Essential Steps
Licensed Center in Rockwall, Texas. License #520042, issued June 18, 1996.
- Address
- 305 E Rusk St, Rockwall, TX 75087
- Phone
- (972) 772-0011
- Licensed capacity
- 63 children
- Licensed for
- Infant, Toddler, Pre-Kindergarten, School
- Hours
- 06:30 AM-06:30 PM
- Days
- Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri
- Child care subsidies
- Accepted
- Website
- essentialsteps.com
Programs listed with the state: School Age Care, Before School Care, Meals Provided, After School Care, Snacks Provided, Part Time Care, Transportation to/from School, Field Trips.
Openings
This program has not told us about its openings. We only publish what a program confirms itself, so there is nothing here yet. Ring them to ask.
Texas Rising Star
Texas Rising Star 3-star of a possible 4
A quality rating the state awards after an on-site assessment. Four stars is the highest.
In effect since October 28, 2026. From the state's provider report of October 28, 2026.
Where this is
A map of this address loads when you ask for it. Nothing is requested from the map host until then, so opening this page does not tell anyone which program you were reading about.
The pin is where the US Census geocoder placed this address. About one in eight is interpolated along a street rather than resolved to a building, so treat it as the right block rather than the right doorway. How we source this.
What inspectors checked
Texas HHSC records how many individual standards it evaluated in each area of the rules, and how many it found violated. Across 22 areas it checked 3,486 standards at Essential Steps between March 4, 2022 and May 8, 2026 and recorded 16 violations. Those correspond to the citations listed above that were recorded from 2021 onward; anything older than that is in the citation list but not in these counts.
The 22 areas, one by one
| Area of the rules | Visits | Standards checked | Violated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope, administration, and communication | 2 | 242 | 0 |
| Record keeping | 2 | 220 | 1 |
| Personnel | 4 | 564 | 0 |
| Ratios and group sizes | 2 | 108 | 0 |
| Activities | 2 | 72 | 0 |
| Infants | 2 | 180 | 2 |
| Toddlers | 2 | 44 | 0 |
| Pre-kindergarten | 2 | 38 | 0 |
| School-age | 2 | 40 | 0 |
| Discipline | 2 | 40 | 0 |
| Naptime | 2 | 24 | 0 |
| Field trips | 3 | 33 | 0 |
| Get well care | 3 | 81 | 0 |
| Nighttime care | 3 | 39 | 0 |
| Nutrition and food care | 3 | 134 | 0 |
| Health practices | 4 | 451 | 0 |
| Safety practices | 3 | 222 | 3 |
| Physical facilities | 3 | 224 | 0 |
| Outdoor safety | 3 | 288 | 1 |
| Pools | 3 | 84 | 0 |
| Fire safety | 3 | 203 | 3 |
| Transportation | 3 | 132 | 1 |
The table adds up to 3,463 of those standards. The remaining 23, including 5 of the violations, were recorded under the state's own catch-all heading, “Individual Standards Evaluated”, which names no area. They are reported here rather than folded into an area above, because the state did not say which area they belong to and we are not going to decide for it.
A high number of standards checked is not a compliment and a low one is not a criticism: how many apply depends on a program's size, its ages served and what the inspector was there to look at. We publish the two counts the state published and do not turn them into a score. This data begins in 2021, which is later than the inspection history above it.
Ask about an opening
This goes to Essential Steps and nobody else. They reply to you directly: we do not sit in the middle of it, and we never pass your details on or sell them.
Tell me about new inspections
One short message each time Texas HHSC records an inspection here, saying that it happened and linking to the record. We do not tell you what the inspector found: a finding without whether it was corrected is misleading, and that pair belongs on the page rather than split across an email.
We ask for nothing but the address, and we send a confirmation first. Your list is never shown to this program, never sold, and every message has a link to stop. An inspection is routine: programs are visited on a schedule and after a complaint, and a visit is not a finding.
State inspection record
HHSC records 12 visits to this operation since October 2017, most recently on May 8, 2026, and 16 citations.
- 11Medium High
- 4Medium
- 1Low
Every citation below records a correction.
Citations
Showing all 16. Indented text is the inspector's own, reproduced verbatim.
