The Goddard School of Huntersville

I wanted to give some honest feedback for parents looking into or have already have their child/ children enrolled at the Goddard of Huntersville. I recently pulled my child out and was so disgusted in our experience there. There are too many teacher turnovers in the span of a very short few months that my child was there. Communication between parents, staff and owners are horrendous. My child was sick, and throwing up, and I was only told "they aren't themselves ". My child told me that they threw up after I picked them up, and after calling the school to ask, then they confirmed. The owners are a complete joke and are only concerned about their monthly collection. When we notified them that we are pulling our child, all we got was an "ok thanks for letting me know" . Staff seem very young and inexperienced. Many have expressed to the owners that they aren't comfortable working with a certain age group of children, but the owners bypass their concerns and continue to place teachers/ floaters where they aren't comfortable. Diaper changes are NOT done on schedule. My child has had overly solied diapers numerous times during pickup and I have had to change the diaper myself when I get there. You are suppose to get a daily report on your child at the end of everyday, and receiving one, was extremely rare. I would also message in the app some days to check in on my child, and there would be no reply. Classes are overly packed because they combine classes, and floaters are "watching over other classes". Last week there were 20 children under the age of 3, with one teacher. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I am now in the process of looking for another daycare for my little one. I hope another parent doesn't have an experience remotely close to what we went through at this place

We have been a Goddard family for over a year and love the huntersville location. The owner, administrators and teachers are all wonderful. We had experience with the 2 year old and 3 year old room. Each teacher genuinely cares for their students and delivers a curriculum and structured day that allows each child to flourish in the environment. The school plans special events and really engages the families. Our son comes home talking all about his day, his teachers, and his friends - his vocabulary has exploded and he learns so much each day. We will continue to be a Goddard family until he is ready for school! Thank you Laura!!!

I would not say my experience at this location was anything positive. From day one with the tour I could tell the owner was not sincerely warm or friendly. The communication was always awkward and left me looking back on interaction with heighten awareness that I could be missing something. No one within the staff stood out as a positive interaction or a warm loving nature. I chalked it up to being new. After 1-2 months I no longer wanted to take my child to school and kept my child home when I could. I sincerely have never met a more unfriendly bunch. Even when we would pick up our child the teachers never would say goodbye, have a nice day, see ya tomorrow. I could literally walk in and out without anyone saying a word to both myself or my child. Finally I got squared away and pulled our child out.

We've been at Goddard since 2015. Our daughter has moved up through 4 classes in her time there and every teacher has been better than the last. There seems to be very little staff turnover and the personal attention is fantastic. The staff and administrators have been remarkably attentive and their love and care for the children they are entrusted with is obvious. I'm sad that our time there is coming to an end when my daughter advances to kindergarten in the fall, but I think they've provided her an amazing foundation, both socially and academically.

Our experience with this provider started off poor and that should have been our first warning sign. This location is owned by a husband and wife that have no experience in child care and it is truly catching up with them. If they do not get help and strong leadership soon, the Goddard name will not sustain them much longer. I had to visit Goddard three times before we were ever offered a tour. I called and was finally able to schedule a tour. My husband and I were actually very pleased with the tour. The owners brought in a new director and she was incredible, she sold us on Goddard of Huntersville during our tour. We were disappointed to learn the director left before they had an opening for our child. In the beginning, our experience was acceptable. Communication was open, honest, and genuine. Our child was having trouble adjusting, we worked together to find solutions to help the transition. The next 6 weeks went smoothly, it was abundantly clear that the teachers cared for my child and she was learning. Our child was moved up to the next class and this is when our experience began to fall apart. This classroom had constant teacher turn over and it was beginning to take a toll. The assistant teacher had been the same but the lead teacher role was always changing. You could tell the assistant teacher was overwhelmed and receiving little support. When the second lead teacher resigned the husband and director held an "emergency" meeting with two days' notice. I understand the quick turnaround, the issue is there was no true follow up communication with the parents that could not attend. During the meeting we were they were going to move a lead teacher from another room. The other solution they offered were classroom rules with Mr. Potato Head that would be reviewed every morning and the children would receive a sticker if they followed Mr. Potato Head's directions all day long. A good idea, but why is this innovative? The meeting was tense, there was much concern, it was clear parents were growing unhappy. During the 8 weeks in this classroom my child was involved in five incidents. Three of the incidents were blows to the head, one of which resulted in the stitches. The second incident, we were not contacted for three hours and the third we were not contacted at all. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to pick up my child only to find an incident report and a bruised and scratched child. I was told my child was injured repeatedly by the same child. I requested a meeting immediately. The meeting the following morning left a little to be desired. They offered good solutions but told me that it was not the same child injuring mine. So, someone was lying. I am inclined to believe the owner and director were because they knew steps would need to be taken to council the "bully" and potentially remove the child. During this time my child became withdrawn and almost depressed. It was clear she was unhappy. I spoke with other parents in the classroom, this same child had targeted other children, hitting them as well. Another parent told me their child had to have stitches twice, one incident they could not tell her what happened. The owners have even said the injured children must have done something to provoke the other child. They put real metal scissors in the classroom, a child cut themselves. The owner advised the scissors were removed. The following week, the same scissors were back in the classroom. The owner said they had to be able to use scissors in order for them to be able to obtain Five Star Certification. Should toddler scissors not have been provided?Ultimately, there are four families that have withdrawn or are withdrawing from this one classroom and the number one complaint has to do with ownership/leadership. They do not adequately provide resources or training for their teachers to be successful. They constantly ask for donations of supplies, toys, and books. They don't provide lunch for the children so, where is all the tuition money going? We paid a premium for this school and did not receive the service we should be able to expect. If the owners and leaders focus on what is really important and bring in the training and help they desperately need there is a chance to restore this location but until then, they are souring Goddard's excellent reputation.Pros:* Reputation* Teachers genuinely care - they are the reason I am giving two stars. They are doing the best they can with the minimal support they receive.Cons:* Confidence in safety* Experience* Teacher support* Adequate supplies* Meaningful activities* Being run as solely a business, only goal to make money* Communication is last minute and not forth coming* Many false and unmet promises* Extremely high turnover rate

