/2025 from Monday – Thursday 7:55am – 3:15pm and Friday 7:55 – 11:30am. Parent conferences are held twice a year. You stated that you use the Ready Rosie for family engagement and Class DoJo app to communicate with families, along with daily notes that goes back and forth with reminders, and information for families and from families. The NCPreK program completed an Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R) on 5/18/22 and scored 5.89. *Update the NCPre-K Plan to reflect that you use Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment instead of the Work Sampling System. Center Observations: Twelve of thirteen children, three and four years of age, enrolled in the Pre-K classroom were present today. The two teachers and children were on the playground that the school had moved back to its original location since the school renovations. The school is still working to add a complex climber but had brought a tunnel climber over. The building provided shade and trees had been planted to offer shady spots in a few years. A sandbox with sand toys offered opportunities for digging, sifting, and pouring. The teacher tried to use a plastic shower curtain for painting, but the wind was high today so she put it way for a calmer day. When they returned indoors, they washed hands and transferred to free play. The children selected toys and materials from various centers including art, books, blocks, dramatic play and manipulatives. They washed hands and ate lunch. Lunches are lunches are brought from home. The teacher stated that all families complete the Nutrition Opt-out form. After lunch they rested on mats. I observed and documented the following violations during today’s visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 114 A summary of the NC Child Care Law was not given to a parent of every child enrolled in the center. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Summary of NC Law was not available. GS 110-102 1203 Operational policies were not discussed with parents on or before the child's first day and/or they were not notified in writing of all changes. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the parent handbook was not available. 10A NCAC 09 .0514(b) 1207 Parent participation plan was not discussed with parents on or before the child's first day of attendance and/or a copy was not given to them or posted in the center. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Parent Participation Plan was not available. 10A NCAC 09 .0515(a) 1316 Emergency medical care information did not contain information needed for safe medical treatment. In one of two children's files reviewed, the parent did not complete the Health Care Needs section. .0802 (c)(4) 1322 A written statement from each child's parent giving standing permission which may be valid for up to twelve months for participation in off premise activities that occur on a regular basis was not available. In one of two children's files reviewed, the statement to participate in off-premise activities was not available. In the second file the parent checked "yes" and "no" for the statement of authorization for off-premise activities. .1005(b)(4) 1908 A child's file did not have a statement with parent signature acknowledging receipt and explanation of the Prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma policy and/or the acknowledgement did not have all the required information. In one of two children's files reviewed, verification of receipt of the Prevention of Abusive Head Trauma Policy was not available. .0608(b)(1-6) * Child care programs are expected to achieve and always maintain compliance and are required by NC GS 110-90(4)(d) to achieve and maintain an 18-month compliance history score of at least 75%. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. I completed an electronic copy of the visit summary and provided a printed copy of it to J. Owens, Administrator. We reviewed the visit summary and violation(s) documented during today’s visit. Correct these immediately. Send evidence of correction to me so that I receive it no later than 9/17/2024. The compliance verification letter needs to state the facility name and license number and list each violation by Item # and describe in detail when and how each violation has been corrected. If referring to staff or children in your compliance letter, refer to them by initials or position. Also include the following documents/pictures to verify compliance: Send compliance verification letter in an email from the center’s official email address, tjordan@hyde.k12.nc.us to my email address, Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. If sent from another email address, the center’s official address must be Cc’d in the compliance email. You may include the compliance verification as an attachment or in the body of the email. If sufficient information is not received by the due date, a follow-up visit may be conducted. *I will email a sample compliance verification letter to you. *Please be aware that any information submitted by you is legal documentation. If it is determined the information provided in the compliance letter is not true, this may be considered falsification of information. If I may be of further assistance, please contact me by phone at (252) 373-9385, by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. You may also call Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov. Technical Assistance With Documented Violations: Maintaining accurate records on the children in your care helps to ensure their health and safety, informs families of rules you are required to follow and your center’s policies, and provides a certain transfer of knowledge so that you can provide the best care possible for their children. In one of two children’s files reviewed, verification of the parents’ receipt of policies was not available and the health care needs section was not completed on the Child’s Application. The following items were missing for NR (age 3). #114 – Receipt of Summary of NC Child Care Law #1203 – Receipt of parent handbook #1207 – Receipt of the parent participation plan #1316 – Completion of the Health Care Needs section on the Child’s Application – Even if the child does not have a Medical Action Plan, the parent needs to answer each question or write N/A. This section provides additional information that could be important in a medical emergency. #1322 – Permission to participate in off-premises activities