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Does anyone know how much The Goddard School in Garner charges for 3 days per week preschool (for a 3-year-old)? We're considering both partial and full days. They won't give us any pricing information without coming in for a walk-thru, but I don't have time (with two small children) to schedule a walk-thru unless I know I can afford it first.
Not sure about the Goddard school, but both of mine went to Garner United Methodist Preschool and it's an absolutely wonderful place. We paid $155 for half days, MWF. My children loved it.
I looked at almost a dozen preschools a couple of years back - and one of the Goddard locations was the ONLY one that would not give pricing over the phone.
All of the other schools would quote tuition rates over the phone, would mail an information package with the tuition options, or had the pricing on their website.
Like you, I did not want to waste my time with an interview if the price was much higher than I had budgeted. I don't remember the price, but I do remember it was much higher than a church based preschool, and somewhat comparable to/higher than the other private preschools I looked at.
When I went in for a walk through (with two small kids) I was not impressed by the facility or the interactions I saw between the teachers and the kids.
When I asked for pricing (just out of curiosity since I had already decided this place was not for me) the owner/director/whatever actually COVERED the tuition rates for other schedule options with his hand, and would only tell me the price verbally on the one schedule that I originally mentioned that I was interested in. He of course refused to give me a copy of the sheet with all of the pricing for the various other schedule options and was quite rude about it, saying I didn't "need to know" unless I was signing up for another option.
Then he followed me out the door to the parking lot as I was trying to leave giving me a very "hard sell" about signing up my kids.
I am sure the $155 for 3 half days is per month because it is a church based preschool and they tend to be cheaper though the quality is still there and many parents do prefer this type of preschool environment. I think the Goddard school in clayton (if I remember correctly) was around $450 per month for 3 half day preschool program but not sure if that is changed.
As part of your search, you may want to use this State website (link below) rating all licensed North Carolina childcare.
It is very easy to search by school name or location.
Be sure to click the DCD visits tab on the top of each page for each school.
The license rating (stars) is mostly indicative of teacher education and curriculum, while the DCD tab will list any inspection violations and charges (and/or verified incidents) of kids being neglected - or even being subjected to what the State classifies as abuse.
You can see all of the details by clicking on the hyperlink.
I was really surprised at what I found for some facilities that are rated 4 or 5 stars.
I wish they publicized the fact that this info is publicly available.
I'm likely to go with Kids R Kids in Clayton. I've heard really good things about their program from other people who's kids have gone there. The tuition is reasonable and they have several different scheduling options to fit your needs and budget. The Goddard School is the only preschool facility that would not give me ANY tuition information, which is very offensive to me. I feel like it's a ploy to get people to visit and then pressure them into enrolling their students (the hard sell mentioned previously). I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it sounds like my impressions were correct.
I did check Kids R Kids on the NC Div of Child Development site and they rate pretty well. Their sanitation grade is the highest possible, and whatever violations they've had during inspections seemed like innocent mistakes and they were corrected during the inspection visits. There's only one outstanding "complaint" from this month regarding the number of staff they had to watch the children, probably when a parent came to drop or pick up a child. I'll keep my eye on the result of that complaint.
As part of your search, you may want to use this State website (link below) rating all licensed North Carolina childcare.
It is very easy to search by school name or location.
Be sure to click the DCD visits tab on the top of each page for each school.
The license rating (stars) is mostly indicative of teacher education and curriculum, while the DCD tab will list any inspection violations and charges (and/or verified incidents) of kids being neglected - or even being subjected to what the State classifies as abuse.
You can see all of the details by clicking on the hyperlink.
I was really surprised at what I found for some facilities that are rated 4 or 5 stars.
I wish they publicized the fact that this info is publicly available.
Please note that this a voluntary system, and if a preschool or childcare only has one star it just means they have chosen not to go through the ratings system. The ratings system is expensive and time consuming, and a lot of home daycares and church-based preschools choose not to go through it. It doesn't say anything about the quality of care at those places.
As you point out, however, you can find some interesting things about more commercial programs.
Please note that this a voluntary system, and if a preschool or childcare only has one star it just means they have chosen not to go through the ratings system. The ratings system is expensive and time consuming, and a lot of home daycares and church-based preschools choose not to go through it. It doesn't say anything about the quality of care at those places.
As you point out, however, you can find some interesting things about more commercial programs.
I don't think State licensing or DCD inspections are a voluntary system.
There are State regulations determining when a program has to be licensed. If it is not licensed it is limited by the criteria below.
I did look at a few places that created a schedule that avoided licensing, and I was a little uncomfortable with that. I like the idea of a safety net of standards and inspections.
Applying for more than one STAR is clearly voluntary .
(In 1999, the Division of Child Development (DCD) began issuing star rated licenses to all eligible child care centers and family child care homes. Facilities can receive one to five stars. A rating of one star means that a child care program meets North Carolina’s minimum licensing standards for child care. Programs that choose to voluntarily meet higher standards can apply for a two to five star license.)
I think people often think the star system means more than it does. Per the website one STAR means it meets the minimum state requirements - but only for staff education and the program standards.
Licensed church programs choosing to be exempted from the STAR ratings are clearly noted as exempted on the website of licensed programs.
Not only do a lot of people think the STAR system encompasses more than just those two criteria, many confuse the STAR system with licensing. Note you can find plenty of DCD comments on church based programs (therefore allowed to be exempt from the STAR system) on the site.
That said, I would much rather have my children in a safe, loving church program exempted from the star program than have them in a five star facility that has been written up multiple times for various significant infractions. That was my point.
Luckily, we live in an area where it is not too hard to find a wonderful preschool environment with a good DCD record that also has a 5 star curriculum if that is what the OP wants..or a church based program that is exempted from the Star system but also has a positive DCD inspection history if that is what she wants.
I do know several people who used church programs that were not licensed (because of the way they structured their program), and they were happy with the care their kids received.
I think the important thing is to know that the information is out there to help you make the decision that is right for you and your kids, and to know what all of the various ratings/criteria mean so you can make the most informed decision.
"Programs That Are Regulated By The Division of Child Development
If your provider is caring for more than two children who aren't related and they provide care for more than four hours a day, they probably should be licensed. In general, there are two types of programs regulated by the state, family child care homes and child care centers.
Moderator cut: Copyright violation -- please post a link and a "snippet" only, per the Terms of Service.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 07-29-2010 at 09:06 PM..
I'm likely to go with Kids R Kids in Clayton. I've heard really good things about their program from other people who's kids have gone there. The tuition is reasonable and they have several different scheduling options to fit your needs and budget. The Goddard School is the only preschool facility that would not give me ANY tuition information, which is very offensive to me. I feel like it's a ploy to get people to visit and then pressure them into enrolling their students (the hard sell mentioned previously). I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it sounds like my impressions were correct.
I did check Kids R Kids on the NC Div of Child Development site and they rate pretty well. Their sanitation grade is the highest possible, and whatever violations they've had during inspections seemed like innocent mistakes and they were corrected during the inspection visits. There's only one outstanding "complaint" from this month regarding the number of staff they had to watch the children, probably when a parent came to drop or pick up a child. I'll keep my eye on the result of that complaint.
Thank you for your input.
Funny how first impressions are often right on target!
I'm glad you found someplace you like!
I know people who have used both of the other local Kids R Kids locations and loved it!
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