Goddard School

User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

My son attended the Goddard School from age 5 months to 16 months. We only left because we are moving out-of-state. Infant and First Steps care was absolutely wonderful. Infant ratio: 3 to 1; First Steps ratio: 4 to 1; although the majority of the time there were always more teachers available in the classroom. Great open door policy which I thoroughly tested by stopping by 3-4 times a day when I first left him. The staff as a whole are very professional but also work to develop relationships with the parents. PTO is very active. On the whole, it feels more like a family than a school. My son (an only child) was walking by 10 months, is very engaging around other children, and already performs tasks that are preparatory to required skills for entering school -- all thanks to Goddard. He has lots of fun, also -- never any issue of him not wanting to attend school. He walks into the school and straight to the classroom and is happy as can be. It's a bit expensive but I thought it was well worth it for my child.

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User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I love this school. Unlike the previous reviewer, I'm amazed at how long the teachers last at this school compared to others. Their retention rate is much higher than the average preschool in the Fairfax area. The staff is loving and attentive and the teachers have been extremely supportive to our family. The place is very clean which is an issue that had me out the door in a few other "high end" schools which I visited prior to enrolling my son. I would definitely recommend this school to any of my family and friends.

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User Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

We left Goddard when our son was in Kindergarten and they decided to start construction in his classroom during the day. Several parents left during this time as two of the kids suffered from RSV and asthmatics, when complaints were made to the owner he did not seem to care of the risks and said, "Well you have to crack a few eggs to make a good omelet". I don't think Brad realized he was referring to son child as an egg. The kids were left to sleep on the tile, since the room was cut in half they were pushed up to the door. They were hammering and drilling during class hours while the teachers were trying to instruct. We had three teachers in about 4 months, retention was a major problem and the staff was very displeased and upset with the situation (who wants to deal with a poor work environment and a bunch of angry parents). The kids were all having delays and we found out they were not running background checks on their teachers. I have never felt more deceived and when we called corporate they said there was nothing they could do aside from take down a complaint. They said they were not liable and the school was Brad’s so basically there was nothing they could do. When I would ask them questions like, don’t you care about your name, they would say something to the effect of “we are not saying that” or “we have no comment”. They made it quite obvious that all they cared about was their check from Brad and that they would not have any responsibility. We had him out of that school two days later after we were able to get his paperwork completed at his new school.

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