Merit Children's Academy Lakewood
Licensed Center in Dallas, Texas. License #1734742, issued September 16, 2022.
- Address
- 6210 E Mockingbird Ln, Dallas, TX 75214
- Phone
- (214) 252-7100
- Licensed capacity
- 170 children
- Licensed for
- Infant, Toddler, Pre-Kindergarten, School
- Hours
- 07:00 AM-06:00 PM
- Days
- Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri
- Child care subsidies
- Not accepted
- Website
- meritdallas.com
Programs listed with the state: Meals Provided, Snacks Provided, Part Time Care.
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
No Texas Rising Star rating
Texas Rising Star is voluntary, and a program joins it by applying. It is tied to accepting child care scholarships, so most programs that are not in it never applied rather than failed. Roughly three in five licensed programs in Texas have no rating.
This says nothing about the quality of this program. What the state has assessed about it is the inspection record below.
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 5,056 standards at Merit Children's Academy Lakewood between February 28, 2022 and October 30, 2026 and recorded 14 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 | 4 | 473 | 0 |
| Record keeping | 4 | 432 | 0 |
| Personnel | 4 | 564 | 2 |
| Ratios and group sizes | 5 | 270 | 0 |
| Activities | 5 | 172 | 0 |
| Infants | 4 | 354 | 0 |
| Toddlers | 4 | 88 | 0 |
| Pre-kindergarten | 4 | 72 | 0 |
| School-age | 4 | 80 | 0 |
| Discipline | 4 | 80 | 0 |
| Naptime | 4 | 48 | 0 |
| Field trips | 4 | 44 | 0 |
| Get well care | 4 | 108 | 0 |
| Nighttime care | 4 | 52 | 0 |
| Nutrition and food care | 4 | 178 | 0 |
| Health practices | 4 | 450 | 0 |
| Safety practices | 4 | 286 | 0 |
| Physical facilities | 4 | 299 | 0 |
| Outdoor safety | 4 | 384 | 0 |
| Pools | 4 | 102 | 0 |
| Fire safety | 4 | 271 | 0 |
| Transportation | 4 | 173 | 0 |
The table adds up to 4,980 of those standards. The remaining 76, including 12 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 Merit Children's Academy Lakewood 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 33 visits to this operation since October 2017, most recently on October 30, 2026, and 14 citations.
5 of those visits began with Merit Children's Academy Lakewood reporting something to the state itself rather than HHSC finding it. We publish that because it is part of the record and the state records it separately, not because it is good or bad: a program with none may have had nothing to report. 3,674 of the 12,933 programs listed here have at least one.
- 7High
- 5Medium High
- 1Medium
- 1Medium Low
Every citation below records a correction.
Citations
Showing all 14. Indented text is the inspector's own, reproduced verbatim.
- Medium High June 22, 2026 Correction verified August 6, 2026
746.1601: Child/ Caregiver Ratio - 13 or More Children
This standard was tasked as a result of an investigation and found to be deficient. It was determined that the Young Toddler B classroom had been out of ratio.
- High May 19, 2026 Correction verified June 5, 2026
746.1205(a)(4): Supervision ensures each child?s safety, well-being, including physical proximity and auditory or visual awareness of each child?s on going activity
This standard was pulled as part of an investigation and found to be deficient. A child was left alone on the playground for thirty-three minutes.
- High May 8, 2026 Correction verified June 5, 2026
746.1205(a)(4): Supervision ensures each child?s safety, well-being, including physical proximity and auditory or visual awareness of each child?s on going activity
The standard was assessed during an investigation and found to be deficit. A substitute caregiver from a childcare agency was observed asleep while responsible for supervising children
- Medium High May 1, 2026 Correction verified May 18, 2026
746.3819: Food Allergy Emergency Plan Signed by Parents and Health Care Professional
Three Food Allergy Emergency Plans were missing parent signature.
- Medium Low December 17, 2025 Correction verified January 15, 2026
746.803(a): Required Records Storage
When I requested an infant's feeding instructions from October of 2025 in December of 2025 I was told by the caregiver and members of management it had been thrown away.
- High December 17, 2025 Correction verified January 15, 2026
746.305(a)(6): Report Situation Placing Children at Risk
It was determined that the operation did not report an allegation of inappropriate discipline in April of 2025.
- High October 21, 2025 Correction verified December 19, 2025
746.1201(1): Responsibilities of Employees and Caregivers -Demonstrate Competency, Good Judgment, Self-control
Three caregivers were observed in video footage inappropriately handling infants. One caregiver was seen inappropriately maneuvering an infant by one arm. The second was observed picking up and holding infants inappropriately with little support to support their head, neck, or spine. The third was observed inappropriately removing an infant from a restrictive device and pulling their arm behind their back to an unnatural angle to wipe their hand, which likely caused a serious accidental injury.
- High May 20, 2025 Correction verified May 30, 2025
746.1205(a)(2): Responsibilities of Caregivers - Know number of children responsible for
Two caregivers were not aware of the number of children in their care.
- High November 20, 2024 Correction verified December 16, 2024
746.2805(3): Prohibited Punishments - Grabbing and Pulling
A caregiver grabbed a child by the arm in an inappropriate manner.
- High November 20, 2024 Correction verified December 9, 2024
746.305(a)(6): Report Situation Placing Children at Risk
A concern regarding inappropriate discipline was not report to licensing.
- Medium High August 6, 2024 Correction verified August 21, 2024
746.1315(b)(1): CPR Training and Recertification Adhere to Guidelines-skill based
One staff file reviewed did not complete First aid/ CPR training that included hands-on skill-based training.
- Medium High August 6, 2024 Correction verified August 8, 2024
746.3819: Food Allergy Emergency Plan Signed by Parents and Health Care Professional
Five F.A.R.E forms reviewed did not have parent signature as required.
- Medium High August 6, 2024 Correction verified August 8, 2024
746.1315(a): Each Caregiver and the Director Must Have Current Training in pediatric first aid with rescue breathing and choking.
Two staff files reviewed had expired certification.
- Medium July 13, 2022 Correction verified July 15, 2022
746.801(2): Required Records Maintained and Made Available - Infant Feeding Instructions
At the time of the inspection several children did not have current infant feeding instructions.
Do you have a child enrolled here?
If Merit Children's Academy Lakewood 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.