Willowcreek Academy

Our elementary school-​aged daughter does before & after school care at Willowcreek, and they take very good care of her. She has a lot of fun with the other kids and they always seem well supervised.

This school has been amazing for my kids. The infant room especially with Ms. Yun and Ms. Syliva are amazing! The staff and Directors go out of their way to be friendly, and involved. I cannot say enough nice «things»! Go for a tour!

Bad management. They only care bout money, not children!

We decided against allowing our infant son to attend this daycare based on a horrible track record of poor inspections by the state of Virginia. One of the most alarming is the failure to administer background checks on its employees before they are allowed to work in the business. This is just on of many. Below I’ve made note of the inspection report that made us decide against allowing our son to attend. All of which can be found with numerous other failed inspections for egregious violations.
Willowcreek Academy
6100 Redwood Square Center
Centreville, VA 20 121
(703) 815‑3000
Inspection Date: May 22, 2013
Areas Reviewed:
22VAC40−185 ADMINISTRATION.
22VAC40−185 PHYSICAL PLANT.
22VAC40−185 SPECIAL CARE PROVISIONS AND EMERGENCIES.
22VAC15−51 Background Checks (22VAC15−51)
Violations:
Standard #: 22VAC15−51−40-C-2
Description: Based upon a review of staff files, completed background searches were not on file within 30 days of employment. Evidence: Staff 1(Date of Hire: DOH) 12/​20/​2012 did not have a completed Criminal Record Check (CRC) or Child Protective Services (CPS) search on file in the allowable 30 days time frame. The CRC search is dated 2÷12÷13. The CPS search is dated 2÷4÷13. Searches were not mailed off for approximately 30 days.
Action to be Taken: Searches will be mailed out (as needed) within 7 days of the Date of Hire.
Standard #: 22VAC15−51−60-C-1
Description: Staff 1 was allowed to work, past 30 days if employment, without a completed CRC search on file.
Action to be Taken: Staff will not be allowed to work, past 30 days of employment without a completed search in file.
Standard #: 22VAC15−51−60-C-2
Description: Staff 1 was allowed to work, past 30 days of employment, without a completed CPS search on file.
Action to be Taken: Staff will not be allowed to work, past 30 days of employment without a completed search on file.
Standard #: 22VAC40−185−150-B
Description: Based upon a review of files, children’s immunization records are incomplete. Evidence: *The immunization record for Child A is not signed stamped or electronically signed by the physician’s office. *The physical form on file for Child D is not complete. Page 1 of 4 is missing from the form.
Action to be Taken: Forms have been updated.
To add to our problem with this awful business, when we notified Willowcreek our son would not be attending we were told our initial deposit of first weeks tuition would be refunded as long as we sent written withdrawal notice via fax stating our circumstances and it was more than two weeks out before his start date. We did so just as we were asked however the refund was never sent. Weeks and weeks went by and as we called each time we were told it is just waiting to be processed. After close to two months we were finally told that we would not be receiving this check because we were holding a spot initially and they do not refund based on holds. This was of course not part of anything we agreed upon, signed, or were told. Ah much as it was frustrating and disheartening that this business operates under poor conditions for its most valued customers, the children, we decided against pushing the issue any further because we were just happy we had not sent our son there.
Several months had gone by and we had forgot about the situation entirely. Our son is in a great daycare now and were very happy. It all changed this week when we received the year end customer credit/​charge summary in the mail that we had indeed received a deposit refund from Willowcreek. This was simply not true and we called and asked the Director Kristen to explain why they were sending statements proclaiming they had refunded the money. Over the phone she admitted they had not, but it was just something they did to clear out our account. When we explained this seemed odd and very concerning that they were sending statements that were not accurate, Kristen explained this was just a policy of theirs. We are still not sure what this means or where our money went.
We have now decided its time to let others know of our situation and hopefully it will not happen to them.
Below is the link to Willowcreek’s inspections reports by the state of virginia. Since the inspection report we were alarmed over during the summer of 2014, they have committed many other violations.

I went for a tour at Willow Creek and decided to hold a spot because their administrative director told me during my tour that my money was refundable if I notified them at least two weeks in advance if we weren’t going to enroll our child. Two months before I decided to not enroll her, because they don’t support military families by allowing military fee assistance (because she told me it would cost them $ 3000 to get that license) I called and the same administrative director told me to put it in writing and mail it to them and they’d process my refund. I followed up a month later and was told it was in their policy not to give refunds. Not only was I not notified of this policy, they had no file on my child or paperwork to go along with my payment.
I was told by the same administrative director several times over the phone I would receive a refund if I put it in writing two weeks prior. My letter was ignored, and now I’ve been trying for two weeks to get hold of the owner and she refuses to return my calls. I am told «she will call me when it is convenient for her.» The administrative director dropped the ball and did not supply me with paperwork stating their policies and is now holding me responsible for knowing policies I wasn’t informed of.
All this place cares about is money. One extra kid signing up for even a few months would more than pay for the cost for them to sign up for fee assistance to help military families and they won’t do that. They lie to get you to cut them a check for over $ 400 and then tell you after the fact, they have a no refund policy. They need to take responsibility for their mistakes and take the proper steps to inform parents in the future of their policies before they take money they won’t refund.

This place lacks management and direction. The teachers are friendly people and some are hard workers. Unfortunately the school lacks the leadership to take them to the next level. The kids are constantly moved from class to class to meet teacher to student ratios, teachers are constantly being moved from one class to the next leaving the children without a constant teacher to depend on or develop any trust with. Classes are overcrowded and the teachers are overwhelmed by the work loads. The owner is never present, and the teachers are always confused as to what their next assignment is since they get moved from class to class so often. After watching the school decline after a management shift, we moved our kids to a different school.