that do not involve transportation (walking field trips, playing on other parts of the school playground, etc. (Also, the parent of NS answered yes and no to giving permission to off-premises activities. Check with her/him to verify. #1908 – Receipt of Prevention of Shaken Baby/Abusive Head Trauma Policy Use Children’s File Checklist to verify you have received all required enrollment documents. You also use a signature page to document receipt of policies, but this was not available in the file for NR. Build in time to review enrollment documents with families explaining that they need to be fully completed, signed and dated. Check them before the parent leaves their children with you the first day of school. The empty blank might be the signature you need to seek emergency medical care if the child is injured. If these forms are completed at registration, have a staff person available to review for completeness when the parent is present. If needed, have a bilingual staff person available to assist Spanish speaking families. For your compliance letter, state the date when the parent of NR has completed the health care needs section and documented receipt of the listed policies. Also take time to review all children’s files to ensure they are complete General Visit Information: As a licensed child care facility, it is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and to teach your staff the rules to ensure your center remains in compliance. The most recent versions of laws and rules regarding child care facilities in North Carolina are available on the DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. You can also review the “What’s New” section and download a copy of the Items Number Listing which you can use as a checklist for your program. Check the designated facility email at least weekly to stay current with communication and email blasts from DCDEE. If your email is not the facility email, sign up for email blasts on the What’s New page for general information and communication from DCDEE. Your local and regional Smart Start Partnerships and Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and Child Care Health Consultants provide general training to meet on-going training hours, health and safety training requirements, Environment Rating Scale training and training specific to your center’s needs. They can also work with you to provide on-site technical assistance. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – Call for information - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 *Craven Smart Start, Inc. and Region 2 Child Care Resource and Referral: Phone (252) 672-5921; website - www.cravensmartstart.org. *D. Bryant – Birth to 3 Specialist: demeka@cravensmartstart.org *S. Sumner – Healthy Social Behaviors Specialist: sonia@cravensmartstart.org *B. Parnell – Healthy Social Behaviors Specialist: brandi@cravensmartstart.org Consultation: Playground – Since the building renovations were completed last year, the school moved the preschool playground back to the front of the building accessible from the building by a set of steps. I measured the playground today. It has a capacity of 34 children at 100 square feet to meet enhanced space requirements. If you install a complex climber that is required to be anchored, it will need a fall zone with surfacing at the appropriate depth under the structure and at least six feet all around. Reminders: Staff Worksheets – Your Staff Worksheets are a great tool to help you track when items such as Criminal Background Checks, required trainings and staff forms expire and need to be updated. I encourage you to update information on the staff worksheets throughout the year as items are updated and/or staff change. *Encourage staff to maintain copies of all initial hire documents, Qualifying Letters, training certificates, etc. in their own professional file maintained at home. *When I email staff worksheets to you prior to your Annual Compliance visit, you are expected to update them and return them prior to the date provided in the email. If you cannot open or work with an Excel document, I can send you a list of questions to answer. Use your staff worksheet as a working document and keep it updated as staff information is updated or changes *We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that were that are coming due in the next year. Criminal Background Checks (CBC) – Federal requirements require all staff who work in licensed afterschool or pre-k programs operated by public schools complete a DCDEE Criminal Background Check (CBC) before hire and then every five years. This includes administrators, teachers, teacher assistants, substitutes, one-on-one assistants, and therapists if therapy does not take place in the classroom. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – New staff are required to complete Health & Safety Training (H&S Training) within one year of hire (CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment within 3 months of hire) and then complete training in all topic areas every five years. *Y. Contreras completed CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment and needs to complete the rest of H&S Training by 8/26/25. On-going Training Hours – D. Locke needs to complete 2.5 on-going training hours by 10/2/24 and document on On-going Training Log. Then she needs 5 hours by 9/3/25. ECE college coursework or coursework leading to an ECE degree or B-K License counts towards on-going training hours. Each semester credit counts as 16 hours so a 3-credit classes also earns 48 hours of on-going training. Teacher Assistant Education - All teacher assistants shall have a high school diploma or its equivalent and a CDA or AAS-ECE. Teacher assistants not holding a CDA or AAS-ECE must complete at least 6 hours annually towards AAS-ECE. All teacher assistants shall complete a minimum of 15 hours of annual in-service professional development. A combination of college coursework, Continuing Education Units (CEUs), or clock hours may be used to complete the requirements of this Rule. NCPre-K Staff Requirements – To provide high quality instructional activities for children, NCPre-K teachers and teacher assistants need dedicated time to work together for planning purposes and to work on individual education requirements. NCPre-K requirements as outlined in the 2024-25 Program Requirements and Guidance require at least 32.5 hours weekly of direct instructional time with children and 7.5 hours