The Goddard School

The rudest teachers are in this school. They are teaching nothing and the school is only very good at taking your money. The teachers are so rude and blunt, so whoever hires them should send them first to some kind of schooling with courses on how to treat children and their parents properly. Even the field trips are nonsense and not as educational as they could be. I am very disappointed in this school environment and I am pulling my child from it. My child is uncomfortable when she approaches the classroom and crying all the time. The school is not school, it is more like a marketplace.

My family has found The Goddard School in Gaithersburg to be a phenomenal school, so I wanted to take a moment to say thank you. The quality of teaching has been superb, and the school has such a warm, welcoming environment where our daughter, Nadia, has been thriving. I see a lot of happiness, laughter, and learning in the classrooms. Mr. and Mrs. Worley are very dedicated to the school. Nadia’s teachers have all been fabulous – very nurturing to her, and she has grown quite attached to them. All the staff seems to know Nadia’s name. She always comes home with reports of the interesting things she has done throughout the day, and loves talking about them. She has brought home interesting art projects, from traditional paintings to gingerbread houses. I love how Goddard has special visitors and events, like pony rides. I also really appreciate how they incorporate yoga, Spanish, and gym into the school day. I would happily recommend Goddard to anyone looking for a loving place for their children.

Wow, what to say about this great school. Over the course of the last 5 years, my 2 kids have been part of the Goddard program. They both started at around 20 months and ended when they were 5 years old (finishing preK). When we first selected this school for the kids, what struck me was the structure, professionalism and cleanliness of the school. It was worlds different than other area «day cares». Calling it a «day care» is an insult to Goddard. I call them a daycare/​school because they have programs for all the kids to promote education, social behavior, etc. Philosophically, I am a fan of that structure and I understand those who are not. To give you an idea of structure — their days are broken out into 15 – 20 minute increments ranging from socializing time, reading time, playtime, etc.
Teachers — In all the years of teachers, I think I might have encountered one teacher and one teacher assistant that were average. The others — amazing. Out of 4 stars (4 stars being excellent and 1 star being bad) and of the 20+ teachers/​teacher assistants that my kids had, I think 1 – 2 of them were 2 stars and the rest were 4 stars. I was truly impressed by the overall quality of the teachers — they all exhibited patience, great ability to interact with the kids, disciplined, etc. They had all the great qualities you want to see in a teacher. In fact, I’ve used several of them as babysitters over the years!
The classrooms are clean and orderly. The playgrounds are up to date and safe. The facility itself is safe (requires a fingerprint keypad to gain access to the school). The interaction between parent and teacher is very open and comfortable. Any time I had a question for the teacher or if the teacher shared a concern, it was a very positive discussion. I loved that about the school.
I would like to make one comment about a negative about the school. In the 5 years as a parent of kids at that school, I — at times — encountered the shuffling of kids from class to class nonsensical. There were 2 times where my daughter was just getting acclimated to the new class and they switched her out to a new class without her friends. The school must obviously have some sort of system to do this, but I would recommend being proactive about this since once the classroom changes are announced, it’s very difficult to get them changed. Also, if you are considering your child for summer camp somewhere else with the intent of going back to Goddard in the fall, your spot is not guaranteed. In order to be guaranteed a spot in the fall, your child must be there in the summer. This may have changed, but I would look out for that.
In closing, the administration of that school are all incredibly warm and friendly. Heather, Liz, Sheri and the rest of that team are all approachable. Lastly, Jim and Jill Worley run the school like a true family owned business. They genuinely care about all the kids and it is evidenced by how invested they are in the enrichment of all the kids. They seem to know every kid by name and are genuinely happy to see Goddard alums swing by the school to say hi. If there is a problem with a child, I’ve seen firsthand Jim and Jill quickly step in and try to work with parents to figure out a solution. They seem to keep close tabs with the classes so that if an issue arises, they are right there to deal with it in a quiet and quick fashion.
Overall, I’m sad to be leaving that school because of so many positive memories in my children’s lives but I know I’ll always have a familiar home to go back to and visit whenever I want.

