The Goddard School

My son attends two different pre-​school programs, with very different educational philosophies. His experience at the Goddard school is tactical, driven by clear curriculum goals, and a great preparation for the structured experience of kindergarten (which was a hard transition for my daughter). I love that we get feedback on his progress via photos and captions throughout the day. We also get a daily summary of everything he worked on at school, mapped to curriculum goals, and a picture of his participation– this is a great resource for asking questions about the day. It is also nice to have this feedback from a working mom’s perspective. The school is immaculate, conveniently located for those how work downtown, and staffed by great teachers and administration. We are very happy with our experience so far.

Our child has been there from the school’s inception. As a result of this, we don’t have much to compare. Through the many months we have been at The Goddard, we have seen a very high turnover of teachers. Again, not sure if this is normal for a school of this caliber as we don’t have another school to compare. Our child has thrived, even with the teacher turnovers. She loves to go to school and sometimes does not like to leave at the end of the day.

Goddard is a great school. My Rabbit enjoys his teachers and classrooms and comes home with new knowledge every day. His teachers and the faculty are very approachable and friendly as well as knowledgeable about childhood development. They are great about answering my new-​mom questions. The facility is very clean and they are helping teach my son to be apart of his community (being nice to his friends and putting away the toys).

Great school and wonderful teachers. Our son has been here since they opened their doors and we hope to keep him there until he’s off to school. The facility is brand new, clean and modern. Management is on point and incredibly helpful. Snacks are provided but lunches aren’t which is why it’s only 4 stars. Service & staff get 5.

We’ve had our tiny human at this school since she was 3 months old and we really love it here. If we ever have to leave, it will just be because we have to find a place closer to home or work. Here are some useful tidbits for parents who might be looking at this school:
Pros: super secure sign in/​out process (everyone gets their own code, and there’s a hand scanner), friendly office staff, responsive to inquiries, owners are on site every day and are involved and very communicative, Spanish program (with a fabulous teacher), teacher to child ratios are maintained really well, the teachers there seem to really love what they do, well-​rounded curriculum, regular meetings with parents, regular evaluations (because they’re a franchise), our tiny person loves her teachers… she reaches for them when we get to school in the morning, electronic payment processing is available, open door policy, you can call or come by any time to see your child, you can hire the teachers as babysitters (and many of them love to do this!), you’re treated like family, transitions to new classrooms are done according to the child’s development, not necessarily according to birth date.
Cons: cost-​prohibitive (it’s literally like having a second mortgage), people coming in and out of the infant classroom aren’t required to wear booties or take their shoes off, parking is scarce so pick up and drop off can be a little tricky sometimes, not a lot of opportunity to meet other parents except during drop off and pick up times.

I love this school! My twins are treated as individuals and have learned so much. The school is near my office downtown so no need to rush back to the suburbs to make pick up time.
At 3 years old my girls are showing signs of beginning to read and I give the credit to their school. They also have great friends and their social skills have grown. I can’t say enough good things!