weekly to complete related instructional activities such as lesson planning and preparation, college coursework, training, and contact with families. NCPre-K teachers and teacher assistants may not substitute in other classrooms, provide transportation services (driving or bus monitoring), provide wrap-around care services, provide administrative services, or provide any other duties that do not involve delivery of NCPre-K services. Works - D. Locke needs to upload NC B-K Residency License to Works. I will email instructions. Required Water, Lead Paint, and Asbestos Testing - New child care rules require child care facilities to test for lead in drinking water, lead paint, and asbestos. Testing is required by 12/31/24 but enrollment should have been completed already. Check out the FAQ in the updated Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids. Currently there is funding to pay for the testing and to mitigate lead paint or asbestos hazards. Depending on the age of your building and the information you provide in the enrollment process, testing for lead paint and asbestos may not be required and you will receive an exemption letter. (Lead paint was not used in buildings built after 1978. Asbestos was not used in buildings after 1988.) Water testing will only be required once for family child care homes. For more information go to https://www.cleanwaterforuskids.org/en/carolina/. Naptime Linen – Children may not sleep directly on their mats and need to have a sheet, a blanket, or a beach towel between them and the mat. They can also sleep with a covering over them. If they sleep with a comfort item, it must be one that is brought from home and stored in their cubby and sent home weekly with the linen to be washed. To prevent the spread of germs, children may not sleep with classroom stuffed animals. Nutrition – Staff are required to model healthy eating habits when consuming food and beverages in front of children. Cans or bottles of soda pop (or cups from fast food restaurants) may not be visible in the classroom or in front of children. Staff may use opaque cups, if needed. Hooks in the hallway – If children use hooks to hang their backpacks and coats (instead of cubbies), the hooks need to be at least 12 inches apart to prevent the spread of germs from one child’s personal items to the next. Additional Comments: I shared information on the following topics and emailed the information to you after the visit: 1. Environment Rating Scales – Get Ready for the 3’s 2. QRIS Update 3. Criminal Background Check Reminders 4. Moodle Support Info 5. Provider Access to the Background Check Management System 6. NCID – Keep it active! Thank you for your time and assistance today. Refer to this visit summary for a refresher of our discussions today, and I encourage you to share with staff and use the information as a teaching tool. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call or email me at the contact information listed above. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times

10A NCAC 09 .3909 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 10/2/2023 Number Present: 9 Completed Date: 10/2/2023 Age: From 4 To 5 Total Minutes: 345 Time In: 09:30 AM Time Out: 03:15 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Annual Comp Full Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s Annual Compliance visit was to monitor compliance with applicable child care requirements. Monitoring included NC Pre-K requirements in the NC Child Care Rules Section .3000 which are applicable to Room 502. Last Annual Compliance visit – 11/7/2022 Last Sanitation Inspection – 11/15/2022 with a Superior Rating; expires 11/15/2023 Last Fire Inspection – 5/7/2023 with Passed with Comments rating; expires 1/3/2024 *Sanitation and fire inspections are required at least annually by the date of the previous inspection. Send fire inspections to me within seven (7) days of the inspection. 18-month compliance history from 3/8/2022 – 9/7/2023 = 97% L. Cole, Administrator, was present, but the NCPre-K staff assisted me with the visit. The facility currently operates with a Five-Star Center License, issued 6/14//2022, earning points in the following components: Program (7 PTS) + Education (6 PTS) + Quality Point (1 PT) = 14 Points = 5 Stars *The Quality Point is no longer met; however, the NCPre-K program meets the following QP: The child care administrator has at least 10 years of documented child care administrative work experience in a licensed program that can be verified by the Division The next rated license assessment is due by 6/14/2025. See below for more information about the Division’s plan to return to rated license assessments. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. Please contact me prior to any information change regarding the ownership of this facility. Facility contact information and license information were current. Contact me to make any changes to address, phone, or email or to request changes to the license. I monitored the classrooms and spaces used for child care and outdoor play area for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 7/1/2023 and Item Number Listing, effective 8/2023. I received the program’s Public Preschool Off-site Children’s Records and Staff Records Verification for 2023-2. I monitored two children’s records, two staff records and all program records. The facility does not offer transportation. The NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules were monitored for compliance in Room 502. The NC Pre-K Site Monitoring Tool is not due until November. Staff-child ratios were 1:9 or 2:18 or better, as required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3909. