We had a premature baby in the middle of our move to Maryland. We thought we had lots of time to…read moreget the house ready but it didn't work out that way. Needless to say having a half furnished house with a newborn was very challenging. We were nervous about the idea of putting our infant in daycare at such a young age. We researched and toured four local daycares and ultimately chose the young school. We are glad we did. Ms Susan and Ms Kimi have been great and the administration staff is super attentive and friendly. The school is clean and well run. Their communication has been excellent and they take great care of our son. We particularly like the SproutAbout app which provides regular activity updates on everything from bottle feeding to activities which makes us feel like we are involved even while away and provides a sense of security in understanding what transpires during the day. The hours are also convenient for us as is the location which never has morning traffic. We are so glad we found the young school and recommend them! - Darren

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE -- READ THIS BEFORE YOU MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID…read moreI'm writing this review because I wish someone had been this honest before I enrolled my daughter. I ignored my gut feeling after reading about children being thrown out of the cot to wake them up. I personally spoke to the director, who reassured me that the person responsible was no longer working there and that none of that was happening anymore. I believed her and enrolled my daughter. That was the worst decision I could've made. From the beginning, I picked my daughter up multiple times soaking wet clothes, underwear, everything. Not once did ANY staff member mention accidents, not once did anyone clean her, and not once did anyone take responsibility. I tried to be patient, but things just kept getting worse. The situation that completely shocked me happened on October 22nd. I picked my daughter up and found diarrhea all over her underwear, through her pants, onto her dress, down to her socks and even in her shoes. The smell was strong and the mess was obvious. This was not something you could "miss." My daughter is FIVE YEARS OLD. This has never happened since she has been potty trained. When I asked her what happened, she told me she tried to go to the bathroom but couldn't because the teachers were changing a bunch of babies in there. I've witnessed this happen previously myself. It clearly prevented my daughter from using the bathroom. And what's worse? NO ONE noticed she had diarrhea all over her. NO ONE changed her. NO ONE told me anything. A week later, I picked her up again and she had dirt all over her bottom. The teacher tried to tell me "she got a little dirty going down the slide." The moment I looked at her, I knew she was soaked in pee. When I grabbed her nap roll, it was completely wet with urine. Nap time is at 12:30 pm. I picked her up at 5:30 PM. That means she had been sitting in pee for HOURS and not a single adult bothered to check her, clean her, or notify me. This is neglect. There is no other word for it. And the final straw, the thing that made me pull her out immediately was when she came home with an actual bald spot where another child had ripped out her hair. No call. No incident report. No explanation. Nothing. I discovered it myself at home. That is completely unacceptable and unsafe. I wish I could go more in detail to share with parents, but this is now a legal matter. I am not exaggerating. I have pictures of everything I'm describing, and I included them in this review so parents can see the truth for themselves. Please do not be fooled by all the five-star reviews. Parents had the possibility of receiving 10% off their tuition in exchange for writing a review. That's why so many glowing reviews popped up at the same time. I also included proof of that so you can see the pattern yourself. If you care about your child's well-being, hygiene, safety, or basic dignity, do NOT send your child here. I wish someone had been this direct with me.

Overall: incredible experience, my son learned a lot, low turnover with teachers, well-staffed,…read morecalm atmosphere, excellent communication and organization, lots of fun and educational special classes and activities We spent a little over year at Goddard in Ellicott city 2 days a week and loved it so much. He spent time in the roosters and ponies classes. It's so clean, well staffed, decent staff retention, and I'm always wildly impressed with the behavior of the kids. My son has made a lot of adorable friendships. We've been obsessed with his teachers, especially Andrea, Kayla, Xhochilt, Mia, and Mackenzie. He's learned some Spanish, great classroom skills, and independence. Andrea has been there for 17 years which is so impressive to me. The communication with the admin is so fast and everyone always seems so chill. As someone who taught for 10 years, I find that to be incredible. That sense of peace really rubs off on the kids. They are a little pricier, but I think it's worth it. In the summer there is less consistency with the teachers because of vacations, but it is still well-staffed and they do so many events in the summer to make it extra special for the kids like tie dye, bubble shows, foam party, magicians, service dogs, bringing in reptiles, and musicians. On nice days they got outside 3 times a day. Their play areas are really nice. My son's favorite parts of the day were centers and playing in the sensory bins which changed daily. He came home with tons of art and meaningful knowledge about their weekly questions.

We love the Goddard School. Our daughter just completed the pre-K program and we are so amazed at…read morehow much she has learned and how prepared she is to join public school. She is ready for kindergarten. The staff and teachers are fantastic. We also love the safety. Could not recommend enough.

My daughter attended this school for two years. It's an amazing school with great staffs.read more

We are very grateful to this school for accommodating our daughter after the year had already…read morestarted, we don't expect they can do this for everyone but it's one of the reasons we loved it so much. The director of this school is amazing, she pours her heart, time, work, and love into the school, kids, activities, events, and ceremonies. The teachers are excellent as is the quality of the education. The behavior expectations are strict, but their methods are objectively effective and the teachers use proper disciplinary techniques (our daughter never complained about teachers shouting, yelling, or being mean like at other schools she's been at). Our 5 year old finished pre-K and is able to read, do math, and also learned history and geography. We recently took a long road trip and she often talked to us in the car about things she learned in school about the different states we visited, or historical figures we mentioned (She learned a lot about MLK, for instance). The school is wonderfully diverse, there is no religious affiliation so our daughter was taught equally about all religious and cultural traditions during the different holidays. We loved all the events, and ceremonies we attended, in the year our daughter was here we went to a few seasonal concerts were the kids sang and danced, as well as a trunk or treat, Halloween parade, earth-day activity, and a surprisingly robust graduation ceremony! We absolutely recommend this school to anyone in the area, preschool is a very important developmental stage for children and this school did a fantastic job setting our daughter up for success in K-12!

