Curiosity Corner Learning Center, Llc - Joplin MO CHILD CARE CENTER

I used this daycare for my oldest child from the time he was 9 months old until he was nearly school age. I had no problems with the 20th st location until the owner left to go manage the new location on Main St. Shortly after she left, I moved my son to a different daycare. I'm now using the Main St location for my two other children and am very happy with it. I had been using Kidz Korner and was very disappointed in that daycare's lack of proper treatment for diaper rash, lack of cleanliness, and constant calling me at work to come pick up the kids, claiming they were ill when they weren't. Since using Curiosity Corner, I've had a great experience. I have complete confidence in the staff and their abilities. The kids are well fed and get a good amount of outdoor playtime whenever possible. The playground is safe and in good condition. The facility is well cleaned and always looks good. I feel like I never need to worry about my kids while they are at this daycare, I know they are safe. I would recommend Curiosity Corner to any parent looking for a good daycare.

I would like to report a child care facility that I believe needs to have a very close inspection due to the following allegations. My children had attended one of these facilities until this last Monday 8/18/14. My daughter had attended 5 years (she is 5 ½ years old) and my son, who is 18 months old, has attended for 14 months. We had to unexpectedly and immediately pull our children out of this facility due to erratic, unprofessional, and what I would deem as dangerous behavior by the owner, Shea Vogt.

Shea Vogt owns 2 child care facilities in Joplin, MO. The facilities are Curiosity Corner Learning Center-North and Curiosity Corner Learning Center-South. My children attended the South facility.

On Monday August 18th 2014 my children were taken to CCLC-South as normal. Later that afternoon, at approximately 4:15pm, I received some very concerning news from another parent whose children attend here as well. This is what I have now learned that happened shortly after my children were dropped off.

The director of the South location and main preschool teacher for my 5 year old daughter, was abruptly fired at approximately 9am by Shea Vogt’s “new” husband of 3 weeks. This man, Mr. X, apparently came to the facility after Shea Vogt and the director had spoken on the phone earlier that morning about a work issue. Let me first say that this director has been at CCLC-South for over 3 years. My daughter has been with her since she became the director of South. My family has complete faith and trust in her and her level of care for our children. Over the years I have developed a very close relationship to her as well as to one of her daughter’s that is close in age with my child. I have never had, witnessed, or heard of any complaint against her and her capabilities as a child care provider or in her position as director. When Mr. X came to South on Monday morning he fired the director and also stated he was now the new “director” of the South facility. The children were present at the facility as this was happening. As I was not present I can only assume how the next events happened but this is what I do know. The situation must have gotten heated or escalated somehow. The other teacher in my daughter’s class, Ms. X, quit when she heard what was happening. (Again, this is a teacher we have known for over 5 years. We trust her completely and truthfully she is why we have stayed here at this facility because she is so fantastic. The owner we have often had issues with but since the director became the director we did not have to deal directly with the owner and the last several years have been great.) The final outcome here ended with a physical altercation between Mr. X and Ms. X. The police were called and Ms. X has filed formal assault charges on Mr. X. Mind you, this man was then left to be in charge of the care of my daughter (and my son who was in another age group room) for the remainder of the day. My husband and I were never contacted by the owner to inform us the police had been called to the facility for a physical altercation while my children were there. This was MOST upsetting to us.
When I did here of this I went directly to the facility to pick up my children. I would have gone earlier if I had been alerted. As I entered the facility my daughter was sitting in the lap of this man I have never met, let alone even heard of. The director and teacher I have known for years were gone. I was very upset about this and promptly left with my children after informing the owner (who was speaking with another family at the time) that we would not be returning.
As I left the facility I received a phone call from the mother of the family that had been there speaking with the owner. She was calling to inform me that another physical altercation had occurred just as I left. This man, Mr. X, became involved in a physical fight with another man at the facility with children there witnessing this. The police were contacted again-for the second time that day on this man who was left to care for my children.
On Tuesday, though at this point we are no longer attending the facility, another police call was made at CCLC-South when Mr. X became involved in a verbal argument with a father of one of the children. The police were called to help the situation. Again, children were present.
I have now gathered information to support that there have been other problems with our facility for some time. Some I was aware of and some I was not. Here are a few details:
• Over the last 1 ½ years, the owner has informed me that I own her additional tuition for my children. Both times I have had to do extensive research on my end to provide her proof that I had paid her and had done so timely. She is not well organized.
• I have had limited if any communication from the director on my children. She has not provided information sheets for parent’s to fill out to have on hand for their children. I have not been asked to provide vaccination records for my children or any other health records. There are no current photographs on file of my children for the facilities records. One picture is on file for my daughter when she was approximately 2 that is on her check in/check out computer system but this photo is extremely dated.
• I have had numerous changes on my tuition charges with no explanations.
• I have now been informed that the director was not adequately furnishing grocery items for the children. Teachers have been paying out of pocket to provide food for my children. I was not aware of this.
• The second location (CCLC-North) has had multiple complaints of children not being fed a proper diet.
• There is a teacher at the North location who has been sleeping when her young class naps.
• There was mold (not toxic black mold but still mold none the less) found at the South location. The owner has not properly cleaned and/or replaced the areas affected, she has only covered the areas superficially.
• She has been consistently over ratio on children to staff at both locations.
• She has consistently, at least at the South location, mixed the 2 year olds with the 3-5 year old age groups.
• The owner has had and shown erratic behavior more recently. I realize this is personal information but I feel it is relevant to show the nature of the actions being made. Shea Vogt divorced her husband of 20 years suddenly this summer. Her divorce was final at the end of July and the following week she married this man Mr. X. He is now being appointed director of the CCLC-South location. Last month he was selling time shares in a nearby resort town. No parents were advised of this change in directors or made aware of the qualifications of this man to care for our children and run the facility.
• The outside grounds of the South facility have been neglected recently. The grass in the play area is not being cut, it is overgrown and the children under age 2 are not able to play in their outside designated area.
• The side of the building at South has over grown landscaping blocking the sidewalks.
• The doors to the South facility are not secure. I have complained about this on numerous occasions. The doors do not shut well and have to be pulled shut very hard or they will not latch and the children are able to open it. There is no secure outer area around the entrances to provide another enclosure in case a child were to go out a door.
• The owner has shown behavior consistent of drug dependency. She has had some recent extensive surgeries on her knees and I believe this may be what has contributed to her drug dependency.

A large number of us are very concerned about these two facilities.

Although the care from the care givers was great. The Admin and facilities were not quite up to par. The facility is understaffed to say the least. I often dropped off my child when there were 7-9 children to the single caregiver, there should have been only 4. Thankfully she was awesome with the kids but the numbers were not within the licensing guidelines.