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teacher: D. Locke and NCPK Teacher Assistant: K. Ambrose. I monitored two children’s files for completed health assessments (dental, hearing, and vision), developmental screenings, and on-going instructional assessments. The facility uses the Dial-4 developmental screening which was completed for children in March 2023 or as they entered the program throughout the year. The NCPreK program uses Creative Curriculum as the approved curriculum and Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment tool to document evidence of each child’s progress three times throughout the school year: Fall, Mid-Winter, Spring and were in the process of initial assessments. The NCPre-K operates daily from 8/29/2023 – 6/7/2024 from 7:50am – 3:00pm. Parent conferences are held twice a year. You stated that you use Ready Rosie to communicate with families, along with newsletters, daily notes that goes back and forth with reminders, and information for families and from families. The NCPreK program completed an Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R) on 5/18/2022 and scored 5.89. Center Observations: Parent information was posted on the bulletin board inside the classroom door. Nine of ten children were present with two teachers. They were learning about positive relationships with familiar adults and safety procedures as posted in the classroom. Children were engaged in free choice play in well-defined activity centers containing a sufficient quantity of a variety of learning and play materials. At group time which occurred before I arrived, everyone shared if they had a pet at home and documented their response with their magnetic name on a “yes” pizza pan or a “no” pizza pan. They used the bathroom and went outdoors to the fenced playground. A dome climber was available for climbing. Large waffle blocks were used for building. Make believe centers and accessories offered the opportunity for pretend play. Sand toys were available in a sand box. A triangle sail cloth and large Live Oak tree provide shade. The teacher reported that children play within the branches of the tree but due to safety concerns are not climbing the lowest branch this year. When they returned indoors, they washed hands and ate lunch. Lunches are brought from home. All families complete Nutrition Opt-out forms. Lunch was social and relaxed. As children finished they put up their lunch boxes and washed their hands before returning to free play. Later they rested on linen-covered mats. Interactions were warm and nurturing. Teachers interacted with children individually and as a group, asking questions and encouraging conversation. I observed and documented the following violation during today’s visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 1035 Child care providers, including the director, uncompensated providers, substitute providers, and volunteers did not have the required Emergency Information Form on file on or before the first day of work, which included all the required information and/or the information on the form was not updated as changes occur and at least annually. A staff member did not document review and/or update of the Staff Emergency Form. .0701(a) * Child care programs are expected to achieve and always maintain compliance and are required by NC GS 110-90(4)(d) to achieve and maintain an 18-month compliance history score of at least 75%. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. I completed an electronic copy of the visit summary and provided a printed copy of it to D. Locke, NCPre-K Teacher. I will email an electronic copy to the administrator and NCPre-K coordinator. We reviewed the visit summary and violation documented during today’s visit. The teacher corrected the violation, so no further action is required except to maintain compliance in the future. If I may be of further assistance, please contact me by phone at (252) 373-9385, by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. You may also call Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE WITH DOCUMENTED VIOLATION: Staff Emergency Form (SEF) – The Staff Emergency Form provides contact information (physician, hospital, emergency contacts) in the event a staff member has a medical emergency. Staff members complete it by their first day of work and update it annually. The NCPre-K Teacher did not document review of her SEF since it was completed at the beginning of last school year. She stated she just forgot about it because none of the information had changed. Your staff worksheet is a tool to help you track due dates for employee updates. To streamline the update process, have all staff review and update their Health Questionnaires and Emergency Information forms at the same time. The NCPre-K Teacher corrected this and stated that she will have her, and her Teacher Assistant complete these in August before school starts. GENERAL VISIT INFORMATION: Be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and environmental health rules; review them with your staff and assist them with understanding and implementing them to maintain compliance and keep children safe and healthy. The most recent versions of child care laws and rules (updated 7/1/23) and environmental health rules (updated 7/1/23) in North Carolina, the Items Number Listing (can be used as a detailed checklist of required items) and What’s New information are available on the DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. Check the designated facility email at least weekly to stay current with communication and email blasts from DCDEE. If your email is not the facility email, sign up for email blasts on the What’s New page for general information and communication from DCDEE. Your local and regional Smart Start Partnerships and Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies are available to assist you with technical assistance and training on a multitude of topics including but not limited to: Environment Rating Scales, healthy behaviors and classroom management, developmentally appropriate practice, activity plans, NC Foundations for Early Learning (developmental domains), etc. Child Care Health Consultants can provide training and technical assistance on topics related to health and safety such as sanitation, handwashing, diapering, illness policies, etc. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – L. Hindman - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 or lani@bhckids.org REMINDERS: Children’s Records – Review Health Care Needs section on Child’s Application for Enrollment to verify that parent provides a response to all questions. Staff Worksheets – Your Staff Worksheets are a great tool to help you track when items such as Criminal Background Checks, required trainings and staff forms expire and need to be updated. I encourage you to update information on the staff worksheets throughout the year as items are updated and/or staff change. *We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that were delinquent and items that are coming due in the next year. Criminal Background Checks – Thank you for having the staff who pull children out for guidance or art complete Criminal Background Checks. