Goddard Riverside Day Care Center

Disorganized administration. I called the enrollment person for a placement of my 3yro and she told me the tuition is $834 a month and urge me to come to the office for application. Upon my arrival, she told me it would be a private program and cost is $2600 (which is already a discount rate) a month and the pick up is 5:45 instead of 6. It calls itself no profit organization and receive fundings from the city.

If I could give zero stars I would! This program is very unorganized and poorly ran. My child is experiencing physical attacks and bullying from a child who clearly has behavioral problems and nothing is being done. When I informed the new director Kathy Santiago the Early Childhood Education Cluster Leader she said that she is working with the child and the teachers are documenting incidents with my child and other student, that is not good enough because three more incidents occurred with my child in which she finally will move the child after I expressed such change, but my daughter has to endure three more school days with this disruptive child and no action plan is set in place to ensure the safety of my child. Kathy Santiago is very dismissive regarding the treatment of what my child is experiencing her response was "Rest assured your child will be safe" But how can I ? Leadership outside of Kathy Santiago has not contacted me directly regarding these three additional days that my child has to endure being in the same space as this violent child or the incidents that have taken place in there program which is Roderick L. Jones ED.d, MPA The President of Goddard Riverside or Karenne Berry MA Ed Chief Program Officer , only a meeting that will take place a week from now in which Kathy Santiago communicated after following up to my email two days later after I sent my initial email. There are better programs in District 3 for your child Goddard Riverside is NOT one of them. Outside of the lovely teachers this program is horrible

This school provides an environment for young children during the day where they will not experience violence. The receptionist is also very warm and engaging. Those are the only positive experiences we had with this school. We had a different teacher every day. There is only one teacher in the room at a time for a group of over a dozen young children. The kids are crying and hurting and the teachers ignore them or tell them that "crying is not an option." Our child has regressed and experienced emotional trauma from the poor treatment by the many different staff members that show up each day, seemingly at random. Parents are treated rudely and it is borderline inappropriate. She has never struggled before with being away from us, and now every class we have her in is torture to get her to let go of us. All of the healthy attachment behaviors are gone. I am sure the team is doing their best, and other kids have adjusted okay to what they are doing. It is not for us. We have been involved in many other schools with our children, and this is a new low.

We absolutely LOVE Goddard Riverside. Our daughter has been attending since 3k... sending your baby to school for the first time is an emotional time for everyone, but the Goddard team was so loving and caring with our little Harper that she (and WE) instantly felt right at home and like we found our community. They truly love her there, and she is always happy to arrive at school and has a smile on her face with a thousand stories to share when I pick her up. The communication is so amazing- we receive images of Harper (via their ProCare app) enjoying her day- learning, doing yoga, reading circle, playing with her friends on the playground, etc. We also get notified of what she eats, how much she eats, when she naps, what fun activities she took part in, and of course, any important notifications such as observed holidays or paperwork coming home. The team at the Center knows our whole family by name. They are always friendly and smiling and making Harper laugh and smile too. They establish personal relationships with their families. They also have great relationships and partnerships with cultural institutions, such as the Natural History Museum, and have organized family fun days that have provided Goddard families with exclusive access to the museum to enjoy fun, interactive activities and events. From an education standpoint, the observation is personalized, and they work at your child's pace and with their specific learning challenges and special gifts. They are very aware of where you child is from a progress standpoint, and they will keep you apprised of what they are noticing and how you can enforce learning at home. Harper has learned so much since starting 3k- her vocabulary is tremendous, her fine motor skills, basic math (counting) and even problem solving have all developed beautifully through Goddard. We are very proudly in our second year (VPK) and would 100% continue on beyond that if it were an option. We love and are so thankful for the family we found in Goddard Riverside.

Most staff members are friendly. Decent curriculum and nice classroom. Similar to a NYC public school. Not the cleanest school. Children's toilets are not cleaned daily. Floors are dirty most of the time. My child has gotten sick from the food served at the school. I have found one of the teachers to be a bit condescending. Not the best communicators. Not many Daycare's accept vouchers but this one does. For the most, part it is okay and my child is happy.