VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

Spring Hill Academy
6309 Grovedale Drive
Alexandria, VA 22310
(703) 848-5105

Current Inspector: Mahrukh Aziz (571) 835-4718

Inspection Date: June 16, 2025

Complaint Related: Yes

Areas Reviewed:

8VAC20-780 ADMINISTRATION. 8VAC20-780 STAFF TRAINING. 8VAC20-780 Physical plant. 8VAC20-780 STAFFING AND SUPERVISION. 8VAC20-780 PROGRAMS. 20 Access to minor's records During the inspection, the inspector reviewed the areas listed above. Unless otherwise noted as a violation within this inspection report, the provider was in compliance with the standards reviewed. If there were any serious injuries or fatalities related to a violation, the details will be included in the description of the violation.

Technical Assistance:

Staffing, retraining staff about ratios and group sizes, active supervision of classrooms to ensure that ratios are being maintained as children arrive to the center.

Comments:

An unannounced inspection was initiated on 6/12/25 and completed on 6/26/25 in response to a complaint received by the licensing office on 6/12/25 relating to supervision and ratios. The inspector reviewed video footage on-site. This inspection included document review, tour of the facility, interviews, and observations. The preponderance of evidence gathered during the investigation supports the allegations; therefore, the complaint is determined to be valid. Information gathered during the inspection determined non-compliance with applicable standards or law and the violations are documented on the violation notice issued to the program. Please complete the plan of correction (POC) and date to be corrected sections for each violation cited on the violation notice. Specify how the violation will be or has been corrected. Submit your POC within five (5) business days from today, which will be the close of business on 7/3/25. A POC submitted after this date will not appear on the public website.

Violations:

Standard #:	8VAC20-780-350-A
Complaint related:	Yes
Description:	The center did not maintain the group size limitations for the 16 month to 24 month age group. 1. On 6/6/25, from 7:20 am to 7:25am, Staff # 1 had a group of 16 children that included two toddlers (16-24 months). 2. From 8:11 am to 8:15 am, Staff # 1 and Staff # 3 had a group of 17 children that included 3 toddlers.
Plan of Correction:	Not available online. Contact Inspector for more information.
Standard #:	8VAC20-780-350-B-2
Complaint related:	Yes
Description:	REPEAT VIOLATION The center did not maintain the staff to child ratio of 1:5 for the age group of 16 months to 24 months. 1. On 6/6/25, the ratio of 1 staff to 5 children was not maintained in the Toddler classroom from 7:11 am to 8:15 am. 2. A review of video footage from 6/6/25 showed the following: At 7:11 am, Staff # 1 was alone with 9 children. Two of these children were toddlers (16-24 months) and had just arrived to the classroom. The number of children kept increasing as the morning progressed, and Staff # 1 continued to be out of ratio. The following is the breakdown and during all these times there were at least two toddlers present. 7:12am-11 children, 7:13 am 13 children, 7:15 am-14 children, 7:19 am-15 children, 7:20am-16 children. 3. This continued until 7:25 am when Staff # 2 arrived to the classroom. 4. At 7:26 am, Staff # 2 took the children that belonged to her room and left, leaving Staff # 1 with a total of 10 children that included two toddlers, two -2 year old and six-three year old children. By 7:28 am, Staff # 1 had 13 children by herself. 5. At 7:31 am, Staff # 1 took 8 three year old children from the group of 13 to their classroom across the hall. While Staff # 1 was doing that, she left the other 5 children alone and unsupervised in the classroom for 6 seconds. 6. At 7:32 am, another child arrived and Staff # 1 was again out of ratio with 6 children. By 7:36 am Staff # 1 had 7 children. Between 7:42am and 7:56am, three more children arrived and from 7: 56 am to 8:00am Staff # 1 had 10 children by herself, that included 3 toddlers. 7. At 8:00am, Staff # 3 arrived. At 8:01 am Staff # 1 left the room, leaving Staff # 3 with 10 children. Staff # 1 returned to the room at 8:02am. 8. The following is a breakdown of how the number of children increased with only Staff # 1 and Staff # 3 present in the room: 8:06am-11 children, 8:07am-12 children, 8:08am-13 children, 8:10am-15 children, 8:11am-16 children, 8:12am-17 children total. 9. Staff # 4 arrived to the classroom at 8:15 am. That is when the group of children was split between the toddler and 2's classroom.
Plan of Correction:	Retraining was done with Staff #1 to ensure that ratios are maintained and to notify the front desk as they near ratio and/or capacity. It was emphasized to Staff #1 that ratios are to maintained at all times, including when another staff member arrives to relieve them and to notify the front desk if they needed to retrieve something from another room. When leaving any classrooms, Staff #1 was reminded to ensure that sufficient ratio of staff to children is maintained before stepping out of the classroom. Reminders were sent out to all staff members to ensure timely arrivalsbased on their assigned work schedule. Management has since adjusted employees' work schedules to prevent issues regarding call-outs.