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – Review Row 17 on Staff Worksheet for staff members needing initial H&S Training or five-year renewal. New staff are required to complete Health & Safety Training (H&S Training) within one year of hire (CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment within 3 months of hire) and then complete training in all topic areas every five years. *D. Locke completed H&S Training. K. Amburn has started H&S Training. On-going Training Hours – Review Row 18 (# hours to carry over) on the Staff Worksheets to determine how many on-going training hours returning staff will need by 10/2/2024 (anniversary of today’s Annual Compliance visit). School Critical Incident Plan and Emergency Medical Care Plan (EMCP) - • Licensed DPI programs are not required to complete a separate Emergency Preparedness Plan if they follow the school’s Critical Incident Plan (or similar type of plan for emergency responses). They are expected to have documentation of monthly fire drills and quarterly emergency drills – shelter-in-place or lock-down). Fire drills must be completed for any month or partial month the Pre-K or ASEP is operating. A quarterly emergency drill must be completed each quarter (July – September; October – December, January – March; April – June). You completed a fire drill and a lock-down drill in September • A current Emergency Medical Care Plan is required to be posted in a central location and updated to reflect current staff and assigned duties in a medical emergency. At least one person listed on EMCP must be on site. Handwashing – Remind persons who are entering the classroom (visitors, teachers, other staff, custodial staff) that they need to wash their hands after entering the classroom. Post a sign on the door. Children are grasping handwashing and using a little timer to learn how long to wash their hands. Water bottles – Children may bring water bottles from home and take them home daily to be washed. All water bottles must be labeled with child’s name. Plastic bags – Plastic bags must be stored out of reach of children in classrooms where children younger than three years of age are in care. Food Sensitivities – If children have food sensitivities (not allergies requiring emergency medication) to something like dairy or gluten, the parent or guardian needs to document this information on the Child’s Application in the Health Care Needs section and describe how staff will manage the child’s food sensitivity. Documentation needs to be posted in the classroom so that all staff are aware of food allergies, sensitivities or other dietary restrictions. A medical action plan is not required. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I shared information on the following topics and emailed the information to you after the visit: 1. Child Care Immunization Report – due 11/1/23 2. Mental Health First Aid Training for Administrators 3. Environmental Health Rules Update 4. Moodle Support Email and Phone Contact 5. New Challenging Behaviors Helpline! 6. NC Rated License Assessment Project (NCRLAP) Resources 7. NCID – Keep it active! TRANSITION BACK TO RATED LICENSE ASSESSMENTS AND COHORTS To transition back to rated license assessments, the Division has created a two-year Cohort Model. All facilities are assigned to one of three cohorts based on their current rated license assessment due date. Each cohort will have a year for preparation and a year for assessment. (However, you are encouraged to begin preparations now so that you are ready when your cohort group is due!) Your pre-k program is due for a three-year rated license reassessment by 6/14/2025 and has been assigned to Cohort 3. The Cohort 3 Rated License Preparation Year is from 7/1/2025 – 6/30/2026. Before or during your preparation year, if you are interested in having the Environment Rating Scales completed, review the ECERS-R by obtaining the manuals for each classroom and looking for assessment related resources at ncrlap.org. Request technical assistance and training for your staff from Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children. You can request and complete an ECERS-R during your preparation year. If your scores help you meet or exceed your current star rating and you are ready to move forward with your rated license assessment, you may choose to do so during your preparation year. Your preparation year is also the time to continue to work on staff education and ensure that Works accounts are completed and up to date for staff members. The Cohort 3 Rated License Assessment Year is from 7/1/2026 – 6/30/2027. During your assessment year you may choose to complete the ECERS-R again at no cost even if you completed them during your preparation year. Use the feedback from your preparation year scores to create a plan to improve your scores. During this year, all education needs to be posted in Works. At some point during that year, you will have your rated license assessed. Technical Assistance to Improve ECERS-R Scores – The website for the NC Rated License Assessment Project (NCRLAP), www.ncrlap.org , has a wealth of resources and training opportunities to help you intentionally prepare for your upcoming ECERS-R assessment. From the main webpage, you can access self-assessment tools to review each subscale in detail and determine how you can make improvements in each area. See “Thinking More About Space and Furnishing,” “Thinking More About Personal Care Routines,” “Thinking More About Language and Interactions,” “Thinking More About Activities,” and “Thinking More About Program Structure.” Taking the time to work through these activities with your staff and using that self-reflection to purchase materials, rearrange your classrooms, work on interactions, improve daily routines, etc. will help you improve your environment and your scores. Also check out the training options under the training tab. Trainings are both self-guided and live (virtual). You and your staff can earn training credit for participating in these trainings. In 2022, you scored lowest on Subscale 2 of the ECERS-R: Personal Care Routines. Look at the following and consider ways to improve your scores: Item #10: Meals/snacks – Before and after meals and snacks, tables need to be cleaned and sanitized by spraying a soapy solution and wiping clean followed by a sanitizing solution that is left to air dry or wiped dry after two minutes. On 4/29/2016, your Environmental Health Specialist approved for your facility to use