The overall concept of the school is excellent. However, the school has experienced high turn over rate since it opened. Every time I walked into my child's classroom there was a new teacher and there was an incident that occurred where a student was left outside unattended and no information was released to the parents about what occurred. We found out by other parents whose kids were in that class. Give this school another year or two to establish. The owner does very little to communicate with parents and the Directors was absolutely amazing. Give this a school a few years to establish itself and it may be an ok school.

My daughter began attending the Huntersville Goddard School in January this year. I must say that I did not know what I was missing from a daycare until I came here! Rather than just watching/babysitting your child like most, each teacher develops their own class objectives and lesson plans that are customized to the class/child. I receive very detailed daily reports electronically via email and their Tadpoles app. The report contains the usual bathroom/diaper changes and food, but they also include specifics about what they did/learned that day with pictures of my daughter as she is doing it! From a management perspective, the owner, Laura is a parent of two small children herself and so I know she understands my random parent struggles. I've also found that she is incredibly good at listening, from my random suggestion to implement a soccer program at the school eventually (which they have scheduled to begin at the end of February), to big things like potty training and dropping off a screaming child. She is complemented by a great education director, Yolanda, who is full of a ton of energy and excitement for my daughter's development. She knows my child and will talk to me on a whim about where my daughter is in transitioning to the center and also about what important lessons she had learned that day. These two (Laura and Yolanda) are also very good at hiring teachers. I can always tell how good the teachers are if they leave a lasting impact on my daughter. As a two year old, it's often hard for them to remember anything from their day. During our night time prayers, my daughter has been thankful for having Miss Kate and Miss Tina on most of the nights. She also talks about how much fun she had with them when I pick her up. Another important aspect is that I feel I have more of a partnership in my child's development. One of many great examples is, I was hesitant to put the burden of potty training on them until my daughter got the idea and was more consistent. But they actually requested that I bring pull ups so that they could begin working on it while she was around other kids that were potty training! After the first week of this, my daughter has been mostly staying dry during the day! Wooohooo! At first, my only hesitation was the whole idea of having to take time to make lunch for my child, but it really has turned out great since I know she is eating things that she loves. I decided to make lunch for two days at a time, so it really doesn't take that much extra time. Also, they DO provide a morning snack (breakfast) and an afternoon snack and they also provide her more food if she is extra hungry that day. So as a parent, you don't have to bring all of her food for the day, just lunch. After one month with the center, my daughter and I can't be happier! She is getting a great education (I'm already seeing the benefits from this), from individuals who know what they are doing and love her individuality almost as much as I do.

NOT accommadating AT ALL to children with special needs. Told me they never had a "child like that before attend their school" and that they would have to evaluated her before they accepted her at their center. Seriously, she has Down Syndrome....she is not an "it" and she is a little girl who is more alike other 3yrs old then she is different. This was the only daycare I called that gave me a cold hearted response when I mentioned that she had Down Symdrome. So disappointing and their total loss!!!!!