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On March 3, 2026, the Office of Childhood received an allegation of on an unknown date and time, and unknown teacher tossed a foam block on purpose, hitting Child A (age 2-years-old) in the forehead. On March 9, 2026, Compliance Inspector (CI) Christy Hughes conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and found the allegation to be substantiated based on the following information.
5 CSR 25-500.102(1)(E) that states: "Caregivers shall have knowledge of the needs of children and shall be sensitive to the capabilities, interests, and problems of children in care."
On March 9, 2026, CI Hughes conducted in person interviews with director Alessandra Hermann, assistant Mary Kate Garcia, caregivers Camille Tillotson and Grace Limoges and Child A and Child B.
Alessandra stated that on March 2, 2026, at approximately 4:30 p.m. Parent B came to the office very upset and told her that she just saw Emily Williams throw a block at Child A (age 2-years-old) hitting her in her forehead. She immediately went into Emily's classroom and asked her to leave until the situation was fully investigated. She could tell that Emily was very frustrated when she walked into her classroom. She followed Parent B out to her car to tell her that she was taking care of everything, and she appeared visibly upset. She asked Parent B to document what she saw and contacted her upper management to fill them in on the situation. She had prior concerns with Emily's voice tones in the classroom, and she provided additional training with her. She made Parent A aware of the situation when she arrived for pick up and Parent A thanked her for letting her know and addressing the situation. The facility does not have cameras.
Mary Kate stated that she was not in attendance on March 02, 2026. Alessandra called her at approximately 4:45 p.m. to tell her what happened. Grace told her that Emily threw a block at a child, but Emily denied it. She did not have any concerns with Emily. Emily had been spoken to about her tone with the children but that was awhile ago.
On March 12, 2026, CI Hughes conducted an interview via phone with Parent B. Parent B stated that when she arrived at the facility, she went to the right side of the building to pick up her younger child first and she could hear Emily yelling at the children from the other side of the building. When she entered the room Emily had her back to the door and Child A was upset and crying on the carpet by the blocks. Emily threw the block at Child A hitting her in the forehead and Child A was crying. Emily did not console Child A. When Emily realized she was there, she immediately turned to her to discuss how bad her child was all day. She was so upset she immediately took her child and went to speak with Alessandra in the office and told Alessandra that she saw Emily throw a block at Child A hitting her in the forehead. Alessandra met her out in the parking lot and asked her to document what she saw. She sent Alessandra an email that evening detailing what she saw. She told Alessandra that Emily may not have either of her children in her care.
On March 12, 2026, CI Hughes conducted an interview via phone with caregiver Emily Williams. Emily stated that caregiver Camille had left for the day and Child A is very attached to Camille. Camille carries Child A around a lot. Child A was crying at the door, so she went over and picked up Child A under both arms and placed her on her hip. Child A stopped crying. She took her over to the carpet and placed her down with toys around her. Child A was crying on the carpet, so she tossed a block to play catch with Child A. Child A did not catch it, and it hit her in the head, and it did not leave a mark. Parent B came in to get her child and she did not say anything to her. Alessandra came in later and said she needed to leave because a parent was upset with what she saw in the classroom. The parent said she threw a block at Child A.
On March 12, 2026, CI Hughes observed an email sent from Parent B on March 02, 2026 to the facility. The email detailed what Parent B witness when she came to pick up her child. Parent B stated that she could hear Emily yelling "stop crying" in an aggressive tone and when she entered the classroom Emily had her back to her and Child A was in front of her hysterically crying. Ms. Emily threw a soft play block piece at Child A, and it hit Child A in the face. Parent A stated, "I went directly to the front desk and informed you of what I had witnessed regarding the block being thrown, trying to remain calm, too frustrated and emotional at the moment to even get into the rest."
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