Clorox or Lysol Disinfecting wipes if they meet the requirements using a test strip, and you continue to follow the procedures for sanitizing tables. These are not considered an appropriate sanitizing option for the ECERS-R and will continue to result in a low score on this item; however, since the EHS has approved them, use of them is not a violation. Item #14: Safety practices – Child care rules only require stationary playground equipment to have fall zones; however, CPSC standards used in the ECERS-R assessment require all playground equipment over 18 inches in height to have a six foot fall zone on all sides. The climbing dome on the playground is required for ECERS-R to have a six-foot fall zone to the containment border on all sides and at least six inches of rubber mulch. While this is not a violation of NC Child Care Requirements, it will continue to score low on future ECERS-R assessments if the fall zone is not increased to six feet on all side with at least six inches of rubber mulch. Thank you for your time and assistance today. Refer to this visit summary for a refresher of our discussions today, and I encourage you to share with staff and use the information as a teaching tool. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call or email me at the contact information listed above. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times

NC GS 110-90 · Violation

Name of Operation: OCRACOKE PRE-K Facility ID: 48000026 Consultant: MARJORIE WHITE Operation Type: Center Case Number: Visit Date: 10/2/2023 Number Present: 9 Completed Date: 10/2/2023 Age: From 4 To 5 Total Minutes: 345 Time In: 09:30 AM Time Out: 03:15 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Annual Comp Full Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced * The purpose of today’s Annual Compliance visit was to monitor compliance with applicable child care requirements. Monitoring included NC Pre-K requirements in the NC Child Care Rules Section .3000 which are applicable to Room 502. Last Annual Compliance visit – 11/7/2022 Last Sanitation Inspection – 11/15/2022 with a Superior Rating; expires 11/15/2023 Last Fire Inspection – 5/7/2023 with Passed with Comments rating; expires 1/3/2024 *Sanitation and fire inspections are required at least annually by the date of the previous inspection. Send fire inspections to me within seven (7) days of the inspection. 18-month compliance history from 3/8/2022 – 9/7/2023 = 97% L. Cole, Administrator, was present, but the NCPre-K staff assisted me with the visit. The facility currently operates with a Five-Star Center License, issued 6/14//2022, earning points in the following components: Program (7 PTS) + Education (6 PTS) + Quality Point (1 PT) = 14 Points = 5 Stars *The Quality Point is no longer met; however, the NCPre-K program meets the following QP: The child care administrator has at least 10 years of documented child care administrative work experience in a licensed program that can be verified by the Division The next rated license assessment is due by 6/14/2025. See below for more information about the Division’s plan to return to rated license assessments. This facility is owned by Hyde County Schools. Please contact me prior to any information change regarding the ownership of this facility. Facility contact information and license information were current. Contact me to make any changes to address, phone, or email or to request changes to the license. I monitored the classrooms and spaces used for child care and outdoor play area for applicable child care center requirements using the Child Care Center Requirements, effective 7/1/2023 and Item Number Listing, effective 8/2023. I received the program’s Public Preschool Off-site Children’s Records and Staff Records Verification for 2023-2. I monitored two children’s records, two staff records and all program records. The facility does not offer transportation. The NCPre-K requirements in Section .3000 of the child care rules were monitored for compliance in Room 502. The NC Pre-K Site Monitoring Tool is not due until November. Staff-child ratios were 1:9 or 2:18 or better, as required in Child Care Rule 10A NCAC 09 .3909. The current NCPre-K staff are NCPK Teacher: D. Locke and NCPK Teacher Assistant: K. Ambrose. I monitored two children’s files for completed health assessments (dental, hearing, and vision), developmental screenings, and on-going instructional assessments. The facility uses the Dial-4 developmental screening which was completed for children in March 2023 or as they entered the program throughout the year. The NCPreK program uses Creative Curriculum as the approved curriculum and Teaching Strategies Gold as the on-going instructional assessment tool to document evidence of each child’s progress three times throughout the school year: Fall, Mid-Winter, Spring and were in the process of initial assessments. The NCPre-K operates daily from 8/29/2023 – 6/7/2024 from 7:50am – 3:00pm. Parent conferences are held twice a year. You stated that you use Ready Rosie to communicate with families, along with newsletters, daily notes that goes back and forth with reminders, and information for families and from families. The NCPreK program completed an Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R) on 5/18/2022 and scored 5.89. Center Observations: Parent information was posted on the bulletin board inside the classroom door. Nine of ten children were present with two teachers. They were learning about positive relationships with familiar adults and safety procedures as posted in the classroom. Children were engaged in free choice play in well-defined activity centers containing a sufficient quantity of a variety of learning and play materials. At group time which occurred before I arrived, everyone shared if they had a pet at home and documented their response with their magnetic name on a “yes” pizza pan or a “no” pizza pan. They used the bathroom and went outdoors to the fenced playground. A dome climber was available for climbing. Large waffle blocks were used for building. Make believe centers and accessories offered the opportunity for pretend play. Sand toys were available in a sand box. A triangle sail cloth and large Live Oak tree provide shade. The teacher reported that children play within the branches of the tree but due to safety concerns are not climbing the lowest branch this year. When they returned indoors, they washed hands and ate lunch. Lunches are brought from home. All