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April 2024 by Saralyn Smith
The Goddard School has been amazing for my baby. It was a big transition for her and they helped us handle it with grace. Could not be happier with her progress so far.
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March 2024 by Tina Rad
We started my daughter at this wonderful preschool two years ago. She's graduating soon and I'm honestly sad to be leaving this school. I'm writing this review to give other families the benefit of our opinion after two years of experience.I'm a fairly picky and particular parent/customer, because my husband and I both work full-time and we really needed a school that would make our lives easier as well as providing excellent education. This has to be one of the best-run preschools in the country. I never had a single complaint and have been beyond impressed with the love and dedication constantly shown by the teachers and the administration.I regularly compared notes with my friends who had their kids enrolled at other nearby preschools and frequently found myself saying, "I'm so glad our school doesn't do that!" The way this school is managed impressed me in every way, from the calendar/holiday schedule (no random or excessively long closures at inconvenient times that would leave us without childcare when we had to work), to their handling of the pandemic (practical policies that made sense and showed adequate precautions without going too overboard), to the teachers' handling of our child's very brief slapping phase (a productive, non-judgmental, and helpful in-person conference with practical suggestions for working together to address the issue both at school and at home), to family engagement (occasional opportunities to work on school projects or attend events, but no excessive "homework" for busy parents to have to deal with over nights/weekends), everything was handled exactly how I would want it to be, with grace, care, and genuine kindness.If this school offered continued education through elementary, I absolutely would have kept my daughter in it with no question. I would recommend this school a hundred times over. I will really miss them!
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March 2024 by ma wq
Great facility and great staff. Our granddaughter really enjoys going to the school. Highly recommend this school!
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May 2023 by Katrina Anderson
We love the Goddard school! Great staff, caring teachers and phenomenal programming. While the cost is high, you do get a great school for your kids. We recommend this school to all of our friends/families/neighbors!
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May 2023 by Trina J.
We are thrilled with the care our kids received at the Goddard school. The director, administrators, front desk staff, and teachers are people who truly care about your kids! Our oldest flourished in kindergarten thanks to the structure and curriculum at Goddard, and our youngest is about to do the same. We have loved the activities they plan for the kids, the constant/consistent communication on our kids, the teachers openness to helping students when issues arise, and the obvious care of all staff. Note: This school is expensive, and does not have school provided lunch/snack which makes it even more difficult to budget, but we do love that our kids have been so well cared for and are truly learning more than any other center could provide for.
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May 2023 by Ernesto M.
We love this school; I felt more like a little family than a school. We brought our 4 year old here after reviewing multiple schools. The curriculum is STEAM based which stimulated my little dudes imagination and mind. Mrs. Amy, Mrs. Chaetna (sic) and Mrs. Shalah in The world famous Peppy Pandas are wonderful. My son comes home having learned different things that are then put into hands on learning opportunities. Front office is stellar. I can't say enough about the ladies there. They are welcoming, loving and definitely provide guidance. I remember the first interaction we had with them, and it really did close it for us that Goddard is where we wanted to put our child. He is ready and prepped for kinder!!!
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December 2022 by Katie Fagan
My husband and I can’t stress enough how wonderful this school and staff has been for our son. He started going there at 6 months and has thrived in learning, sign language, social skills and kindness. They truly treat your child like part of their own family and we always picked up a smiling face. We recently moved out of the area and switched schools and have been so unhappy decided to bring our little one back with a commute. Hands down the best experience all around for us as parents and the communication and for our little one. Not all Goddard's are made equal (we tried another) - early communication speaks miles to how your child will be treated. Thank you to your entire staff for everything you do every day.
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November 2022 by Reina P.
I have to preface with: I actually have no kids enrolled here. My review knocking one star off is solely based on pricing. This place looks fantastic. We were given a tour by friendly personnel who seemed to really enjoy working here. No one seemed frazzled. Also, the kids seemed at ease and to me, that's the proof in the pudding. We were specifically looking for newborn enrollment, and what impressed me was the 1:3 ratio of teachers to babies (which is less than the required ratio of 1:4). Bravo ! Everything was great and I was ready to enroll our newborn in the next year until we had a conversation about prices. It was going to be $2,400 per month (these are estimated prices for next year). I was prepared for it to be pricey but this fee just seemed to be extra pricey for Lake Forest. They do have all the bells and whistles though. For all the parents who can afford it, this is definitely a great option to look at. For the rest of us, we will need to keep looking.
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September 2022 by Shelly A.
Back again for our second child! So grateful for this school. Both of our kids have had great experiences and have learned Soo much thanks to Goddard's fun and hands on approach to learning. You can totally see the difference between Goddard students and non Goddard students come time for kindergarten. You will love this school.
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July 2022 by Paul J.
