More than 100 families are desperately searching for childcare after the Wonder Land Enrichment Center in Verona received word on Friday that its licensing has been revoked.
A letter originally stated the license would be revoked on June 22, but was later revised to June 26 by the Virginia Department of Education.
The family-owned center has been in operation for two decades in Augusta County and serves more than 100 families with infants and children from six weeks old to 12 years of age, some with developmental disabilities.
The childcare center also employs 30 people.
Wonder Land Enrichment Center has been in a legal battle with the Virginia Department of Education for more than a year after its previous license expired in May 2024.
The daycare center was still pursuing appeals and had been to court over the matter and thought “things were going pretty smoothly,” Rebecca Ward, an administrator at the center, and daughter of the owner, Carol Maddox, told AFP on Friday.
On Thursday, Ward’s phone started ringing. Parents had received a letter saying the center was closing. Ward was caught off guard and was upset that the parents received a notice before the center itself.
One of the Wonder Land’s teachers, Kena Christ, spoke to AFP Thursday afternoon, still in shock.
“No child was ever harmed. That’s never been an issue,” Christ said. “We’ve never even been on probation or anything. We all were confident that we would be able to overcome this hurdle, and then we found out from parents calling in a panic that this final decision had been made.”
While the center told AFP it faced seven minor violations, the Department of Social Services website showed many more including improper training and procedures and safety and maintenance issues.
Administrative order: License will not be renewed
Paperwork provided to AFP shows the Virginia Department of Education heard an appeal by the center to remain open, but it was unsuccessful.
Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Emily Anne Gullickson said in the final administrative order that she received exceptions filed by the center but found the additional arguments “unpersuasive.”
The letter states that Wonder Land Enrichment Center’s request for renewal to operate a child day center is denied, and it “must close because the license has effectively expired and will not be renewed.
“This decision is final, and any further appeal does not toll the time for compliance.”
The center has 30 days to appeal the decision, but it cannot remain open during that time, the letter stated.
Further, the center’s director, Maddox, is not eligible to apply for another license for six months. Maddox also owns the building the center occupies at 74 Quick’s Mill Road, and the business itself, Wonder Land Enrichment Center.
Ward said she plans to submit a license with her name on it and hopes to receive her license within 30 days. Her goal is to reopen under her ownership and rent the building from her mother.
“Our parents love us. The community loves us,” Ward said. “I’m just not understanding why the Virginia Department of Education feels a need, that after 20 years, to deny a license without even considering a probational period.”
The childcare violations alleged by DSS
In total, the center said it was facing seven violations over a two-year period. Center staff told AFP they had properly addressed each issue and did not think any of the violations warranted its closure.
The Department of Social Services child day care page for the Wonder Land Enrichment Center, however, shows numerous complaints and violations, including a child who ran toward the main road and was stopped by a bystander, inappropriate staff comments and discipline techniques to children in their care, leaking water and water damage as well as peeling paint and drywall, a lack of care plan documentation for children, a lack of supervision on the playground, incomplete injury reports and numerous other violations.
In June 2022, on an unannounced visit, a witness stated that she heard a staff member loudly tell a child: “You better apologize, or I’m going to whoop your butt.” The staff member told the inspector that a child had pushed another child, and she told them “I’m going to get your butt,” though she said she never intended to act on the threat.
The staff member was suspended without pay for more than a month while the investigation was ongoing. The staff member returned under a 30-day probationary period and received additional training on child abuse and neglect, according to a recorded plan of correction.
Another instance involved a child that was upset who ran out of the center toward an intersection. The staff member was unable to keep up with the child due to physical limitations. A bystander stopped to help catch the child. The staff member could not get the child back to the center, so the bystander went to the center to get help. A second employee arrived with a car and a car seat to pick up the child, according to the violation report. According to the report, one of the staff members involved in the incident is no longer employed with the center.
The center provided AFP documentation for seven incidents from 2022 to 2024 that included issues with handwashing, fingerprinting delays for new staff members, child abuse out-of-state searches not completed, insufficient staff to children ratios and several issues with safe sleep and SUIDs prevention that involved blankets, and in one instance, a loose crib sheet.
Those violations were included in the list of violations reported by DSS.
Parents were in the loop during license-renewal process
While the center’s license was up for renewal, the Wonder Land Enrichment Center did inform parents of the court proceedings and possible outcome in an effort to be as transparent as possible. Some parents even showed up outside the court hearing to voice support for the center and its employees.
Now, it seems, despite their best efforts, the closure is imminent. Their legal battle has come to an end; and parent’s pleas for reconsideration did not change the outcome.
“It is devastating to me,” Ward said. “Some of these children I have had since they were babies. I am here Monday through Friday, and I give my all to these children. The tears that were happening yesterday [AFP talked to Ward on Friday] as parents were telling their children that the center was going to be closed down was horrible.