families complete Nutrition Opt-out forms. Lunch was social and relaxed. As children finished they put up their lunch boxes and washed their hands before returning to free play. Later they rested on linen-covered mats. Interactions were warm and nurturing. Teachers interacted with children individually and as a group, asking questions and encouraging conversation. I observed and documented the following violation during today’s visit. Violation Number Comment Rule 1035 Child care providers, including the director, uncompensated providers, substitute providers, and volunteers did not have the required Emergency Information Form on file on or before the first day of work, which included all the required information and/or the information on the form was not updated as changes occur and at least annually. A staff member did not document review and/or update of the Staff Emergency Form. .0701(a) * Child care programs are expected to achieve and always maintain compliance and are required by NC GS 110-90(4)(d) to achieve and maintain an 18-month compliance history score of at least 75%. Any violations documented may impact the compliance history score. I completed an electronic copy of the visit summary and provided a printed copy of it to D. Locke, NCPre-K Teacher. I will email an electronic copy to the administrator and NCPre-K coordinator. We reviewed the visit summary and violation documented during today’s visit. The teacher corrected the violation, so no further action is required except to maintain compliance in the future. If I may be of further assistance, please contact me by phone at (252) 373-9385, by e-mail at Marjorie.White@dhhs.nc.gov. You may also call Jennifer Linhardt, Licensing Supervisor, at (252) 373-4199 or Jennifer.Linhardt@dhhs.nc.gov. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE WITH DOCUMENTED VIOLATION: Staff Emergency Form (SEF) – The Staff Emergency Form provides contact information (physician, hospital, emergency contacts) in the event a staff member has a medical emergency. Staff members complete it by their first day of work and update it annually. The NCPre-K Teacher did not document review of her SEF since it was completed at the beginning of last school year. She stated she just forgot about it because none of the information had changed. Your staff worksheet is a tool to help you track due dates for employee updates. To streamline the update process, have all staff review and update their Health Questionnaires and Emergency Information forms at the same time. The NCPre-K Teacher corrected this and stated that she will have her, and her Teacher Assistant complete these in August before school starts. GENERAL VISIT INFORMATION: Be knowledgeable of the child care laws and rules and environmental health rules; review them with your staff and assist them with understanding and implementing them to maintain compliance and keep children safe and healthy. The most recent versions of child care laws and rules (updated 7/1/23) and environmental health rules (updated 7/1/23) in North Carolina, the Items Number Listing (can be used as a detailed checklist of required items) and What’s New information are available on the DCDEE website, www.ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. Check the designated facility email at least weekly to stay current with communication and email blasts from DCDEE. If your email is not the facility email, sign up for email blasts on the What’s New page for general information and communication from DCDEE. Your local and regional Smart Start Partnerships and Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies are available to assist you with technical assistance and training on a multitude of topics including but not limited to: Environment Rating Scales, healthy behaviors and classroom management, developmentally appropriate practice, activity plans, NC Foundations for Early Learning (developmental domains), etc. Child Care Health Consultants can provide training and technical assistance on topics related to health and safety such as sanitation, handwashing, diapering, illness policies, etc. *The Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children: Phone - (252) 975-4647; website - www.bhckids.org. *Child Care Health Consultant – L. Hindman - Office: (252) 975-4647 ext.108 or lani@bhckids.org REMINDERS: Children’s Records – Review Health Care Needs section on Child’s Application for Enrollment to verify that parent provides a response to all questions. Staff Worksheets – Your Staff Worksheets are a great tool to help you track when items such as Criminal Background Checks, required trainings and staff forms expire and need to be updated. I encourage you to update information on the staff worksheets throughout the year as items are updated and/or staff change. *We reviewed your staff worksheet. I highlighted items that were delinquent and items that are coming due in the next year. Criminal Background Checks – Thank you for having the staff who pull children out for guidance or art complete Criminal Background Checks. Health and Safety Training and Five (5) Year Cycle Tracking Requirements – Review Row 17 on Staff Worksheet for staff members needing initial H&S Training or five-year renewal. New staff are required to complete Health & Safety Training (H&S Training) within one year of hire (CPR/First Aid and Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment within 3 months of hire) and then complete training in all topic areas every five years. *D. Locke completed H&S Training. K. Amburn has started H&S Training. On-going Training Hours – Review Row 18 (# hours to carry over) on the Staff Worksheets to determine how many on-going training hours returning staff will need by 10/2/2024 (anniversary of today’s Annual Compliance visit). School Critical Incident Plan and Emergency Medical Care Plan (EMCP) - • Licensed DPI programs are not required to complete a separate Emergency Preparedness Plan if they follow the school’s Critical Incident Plan (or similar type of plan for emergency responses). They are expected to have documentation of monthly fire drills and quarterly emergency drills – shelter-in-place or lock-down). Fire drills must be completed for any month or partial month the Pre-K or ASEP is operating. A quarterly emergency drill must be completed each quarter (July – September; October – December, January – March; April – June). You completed a fire drill and a lock-down drill in September • A