The Goddard School

Reviews 3

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colleen henes

My daughter attended the Goddard School for pre-school and pre-K before starting kindergarten in August 2013. I didnt want to write a review until I could see how well Goddard actually prepared her for kindergarten. Not only did Goddard prepare her for the academic aspect of kindergarten, but it prepared her for the emotional and social parts as well. Though being the youngest in her class, my daughter is excelling at Ogden International. She wasnt afraid, she made friends quickly, and shes ahead of almost all of her peers academically. And while Id love to take credit for that, most of the credit is due to Goddard. Jason, the owner, and Gina, the educational director, are nothing short of amazing. They work tirelessly for the kids and you can tell. They learn your names immediately and somehow know everything thats going on with your child (it truly is incredible). They are in constant contact with the students, teachers, and parents and there is a full line of communication among all three. Whenever I emailed a question, Gina or Jason would answer it ASAP. I felt that my daughter and I were the most important people there. And while I know that this is obviously not the case, its great to feel that way. The teachers are just as wonderful. All they want is for your child to reach his/her potential while, at the same time, having fun and making friends. They care so much for each of their students--you can see it. They have "report cards" that they complete so you can see how your child is progressing and what he/she needs to work on (on all levels--social, academic, emotional--its an exhaustive list). The teachers also email daily reports that include not only what your child did that day and what he/she learned, but you also get pictures! I loved seeing those every day. It was one of the selling points of Goddard. And when my daughter finally "graduated," they gave me a book with actual pictures of her and all her drawings, report cards, and just little notes about her. That was above and beyond and I cherish it. Because I couldnt be there (I work), they were. And they took care of her. And now I can share her memories of Goddard with her and feel like I was a part of it. My daughter loved going to school and I loved taking her there. If they had a program that extended through kindergarten, 1st grade, etc. I would have kept her there. She was safe, she had fun, and she learned more than her peers in kindergarten. Goddard made it as easy as possible for me (and her) to transition to kindergarten. One final note (re: security): This seems to be a hot-button issue these days so I feel like I should mention it. The school is extremely secure. In order to even enter the main entrance, you need to scan your hand print. There is always someone at the front desk, too, watching the comings and goings of everyone through those doors. I always felt that my daughter was safe and I was never concerned about her safety. I strongly recommend Goddard to anyone who wants to prepare their children for kindergarten. They will arrive more confident, less scared, and they will be ahead academically. Thank you, Goddard!

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Jodi Wolf

I would recommend The Goddard School to anyone and everyone raising their kids in the city! My son attended The Goddard School from the time he was 6 months old to 4.5 years old starting in August of 2011 & it has been the most incredible experience! Everyone from the owner to the directors to all of the teachers along the way have been like family. They have been encouraging and excited about every milestone that he reached from crawling to walking to talking to being potty trained to reading & writing. My son has loved going to school there, speaks of his teachers fondly and loves his friends. It is extremely important to find a school that has the right balance of structure and play that lets our children flourish and have a positive educational experience. The play-based curriculum was crucial to Matthews learning and also helped develop social and emotional learning skills. The teachers are the BEST! They are caring, passionate & incredibly creative and have always encouraged parent involvement. The facility is excellent as well & it is amazing that they dont ever need to leave the grounds to play. I never worried about anything while he was at school - I knew that he was always well taken care of. And the best part is that you get an email report each day about what they did with fun pictures and videos of the special moments that the teachers captured to share. It makes you feel like you were at school with them during the day and opens up a conversation for them to share details about their day. We looked at a lot of options before choosing Goddard and the moment we went on the tour, we knew it was the right place. It is far above the rest of the options in the city! It truly prepares your child for kindergarten making them more academically advanced than the rest of the kids in their class. Thank you to Jason, Gina & Lauren for always being available and taking such good care of our family. And a special thanks to the many teachers who have supported my sons learning along the way (Cara, Shenise, Melissa, Rosie, Hannah, Jen, Katie, Emily, Kirstin, Charlotte, Sarah, Kay, Kathy, Julie and the countless resource teachers who supported them)! We will miss you all! As we embark on the next part of our journey at The Latin School, I can only hope the rest of his educational experience will be this amazing!

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Annika Olson

Goddard Lincoln Park was a great first school for our daughter. She attended the school off and on from ages 3-5, due to family travels. She learned a lot - intellectually and socially - and enjoyed the experience very much. On her very first day, she did not cry at all when we dropped her off, only when we came to pick her up! Any time we returned after an extended time away, Jason & Gina always made us feel very welcome. They even invited our daughter back to "graduate" with her Pre-K class - a very special event for all of us. The school has a warm and cheerful atmosphere, created by the dedicated staff and the environment itself. Being a new school, all of the facilities and equipment are new and well designed. There are always creative art projects hanging in the walls. We appreciated the private playground in the internal courtyard where the kids could get exercise with no concerns about safety. While there was some teacher turnover at times, our daughter loved each teacher she had, particularly Ms. Stephanie in the junior Kindergarten room. Each class was orderly and reinforced good manners/behaviors among the kids. And care was taken when kids transitioned from one level to the next to ensure an easy adjustment. We enjoyed all of the families we met through Goddard. The school organized several social events during the year which was a nice way to build a sense of community. Our daughter has since started Kindergarten and has had no problems at all with the transition. Goddards strong work on handwriting and phonics really shows. We keep in touch with the other Goddard families at our new school which helped us all feel more connected from day one. Thank you Goddard for a great introduction to school for our daughter!

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