They know kids so well. Amazing school for early childhood and all the teachers seems to be so…read morenice.

Wonderful school with loving teachers that truly care about their students. The whole community is…read morethe best, and they get to express their love of God and learn about him without repercussions like public school. I highly recommend this school!!

Very clean and nice facility! The teachers are so nice and they do so many activities and really…read morecare about the kids!

We've never used a daycare before, neither for my youngest or my oldest, so we looked hard to find…read morethe perfect place for my rambunctious 2 year old. Unlike my oldest (who's now 12), my littles is one that is always up to something and getting into something, so it was important to find a place that would really have that extra special watchful eye. We saw signs for one opening soon and we met with Kelly and loved what we heard, so we signed up. We started here when they opened in late October,2022. From the start, my daughter absolutely loved it despite drop-off at the beginning not being so smooth with her. Her first teachers Colleen and Riley really helped her with becoming acclimated and comfortable with being there. This entire staff is amazing and it truly feels like they genuinely care for my child. We get daily updates on what's happening during her day and even pictures. She's learning so much and they have so much patience with her, she's quite the overactive child. She loves coming as she learns so much, always something going on. Honestly, we could not have chosen a better place... it doesn't feel like a daycare but like family is taking care of my kid. We are unfortunately leaving at the end of next month due to job relocation, and I really worry I won't find a place just as wonderful and caring as Celebree Elkridge. I don't know if I'll find the same care and attention, most important the tranquility I have knowing THEY are the ones caring for my baby, when we move and seek a new daycare school. The fact that I am even writing a review should tell you lots because I'm not one to, but with this place I truly feel they deserve it!

Teachers are good, administration is ok and accounting is nightmare, they have hidden policies to…read moreovercharge and in a pretty immoral way. If you dont mind being charged more than what is published, the school is good but I do mind being wrongly charged even if it is a couple dollar more or hundred plus like in our case.

Tuition is cheap, but they aren't very professional and often use cartoons on screen time to…read morebabysit the children. Their administration is pretty terrible and incompetent. You would never guess they manage other schools in the area by their lack of safety protocols. I had my relative pick up my child with no proper checks. Management also doesn't tell you when diseases are spreading among the children.

I had such an amazing experience with my son attending Kiddie Academy. My son was 13 months when…read morehe began here from being home with my parents. They were going to be away for 3 months and I was nervously searching for a daycare. I had 3 months to do the research and visit. Our tour went so much better than the other centers. Since I was only able to check out the centers after 4pm this was one of the few places that was clean and smelled good. It was organized and the staff was super friendly and so good with the kids there. Fast forward to him attending it was even better than I thought. When I missed him I can log on and see him and how he was doing. They emailed me pictures and he learned so much. I got a daily report with his meal log and diaper changes but best was what they worked on and strategies that we can do at home to reinforce what he was learning. I work in Early Intervention so I know how important it is to carry on these strategies at home. I loved that it was all learning through play and routines which is all evidence based. Ms. Brook and Ms. Jodi were more than I could have wished for. Seeing them comfort him when he got upset was no different than what I would do. Made me want to cry to see how great they were with him and celebrating his accomplishments. When my parents returned they noticed how much he learned and how much better his social interactions were. As my parents plan to go away again for several months I am happy to have my son return to this wonderful place.

Management does not care about its employees and there is a reason why the turn over rate is so…read morehigh. Classrooms are dirty and run down, The teachers if you can even call them that don't do anything with the kids to teach them either. Management needs a lot of improvement. I would not trust my child going here. Please look at another daycare.

Great school, great staff, great location. My son didn't want to leave at the end of the day. Thank…read moreyou!

Both my kids go here. I love it and they love it. it's clean, my kids are always taken care of when…read morethey are there. Ms lennny, Ms Allison, Ms Anna, Ms Jenn and Ms Katie are amazing. the director Christina is also so nice and helpful. they do events for all holidays and the kids all help in making gifts for that event. Ms Allison and Ms Jenn helped me with potty training my 2 kids so much, never seemed annoyed when they had an accident and were always so positive. my youngest is always so excitied to go school to see Allison, she runs to her every morning. my oldest who was so shy has also developed into this social little girl and tells me all about her friends and how she likes her teacher Ms Katie. Columbia academy was the best choice I made for my children. I love this school and if I have more kids they will come here too.

This daycare is the best, it's so clean, smells really nice and has the best teachers especially…read moreMiss Trinidad . She is an amazing teacher and has worked magic on my son. I recommend this daycare to every parents in howard county and beyond.

My daughter has been at Happy Sprouts Learning Center going on a year. We transitioned her to a…read morecenter from a home daycare for further development and socialization. Over the year, our daughter has graduated from the NICU follow up clinic and Infants and Toddlers Program because she is developmentally on target for a three year old. I attribute her ongoing development to the daily lessons/activities she receives at Happy Sprouts. Each week she brings home a stack of activities and learning tools shes completed in class. The staff is wonderful and treat all the children as their own. We are so glad we found this gem within our community without paying private school/Montessori prices.