- Medium High April 10, 2026 Correction verified May 8, 2026
746.3701: Safety - Areas Free From Hazards
Playground hazard: Children were observed playing on a tree that appeared to damaged from severe weather.
- Medium High April 10, 2026 Correction verified April 23, 2026
746.5607(b): Child Passenger Safety Seat System - Not expired or damaged in accident
Two booster seats used to transport children were expired.
- Medium High April 10, 2026 Correction verified May 8, 2026
746.4907(d): Installation and Maintenance of Loose-fill Surfacing - Proper Depth Maintained
The younger playground did not have the required six inches of surfacing (pea gravel).
- Low April 10, 2026 Correction verified April 23, 2026
746.1105(3): Minimum Qualifications Employees and Caregivers - Affidavit (Form 2985)
One staff member did not have the required notorized affidavit.
- Medium December 4, 2025 Correction verified December 5, 2025
746.2421(a): Written Feeding Instructions - Signed and Dated by Parent or Health-Care Professional
1 child observed in the infant classroom during the inspection did not have updated infant feeding instructions signed by parent.
- Medium High December 4, 2025 Correction verified December 5, 2025
746.4751(c): Maintenance Procedures for Active Play - Hazards Removed or Repaired
The wheels on the Merry go cycle were broken and needed to be repaired.
- Medium November 18, 2025 Correction verified December 4, 2025
746.5205(4): Documentation of Drills
The director did not provide documentation for sheltering or lockdown drills.
- Medium November 18, 2025 Correction verified December 4, 2025
746.2421(a): Written Feeding Instructions - Signed and Dated by Parent or Health-Care Professional
All infants observed in the infant classroom during the inspection did not have updated infant feeding instructions.
- Medium High November 18, 2025 Correction verified December 4, 2025
746.5101(b): Annual Fire Inspection - Conducted by Fire Marshal
The operation does not have an updated fire inspection on file. The Director called the fire marshal and scheduled for Tuesday11-25-2025 and will provide documentation.
- Medium High November 18, 2025 Correction verified December 4, 2025
746.5401: Requirement of Gas Leak Inspection
The operation does not have a current gas inspection availble for review for CCR.
- Medium High November 18, 2025 Correction verified December 4, 2025
746.4905: Acceptable Loose-fill Surfacing
The loose-fill located on the playground measured less than one inch.
- Medium November 18, 2025 Correction verified December 4, 2025
746.801(8): Required Records Maintained and Made Available - Playground Maintenance Records
The operation did not have a building and ground checklist available for review.
- Medium High November 18, 2025 Correction verified December 4, 2025
746.4751(c): Maintenance Procedures for Active Play - Hazards Removed or Repaired
The wheels on the Merry go cycle were broken and needed to be repaired.
- Medium High November 18, 2025 Corrected at inspection
746.2419(6): Requirements for Feeding Infants - Label Bottles/Cups
Bottle were missing labels and the Director corrected it by writing the child's name on their bottles
- Medium High December 11, 2024 Correction verified January 9, 2025
746.3701(5): Safety - Play Materials and Equipment Safe
Playground hazards: broken plastic slide; wooden storage shed with splinted wood (children observed putting hands in wooden shed).
- Medium High December 11, 2024 Correction verified January 9, 2025
746.4001: First Aid Kit - Available in Each Building, on Field Trips, during Transportation
One van used to transport children in care did not have the required first aid kit.
Do you have a child enrolled here?
If Essential Steps confirms you are enrolled, you can tell us what you actually pay. We publish price ranges by city and age so other families know what to expect, and the only reliable source for that is people paying it.
There are no reviews on this site and we are not adding them. We publish the state's inspection record and facts families confirm, not opinions. Your address is never shown publicly; it goes to the program so they can confirm you, and nowhere else.
About this record
Every figure on this page comes from the Texas HHSC Child Care Regulation open data published at data.texas.gov, reproduced as the state recorded it. We do not grade, score or rank programs. A citation is a finding by a state inspector on a given day; it is not a judgment about a program today, and the correction status beside each one is part of the record. This page reflects data retrieved on November 8, 2026. Full methodology.
Operate this program? Write to corrections@childcaretx.com and we will publish your response beside any record here.