We can’t say enough about The Goddard School in Gaithersburg! From the owners to the administrative staff to each teacher and assistant; we’ve found the school to be incredibly well run and a loving and enriching environment for our 2 year old daughter. The school takes child development seriously but does it through a fun, play-​based curriculum that kept our child excited and engaged each day. As working parents, we also appreciated the clear and timely communication from the school whenever our child was not feeling well or needed additional attention for any reason. The school handles classroom transitions almost seamlessly allowing the students to get to know their future classmates and teachers gradually and making for a very smooth move from one class to the other.
We see the owners and administrators daily and their offices are right at the front door to the school making them easily accessible for quick questions at drop-​off or pick-​up time. When we talked to our daughter’s teachers each day, it is clear that they’ve taken the time to get to know her personality and they always have an update on her growth in areas from potty training to other new skills. Unfortunately, we had to move out of the area, but we wouldn’t otherwise have hesitated to keep our daughter at The Goddard School in Gaithersburg for years to come. If you have a young child in the area, don’t hesitate to enroll!

Update: I still believe this the best school in the Gaithersburg area. That being said, the owners of the school have been accepting more and more infants into the school. On the face of it, that’s not a problem, but the effect is that the current infants are all getting pushed from room to room and not following any of the «school year» moves that were explained to us. Our daughter is about to move to her third room since March.
I get it, this is a business and infants bring in a significant premium over toddlers and preschoolers. That has translated into a seeming lack of concern for consistency for those currently enrolled. When we signed up, our daughter would be in the same room until she was walking. Then she was moved to the «new» 6 months and older room for the next school year. That lasted for 8 weeks. Now she’s being moved to the «even newer» 8 months and older room. Adding cribs and toys to a room previously designed for older kids is not the same as being in a room designed for babies that are growing and learning.
The infant room as it now exists has a large mirror, separated crib area (so the babies can actually sleep), a bar for babies to learn how to balance themselves and the only place to heat up their bottles. These facilities don’t exist in the two «new» infant rooms as of my writing this and I’d be surprised if anything more than a new bottle warmer was added.

We started our child here this past summer after they had been at another daycare for 6 months. Within a few months we noticed a marked improvement in their behavior with other kids, they communicate better, and they really enjoy themselves. They looks forward to coming in the mornings, and we’re happy with the educational opportunities for them. We don’t feel like we’re just dropping them off somewhere for the day where they’re not being stimulated.
The staff here is excellent and attentive and work quite well with my child, and they’re very communicative with us, we feel like we know what’s going on at all times. A great place to take care of your child.

Goddard in Gaithersburg is one of the best. The educational component starts at as early an age as you’d like, and the care is second to none.
We held off moving my daughter from an in-​home daycare to a school until she was 3 ½, wanting to keep her in a home environment for as long as possible. For as much as I loved the family that cared for her, we should have moved her sooner. She wasn’t being stretched enough by that age. She clearly had excess capacity at the end of the day, which was manifesting itself in behaviors that puzzled us. She was also shy in large, boisterous groups and we feared that she would never be comfortable going into unknown environments.
Goddard changed all of that and put her squarely ahead of many of her peers. Goddard has an excellent program, but Jim and Jill Worley, the owners, are exacting in their standards. Their school has the highest quality ratings in the entire franchise system. They’re well ahead of the program. Their hires are equally dedicated to the kids, or they don’t last. We’ve become very connected to the teachers, developing relationships that go beyond her classroom years. They are, simply, amazing.
Not only have we been woven into her Goddard experience, but my daughter has transformed into a confident, smart, fearless little girl, who at the end of the Goddard pre-​kindergarten year tests well into the first grade. Although she’s repeating kindergarten in elementary school (missed the cutoff date), we’re working with the first-​grade summer homework.
I can’t say enough about the Worleys and the staff. The kids literally skip and run to get to class in the morning — every morning. Every evening is a struggle to get them to leave. They see Mr. Worley or Ms. Braden (Assistant Director) or Ms. Kramer (Director), and they tear away from you to run and give them a hug. The administators know every child by name and know personal things about them (and you!) — an amazing thing for a school with hundreds of children they don’t spend regular time with. It’s an amazing place with amazing people.