“It is devastating to think that his relationship that I worked so hard to flourish and help these children develop and grow has to be tainted by something like this.
“We really love our children here, and it is a family atmosphere, so we do feel like we are losing part of our family.
“Our employees love these children like we do,” Ward said. “We spend eight to 10 hours a day with these children. They become your family. They become a part of your life. You know them better than most other people do, and we truly love and care for the children in here.
“We are so devastated that this is going to have to happen.”
Tough decisions ahead for parents
Wonder Land Enrichment Center’s closure will force some families to make tough decisions in the coming days. Parents are finding that there are limited options for full-time summer day care.
Another complication is that many of the children at Wonder Land receive childcare subsidies. Parents who receive subsidies were encouraged in the closure notice to contact their caseworker for help with childcare options.
The Community Action Partnership of Staunton, Augusta County and Waynesboro, known as CAPSAW, recently launched a survey for parents and caregivers to get a better understanding of the childcare challenges in the region. The organization will share its findings in a public report.
The United Way of Greater Augusta once offered a navigation service for childcare. With the United Way’s recent closure, even professionals are puzzled as to who parents should call for help.
Childcare: Availability, affordability are biggest challenges facing parents
The region is not alone in facing a childcare crisis; nationwide, parents are struggling to find affordable care and make sure other financial needs are met.
Parents with children enrolled at Wonder Land are calling around for alternatives, and while admittedly, they have found one or two openings, the cost is proving to be too exorbitant.
Staunton resident Stacey Bridge said the Department of Education needs to put themselves in her shoes. She has a child who has attended Wonder Land for three years. Giving parents 10 days to find a new childcare center, while juggling work and other responsibilities, seems impossible.
“Have you had to struggle with finding a good place for your children to go while you work?,” she asked in a letter to the Virginia Department of Education shared with AFP. “Have you had to struggle within a week to find adequate care? You’re not only hurting the daycare, you are hurting all of its families who attend.
“I’ve read all of the violations online,” she said. “I understand they have/had faults … perfect doesn’t exist.
“I don’t honestly know how to put into words what this facility has done for us.
“For any responsible, loving parent, our children are our life, and we only want the best care. I hope Wonder Land can reopen, against the odds. I just want what is best for all children.”
Bridgewater resident Nicole Senger has two children who have been at Wonder Land since they were 12 weeks old. Senger used to work in Verona and enrolled the children there because it was convenient.
Though she no longer works in Verona, she continues to drive the children 30 minutes to daycare each day because she’s happy with the activities and structure at the center.
She told AFP that she did look at other places for her children when she feared Wonder Land might be forced to close. She said she toured another facility and left crying because she couldn’t imagine her children being anywhere but Wonder Land.
“I never once have feared for my children’s safety or well-being while at Wonder Land,” she said.
Her oldest daughter, Delilah, is four and has glaucoma. As a result, she has had to wear glasses and sometimes a patch since she was one. She said the staff at Wonder Land were good about reinforcing the need to wear her glasses and rewarded her for wearing her patch all day.
“She’s learned so much from them … her ABCs and 123s. I don’t have the time in my home to teach them that, and I credit that 100 percent to Wonder Land. I consider them family,” Senger said.
Her younger daughter, Paisley, is 18 months old. Due to her age, she’s not quite ready to learn the alphabet, but they do take her outside for activities, which is important to her.
“I’m doing a lot of crying. I have a lot of anxiety, and I am calling everywhere,” Senger said.
Senger told AFP she had called seven places, and they either have a long wait list or no availability until August when public school resumes.
Out of all her calls, she found one opening.
“There is a place that I could take them,” she said, “but I cannot afford it. It’s double what I’m paying now.”
On top of normal daycare fees, some centers were also asking for deposits and registration fees, making it even more out of reach for families like hers.
“I don’t really have options,” she said. “I had to speak with my boss today to let them know that I will most likely be out of work often.”
Senger, a hospice worker, and her husband, who flies drones in pesticide work, are at their wits’ end.
“We’re two full-time working parents, and we’re paying more in daycare than our mortgage, and when it’s already tight, and then we are gonna have to pay more … that’s such a strain to think about. Are we going to just eat rice the rest of our lives?
“We’re really going to have to change our lifestyle and think about our schedules. It’s very frustrating.”
Separation anxiety can lead to oppositional behavior, mental health concerns and learning difficulties, experts say. Predictability and structure are helpful to young children as it helps them gain confidence.
“Because of the decision, we now have a detrimental situation, and our community will now suffer because of the short timeframe, and families themselves will suffer. Children themselves will suffer because it is a known statistic that moving children, especially young children, is detrimental to their social skills to their educational well-being and their well-being in general. I think that the Department of Education, being children first, they would have understood that.
“It is absurd that they’re only giving families 10 days. It is so sad and heartless.
“I’m taking away from my job and my patients, that are literally on death’s bed, to try to figure this out for my family.”
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Crystal Graham
