The Goddard School

If you are like me, choosing the correct Pre-​Kindergarten school for your child is a very important step in their early development. Like many other parents, we toured several schools before deciding to enroll in Goddard Cave Creek. We have since found that Goddard Cave Creek is the perfect balance of social/​academic development and fun. I have waited more than a year to write this review and my opinion of Goddard Cave Creek has not wavered.
First, in my opinion there are two types of pre-​kindergartens. A daycare, at its core, is a place where you know your child will be safe but may or may not have a defined learning plan. A school, on the other hand, is so much more than a daycare. Goddard Cave Creek is the latter and one would be obtuse to call it a daycare.
Staff is foremost when making your decision. Knowing that all the lead teachers and most of the assistant teachers are formally educated and certified early childhood education teachers is your first clue that this place is different. If you are touring, ask a few people how long they have been there. You’ll be surprised to find that most have been there for years which mean turnover is nonexistent. Turnover is a constant problem at other places that just doesn’t exist at Goddard Cave Creek. This means the staff is happy and love what they are doing.
The curriculum and approach is amazing and pre-​defined by Goddard corporate into weekly themes. Individual teachers then have the ability to adapt the curriculum, within the guidelines, to best suit their class. This empowers the teacher to lead the class based on student interest in the topic. Montessori type influences are also prevalent during their learning time. Daily reports are emailed with details about what the class did and individualized with pictures and notes of the particular interests of your child. The daily reports also include things like when and how long they napped, snacks and lunch including what they didn’t like. The daily reports are wonderful and allow parents to reinforce what children did at school. For instance during dinosaur week we would watch dinosaur movies after school, read dinosaur books and went to a dinosaur museum on the weekend allowing us as busy parents be truly vested in their learning adventure.
The activities are also amazing, the owner, director and assistant director definitely go the extra mile. On job/​career week instead of talking about different jobs why not bring in Firefighters, FBI agents, Chefs etc. for the children to talk to? On mammal week why not bring in a portable petting zoo and let the children interact and learn about the animals directly? These are all examples that set Goddard Cave Creek apart and add to the children’s fun learning experience.
I just can’t say enough good things about this school. The experience for both of our children has been amazing. I’m so happy that we found Goddard. If all schools were like Goddard Cave Creek the world would be a better place.

We are so fortunate to have found Goddard School-​the owner and staff are amongst the kindest and caring people you will meet, which is exactly what you need to find when searching for a preschool for your little one. We visited 3 schools for our 18 month old son before choosing Goddard and are so happy with our decision. Ms Belinda has been wonderful – our son has learned and grown so much cognitively, emotionally, and physically since starting Goddard 5 months ago.

This is an excellent school!
We moved our son from a larger preschool/​daycare in the Scottsdale area. We entered into the Kinderbridge class with Mrs. Stelfox. We absolutely love her and the school! They teachers and staff really care about the children and their development. The class sizes are small and allow for more individual attention than other daycares/​preschools we have been to and seen. They foster a love of learning and create a loving environment for the kids. Our son is thriving and learning so much. Every day he comes home with a new story about what they did that day. Science experiments, yoga, art, history, music, Spanish and sign language. And they make it so fun, he loves learning new things!
We would recommend Goddard Cave Creek to anyone. They have made an amazing difference in our lives and our sons learning environment. They truly care about the kids and families and become a partner in childcare and learning.