The Goddard School

We have two children, one 3-years old and one 7-months old, that have attended The Goddard School since they were each 12-weeks old. The staff has been excellent and the management is on-site, engaging, friendly, and always willing to help. They regularly hold events to engage parents and family and are frequently bringing in businesses and organizations from around the community to engage with the children. I can't say enough good things about our decision to send our babies to The Goddard School in Leander.

The teachers and staff are great and our daughter loves going there. She’s learning so many things and having fun while doing it. They have a wonderful curriculum and activities (garden center, soccer, TumbleBee bus, etc) for the kids. We really enjoy all the wonderful family events throughout the year and try to participate in as many as possible.

Everyone is so friendly! We love it at Goddard! My daughter knows all of teachers and staff and everyone knows her. She loves school and I know it's because it's such a wonderful environment. She has learned so much. My sister is a Pre-K teacher and says my 3 year-old daughter is more advanced than her Pre-K students.

Started our daughter here just after the new owners took over and have been so happy with our experience. Curriculum and communication are great, and they continue improving the facility. Currently, Goddard is implementing a butterfly house and their own garden in addition to a soccer field, multiple playgrounds and a basketball hoop. You won't find a better facility, nor better people to care for your children.

This school is beautiful, clean and secure and I'm sure is a great child care facility for many families. Here's my story: I have a foster child that is 1 year old. We moved him from a facility that CPS was paying for because he was getting bit several times a week. I had never received a report that he had bitten anyone. We moved to The Goddard School and opted to pay on our own because they did not have any CCMS openings and we wanted better care for our child. The first week went perfect and we were super happy. The 2nd week our foster son starting biting. We had never experienced this before with any of our children and were very concerned. He bit a few times and then stopped. He went several days (if not a week) without biting again. Then he started biting again. I was in constant communication with the staff to work on this issue. Fast forward a few weeks later and I am asked to attend a meeting to discuss options for helping him. In reality, the meeting was to ask us to find new child care for him. I totally appreciate and respect their position to protect the other children in the class from his biting. I didn't want them to get bit either. I had already searched for another facility because I could tell the teachers were not happy with having to care for him and I didn't want to leave him somewhere he was not wanted. One morning in particular, the teacher didn't realize how heavy she sighed and rolled her eyes when we arrived. Several times we would pick him up and he was sitting in the middle of the floor all by himself crying. No one comforting him at all. When I would ask why he was crying they didn't know. So, I had found care the same day after the meeting. They had given me 1-2 weeks to find alternative care. In the meeting, the owner told me that my child was aggressive and that this wasn't a phase for him. I was horrified at the thought! She also told me that she would refund any unused money to us, so that we weren't financially inconvenienced. I was so very concerned at her words that he was aggressive, because we have had him since he was 3 months old and had NEVER experienced aggressive behavior. I spoke with the doctor, our CPS caseworker and read many articles that said you should NEVER label a child as aggressive, especially a 1 year old! Biting is clearly a phase at this age and has nothing to do with their personality. Shortly after we left the daycare, we received a prorated refund check in the mail of our tuition. I emailed them and asked for a partial refund of our $150 registration fee because we only used 1 month of services there. I was told that registration fees were not refundable. This is not what I was told in our meeting. I was told that I would receive a prorated refund of all fees paid. My main concerns: - They labeled my child as aggressive. He could probably sense that they didn't like him. I'm sure they did this because he is a foster child and they were unsure of his history. By the way, he had never abused or neglected. As child care professionals they of all people should know that we speak victory over our children, regardless of their circumstances. - I was told I would be given a prorated refund of our fees and this did not happen. - They should receive special training in foster care if they are going to accept foster children. If they have already received this training, they should have a refresher so that they can teach their staff and put their training into action.