current Emergency Medical Care Plan is required to be posted in a central location and updated to reflect current staff and assigned duties in a medical emergency. At least one person listed on EMCP must be on site. Handwashing – Remind persons who are entering the classroom (visitors, teachers, other staff, custodial staff) that they need to wash their hands after entering the classroom. Post a sign on the door. Children are grasping handwashing and using a little timer to learn how long to wash their hands. Water bottles – Children may bring water bottles from home and take them home daily to be washed. All water bottles must be labeled with child’s name. Plastic bags – Plastic bags must be stored out of reach of children in classrooms where children younger than three years of age are in care. Food Sensitivities – If children have food sensitivities (not allergies requiring emergency medication) to something like dairy or gluten, the parent or guardian needs to document this information on the Child’s Application in the Health Care Needs section and describe how staff will manage the child’s food sensitivity. Documentation needs to be posted in the classroom so that all staff are aware of food allergies, sensitivities or other dietary restrictions. A medical action plan is not required. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I shared information on the following topics and emailed the information to you after the visit: 1. Child Care Immunization Report – due 11/1/23 2. Mental Health First Aid Training for Administrators 3. Environmental Health Rules Update 4. Moodle Support Email and Phone Contact 5. New Challenging Behaviors Helpline! 6. NC Rated License Assessment Project (NCRLAP) Resources 7. NCID – Keep it active! TRANSITION BACK TO RATED LICENSE ASSESSMENTS AND COHORTS To transition back to rated license assessments, the Division has created a two-year Cohort Model. All facilities are assigned to one of three cohorts based on their current rated license assessment due date. Each cohort will have a year for preparation and a year for assessment. (However, you are encouraged to begin preparations now so that you are ready when your cohort group is due!) Your pre-k program is due for a three-year rated license reassessment by 6/14/2025 and has been assigned to Cohort 3. The Cohort 3 Rated License Preparation Year is from 7/1/2025 – 6/30/2026. Before or during your preparation year, if you are interested in having the Environment Rating Scales completed, review the ECERS-R by obtaining the manuals for each classroom and looking for assessment related resources at ncrlap.org. Request technical assistance and training for your staff from Beaufort/Hyde Partnership for Children. You can request and complete an ECERS-R during your preparation year. If your scores help you meet or exceed your current star rating and you are ready to move forward with your rated license assessment, you may choose to do so during your preparation year. Your preparation year is also the time to continue to work on staff education and ensure that Works accounts are completed and up to date for staff members. The Cohort 3 Rated License Assessment Year is from 7/1/2026 – 6/30/2027. During your assessment year you may choose to complete the ECERS-R again at no cost even if you completed them during your preparation year. Use the feedback from your preparation year scores to create a plan to improve your scores. During this year, all education needs to be posted in Works. At some point during that year, you will have your rated license assessed. Technical Assistance to Improve ECERS-R Scores – The website for the NC Rated License Assessment Project (NCRLAP), www.ncrlap.org , has a wealth of resources and training opportunities to help you intentionally prepare for your upcoming ECERS-R assessment. From the main webpage, you can access self-assessment tools to review each subscale in detail and determine how you can make improvements in each area. See “Thinking More About Space and Furnishing,” “Thinking More About Personal Care Routines,” “Thinking More About Language and Interactions,” “Thinking More About Activities,” and “Thinking More About Program Structure.” Taking the time to work through these activities with your staff and using that self-reflection to purchase materials, rearrange your classrooms, work on interactions, improve daily routines, etc. will help you improve your environment and your scores. Also check out the training options under the training tab. Trainings are both self-guided and live (virtual). You and your staff can earn training credit for participating in these trainings. In 2022, you scored lowest on Subscale 2 of the ECERS-R: Personal Care Routines. Look at the following and consider ways to improve your scores: Item #10: Meals/snacks – Before and after meals and snacks, tables need to be cleaned and sanitized by spraying a soapy solution and wiping clean followed by a sanitizing solution that is left to air dry or wiped dry after two minutes. On 4/29/2016, your Environmental Health Specialist approved for your facility to use Clorox or Lysol Disinfecting wipes if they meet the requirements using a test strip, and you continue to follow the procedures for sanitizing tables. These are not considered an appropriate sanitizing option for the ECERS-R and will continue to result in a low score on this item; however, since the EHS has approved them, use of them is not a violation. Item #14: Safety practices – Child care rules only require stationary playground equipment to have fall zones; however, CPSC standards used in the ECERS-R assessment require all playground equipment over 18 inches in height to have a six foot fall zone on all sides. The climbing dome on the playground is required for ECERS-R to have a six-foot fall zone to the containment border on all sides and at least six inches of rubber mulch. While this is not a violation of NC Child Care Requirements, it will continue to score low on future ECERS-R assessments if the fall zone is not increased to six feet on all side with at least six inches of rubber mulch. Thank you for your time and assistance today. Refer to this visit summary for a refresher of our discussions today, and I encourage you to share with staff and use the information as a teaching tool. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call or email me at the contact information listed above. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times