Anyone Heard of Goddard School?

Our daughter goes to Goddard in Apple Valley. She goes 3 full days a week, and we pay $626 a month. It is actually pretty comparable to most of its like, Primrose is more expensive. It will be more expensive until your child is potty trained, we paid $758 a month until she was in te pre-school room which is diaper-free.
We are very happy there in AV, and I know people at the other Goddards as well, who are happy as well. If you have further questions, feel free to email me.

I am a center director at a child care center...not a goddard, but i do know that they are a little on the expensive side. in addition, they do not supply the children with lunches so that is another cost you will have to consider. I am not a huge fan of goddard.

My Godson goes to the Brooklyn Park location, and their family is very happy with the education he's receiving in the 3 year-old room. It is quite pricey (I want to say $300/week, but PLEASE don't quote me on that since I can't remember for sure.) I do know that my friend likes that they are serious about security, and communication with the parents (regular "report cards," conferences, etc.) If you're seriously interested, I'd go in for the tour--you'll learn a lot getting a "feel" for it through an actual visit.

It's a very nice facility! I have a few friends that send their preschoolers there for preschool...it's pricey. When I looked there for full time child care about 1.5 years ago, for my then 2.5 year old, t was either $800 OR $850 per month (I get the tuition mixed up with Primrose). The one thing I thought was odd was that they didn't serve lunch. It's probably healthier for the kids, but I like the idea of my little guy eating what everyone else is eating in the hopes that he'll try new things. Plus, with two full time working parents,it's nice to have one less thing to worry about! Also, I notice that they are always hiring, which makes me wonder if their turnover is high...and if so, that's not good. THIS IS IN OMAHA by the way...

My daughter attends Step by Step Montessori school in Chaska. There are several Step by Step schools throughout the Twin Cities. You definately should check it out at http://www.stepbystepmontessori.com/?gclid=CP-cqbziyJECFR...

All Step by Step schools are having an OPen house on Saturday, March 1st from 10am-1pm. It's a great school and my daughter has learned a lot in the short time she has been there. In fact, I was in her room a few weeks ago and she brought me a country from one of the continent maps and told me which country she had. My daughter just turned four last week. She is learning so much and having fun at the same time.

Email me if you have any specific questions. By the sounds of someone's response it is much cheaper than Goddard's school.

We toured the one in Brooklyn Park and were not impressed at all. We currently pay $897 a month for our center and I know that it was above that for our 3 year old. They seemed very sterile and the rooms were really small IMO. They had a really nice playground but that was about it. Security was really good as well. However, I did not think it was anything to write home about and don't think that my son would have gotten a better education there. It was a huge sales pitch as well.

K.

HI Linda

When I lived in IL, I toured a Goddard. They are all owned independently, like a franchise. I did not like that someone could "buy in" to a daycare business and run it without knowing anything about children. And I felt that they were very expensive. I think an infant was $300/week (this was 2 years ago and in IL). Also, I didn't get the feel that they were any better than some others. Not to mention that when I took the tour, I felt as if it was a big sales pitch. I know there are families who love the Goddard School, and they may be a lot better here, like I said, the are all owned independently. One school can definitely be better than the other. I don't know if this helps at all. I just kinda rambled. Good Luck with whatever you decide!