Both our boys attended The Goddard School of Lake Forest when they were each 2 to 3.5 years old and they loved it! The school faculty and administration is very loving and caring with all of the children. They follow a structured daily plan that is shared at the end of the day with your child's individual picture doing an activity that day, the amount of food they ate and how long they napped. The detailed information on activities allowed us to talk with our boys about what they did and their friends they were having fun with. The school teachers also are available by message during the day and the school sometimes shares pictures during the day as well. We saw our toddlers grow so much here! We highly recommend.
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July 2022 by Coco C.
not good, no love Only money money, they're forgot the love is the first thing not good, no love Only money money, they're forgot the love is the first thing not good, no love Only money money, they're forgot the love is the first thing
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July 2022 by Tonja B's Sleep Consultant S.
The Goddard School is a great, caring environment. The teachers and administrators are always welcoming and really make an effort to get to know our family unit. My toddler looks forward to going to school everyday! He enjoys the loving environment. He is almost 2 years old and doesn't have much verbal language yet, but Goddard school has taught him sign language and are working with him in his language development. We have learned sign language in our home as well and it has tremendously made an impact on how our toddler communicates with us. The administrators at Goddard are so helpful and stay in constant communication with the parents. They've watched my son grow from infant to toddler and each classroom teachers have been caring!
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May 2022 by Matt M.
It's bittersweet writing this review, as we have transferred our child out of Goddard recently after being there for 2.5 years, starting when our son was 6 months old. For the most part, we really enjoyed our time there and were sad to leave. Here are our experiences: Pros: - The facility. Well-lit and, organized, and updated. This was what impressed us the most after touring other places. The classrooms are actual rooms, instead of some other places that separate "rooms" with a line of bookshelves. The rooms themselves are a great size and have all sorts of enrichment material for the kids. The infant room has a dark area with cribs to accommodate different nap routines (and it also has a fridge for milk and other foods). The older kids' rooms don't have fridges, so be sure to get ice packs. - The events. They have a bunch of events that the children (and sometimes parents) participate in, which is great! For example, the Robot Fashion Show during Earth Week, and book fairs, STEAM project displays...the list goes on! - The playground. Huge outdoor playground that has many areas for kids to run around and play. - The communication. I love the app that they used to communicate with us. They sent us daily activity reports were we could see what our son was doing and learning, which was great so we can extend the learning at home. We also got to see other stats like nap times, potty information, and food consumption. It's also wonderful that we could send messages to our son's teachers directly any time during the day. Neutral: - The teachers and staff. The teachers and staff were great! Very caring and good with kids. They had creative lesson plans and even accommodated a request of mine to have our son complete a birthday project for his mom. They're very responsive using the messaging app, and they sent at least one photo per day of our son to keep up posted on what's going on. However, there is a very high turnover rate. All of the teachers in the first couple of rooms are different from when we started. Same with most of the staff. And in the most recent room transition, two of the three teachers left around the same time, and it caused our son a bit of anxiety. There weren't many people we recognized there towards the end of our time at Goddard, which made us feel less connected to the community. Also, when we left, the owner didn't say anything - no goodbye or anything. Again making us feel not connected to the community. The Director did, which was appreciated, and we're sad to leave her (she's been nothing but great with us and our son since we met her a couple of years ago). Con: - Cost. This is the primary reason we decided to leave. When we started, we were told that our tuition would decrease over time because as our son progressed through the different classes, the children:teacher ratio would get progressively higher. What they should have said was that tuition would increase slowly over time relative to new enrollees. We ended up paying more per month than when our son first started at the school. Also, the cost wasn't the same for us as it was for other families in the same room, which I thought was weird. But now that our second child is ready to enroll in a program, to enroll them both at Goddard, we would have paid over $1100 a month more than where we ended up moving both of them. We just couldn't justify the cost anymore.
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March 2022 by kevin granich
Amazing teachers! My son is always happy to see his friends in the morning and love his little art projects he brings home.
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August 2021 by Kimberly A.
This morning at drop-off, I had nothing but tears! Today is my son's last day at Goddard as he is moving onto Kindergarten. The tears were both happy and sad ...happy for my son to move onto the next stage in his childhood but sad because Goddard is HOME to our family! Goddard is a place I drop off my little one each morning without a worry in the world. Mrs. Julie greets him at the door as he signs himself in. Mrs. Jen is often behind the glass waving, HI! As we walk down the hall to the 3rd classroom he has been in since our journey started two years ago, everyone says, HELLO! Mrs. Caroline, the apple of my son's eyes meets us at his classroom door and gives him a morning hug. The staff is so welcoming each and every morning and they all know you by name. They care for and love my son as I could never have imagined. Each day I receive photos of his adventures at school. Mrs. Parina (owner) takes the time to stop and talk with our family every time we see her, she genuinely cares for each family enrolled and knows your "story". I can not say enough amazing things about Goddard, the staff, the curriculum, and the daily organization that we have seen over the last two years. If you are looking for someone to care for your child and a place that will be a true extension of the love you provide them at home, then look no further, Goddard is it. We will forever miss our HOME!
