The Goddard School of Chapel Hill

Very disappointed with my experience at Goddard in Chapel Hill. My son was only enrolled for a month, however they placed him in the wrong class and switched him after the second week. His first class lacked a full time teacher until the day before he left. His second teacher did not know Spanish (although they include it in their curriculum) and did not have an assistant or anyone to help with potty training my son (which was also advertised on the tour). They also misplaced a baby blanket I had with his name on it since he was born, fitted sheets and items in his diaper bag. They also had the nerve to charge us a $1,000 "deactivation fee" to move him to another school after not receiving the services described on their site. The administrative team was nice and sold us from the tour (don't get bamboozled, they showed us a random class and NOT where our child would be located) but once we enrolled our son, it was a horrible experience. They need to do better.

It is clear that Goddard teachers and staff all care for my baby deeply. My baby is excited and happy to be dropped off. They go above and beyond state requirements to have lower child:teacher ratios and to have greater staggering between classrooms. I also love the celebration of diversity in their teachings and that there are both male and female teachers at the site.

The good: The teachers truly care about the children and their well being. They are invested in the children and genuinely enjoy what they do. They do lots of activities throughout the day and have organized classrooms. The staff and teachers also make an effort to get to know the parents. The areas for improvement: Our first day was a bit overwhelming. Some formal introduction or time to visit and get to know the class would have helped us. The reason we left the Goddard: We believe the owner could be more supportive of the staff and teachers. While we were enrolled at the Goddard, I only saw the owner 3 times on site (over many months). The Goddard is a franchise business. The owner of this Goddard franchise also has several other businesses. In total I was able to locate 5 registered corporations for Asish Tripathi (the owner). We hope the staff and teachers feel supported in the work they do. We did not get the sense that they have as much support as they need from the owner.

We love the Minnows class and the Goddard leadership. Brenda and Sakinah are amazing teachers, not only to our baby, but also to us as first-time parents. Our daughter loves coming to daycare and learns so much from her teachers and classmates. Our new favorite milestone is that our daughter waves when you say "hello" in English and "adios" in Spanish. We never have to worry about her at Goddard - we know that she is surrounded by people who really care about her and treat her like their own child. We also trust that if there's anything that we need adjusted, that the leadership is direct, effective and responsive. It is a gift to have such an amazing and positive experience from her first teachers!

We have been very happy with The Goddard School. I feel my child is very secure safe in and outside of the school. The school is always very clean and provides a healthy environment for my child to learn. I am very excited about the children being taught ASL, Spanish, involved in many art projects, and more. My child loves art and her teachers give her many opportunities throughout the week to enjoy painting, coloring, and more. Everyday I drop and pick up my child, I am always greeted by one of the friendly staff members. I would highly recommend this school to anyone with a child seeking a learning preschool/childcare facility.