Our experience with the school was unpleasant to say the least. There were multiple incidents of our 2 year old daughter going hungry, and the answer we were given is because it is 'policy'. Once our daughter's name on her lunchbox had one letter fade away. The result was that she was not fed because it's against school policy to feed lunch in such situations. The interesting thing to note is that no one on her classroom had a name even remotely close to hers, leave alone being a letter away, and it was very clear who the lunchbox belonged to. Another time, my wife had been to ER due to complications from flu the previous day, and the school knew it because we had called them to release our daughter to my brother in law. The next morning, mom was pretty much out of business and I was trying my best to get the kids to school. I was 15 mins past the class' snack time. I did not realize it while dropping but 5 mins later called them from my home explaining the circumstances and the medical issue and asking them to make a one time exception to feed her outside of schedule. My request was denied with the reason that it's against school policy and no exception can be made.I then lost my patience, yelled at the person on the phone , picked up my kid back and vowed never to send her to this school again. When I entered her class to pick her up, I was visibly upset but was trying not to talk because there were kids present. However, I was greeted with this remark from the teacher in her class - 'had you brought her early, we would have fed her'. I told her that I do not want to get into an argument in front of the kids. The next day, while discussing this situation with Mr. Noel, I brought this point up and asked him why was I being instigated into an argument by the teacher in front of the kids. I did not get an answer. My sense is that the school is being run more like an organization riddled with policies, rather than a place geared towards the welfare of the child. They do a lot of lip service to their vision and goals - however when asked questions like 'would you be happy had your kid had to go through the same suffering' the answer was always 'no but it's policy and we can't make an exception to the policy'. In my discussion with Mr. Noel the next day, in the space of 10 mins , he let me know that the school was much more fun years ago than it is now but also that they have pride in the school. The only thing I let him know is that you, as the owner of the school, agree with me that the school policies caused my child to go hungry but you cannot and have not done anything about it. You are powerless to make an exception under genuine circumstances. I think your pride is misplaced. And the fact that you were ready to let a child go hungry, especially knowing that the family is under stress due to a medical emergency, should make you rethink what your school has become, and who are the policies designed for - certainly not the children. And let me say this, we have never had to have a discussion like this with the school that our older son goes to (3 years now) Teachers should be empathetic, caring and affectionate towards the child. I hope that as fellow human beings, they (and the school staff) are cognizant of when parents are under duress, and make a good faith effort to help. We all face such situations at one point of time or other, and as working adults sometimes we look for help. We entrust our kids to the school at a tender age, with the hope that they understand that the well being of the child should be a priority. However, when the child suffers because of the school 'a policy, I am not ready to continue to send my daughter to this school. . I hope the staff and teachers realize that there's much more to being a teacher than being able to read policies over the phone. The kids spend more time with you then with us. And in 5 months, if you were not able to develop a little affection and caring for the child to at least ensure that she is well fed while the dad is running hairy, I am not sure what to say. I know my review comes across as rather tedious and especially scathing, but I've tried to cover the facts, as well the overall sense that I have of how the school functions. I have already discussed all of this with Mr Noel, providing him a calm but honest feedback. It is up to him what he makes of it. read more

We pulled our son from his preschool and put him in Goddard since they got rave reviews. Biggest mistake we made, made our son suffer. My son, 3.5 years old at the time, started in December 2016 and we were out by April 2017. He was in the preschool room with Ms. Jen and Ms. Sharon, teachers who shouldn't be allowed to be "teachers". In the beginning things were "okay", he was adjusting to being in a new school. Few weeks later his teachers told me he's doing well and better than before. Few weeks after that the director, Noel, told us the teachers were at their boiling point with our son and didn't know what to do with him. Up until then, we never heard about then not being able to handle him. Had a talk with the teachers and they said he doesn't listen to them and often isn't nice to his friends. I started observing the teachers and realized they would call out to him from across the room and expect him to listen to them. Anyone who is qualified to teach 3 year olds should know that you must get near them and catch their attention. Also noticed that he was lashing out on his friends because he was being teased. The teachers ,conveniently, never noticed him being teased. They only ever noticed what my kid was doing wrong. Meanwhile, the director is telling me that my son may need a behavior therapist or a psychologist. I went and spoke to several professionals, all of them told me it's normal 3-year-old behavior. The director assured me that we can work together and figure out how to make him better at school. I was a damn fool for believing that man. The minute I told him my son doesn't need therapy, he threw his hands up and said there's nothing more they could do for him. At that point, I had already enrolled him elsewhere. We called a meeting with a director to give them a month notice but in that meaning he asked us to remove our child from the school, they couldn't handle him. I tried to explain to him that my child is being teased and labeled and his smug face had no response to it, he didn't give a damn. In addition to the above, let me tell you how they treated my child. The assistant teacher, Ms. Sharon, never even smiled except for 2 occasions when I gave her a gift. She was constantly complaining about my child. They even took things away from my child. It was another child's birthday party and the parents brought in goody bags, my son was refused a goody bag by the teacher because he didn't listen earlier that day. On another occasion, the teachers brought in pudding packs for the class and they gave a pudding to every single child except mine. You think a 3 year old is going to listen to you when you embarrass him like that? There was another child hitting mine in front of me and the afternoon teacher, Ms. Lauren, laughed at it. I wonder if they laughed when my son, supposedly, hit another child. I saw that same child lie to the teachers, IN FRONT OF ME, that my son hit him when my son did not touch him. When I brought it to their attention, they did nothing. My husband and I seriously wonder if he even hit other kids like the teachers say he did. My child is far from innocent but he IS NOT A MONSTER like they painted him out to be. He came from a school prior to Goddard where he was a favorite amongst the teachers, kids and parents. How does a kid go from favorite to most hated? The minute I put him back in his old school, I haven't gotten a complaint. The teachers at his school know how to deal with children. If you want to do right for your child, DO NOT SEND THEM TO GODDARD ISELIN. The owner is useless and the director, well she doesn't even talk to parents. read more

Our kids are 5 years apart and both of them went to Goddard school for 5 years each. That meant 10 years of daily drop offs and picksups and never in those 10 years did we have to worry about the kids!! The only thing which every working couple would want is for their kids to be taken care and nurtured in a friendly and safe atmosphere and Goddard school provided us that comfort day in and day out for 10 years !! By the end of their Goddard journey, both kids were confident of facing the challenges of public school and are continuing to do well today.. Thanks to the staff and management of Goddard school for laying the strong foundation!! We miss the Goddard School and wish that they had classes thru 12th grade ! read more

Our daughter has been attending the Goddard School of Iselin since she was 2 years old . She is presently 5 years old in the Kindergarten program . My daughter was always verbal but since attending the Goddard School of Iselin her skills have exploded. She has become a confident little girl who loves to learn. She loves going to school and loves all her teachers( past and present). My daughter also demonstrates leadership skills that I think she has developed from attending the school. I love the Kindergarten Program at the Goddard School of Iselin. My daughter is learning so much, she is reading, writing sentences, and working on math problems. I also love how her teachers make learning come alive and fun for her. My daughter had to work on a research topic and had to presentation of the topic to her classmates. What 5 years old does this? I am very amaze on how her teachers challenges my daughter everyday. I love how discipline is reinforced in her classroom still very positive and firm at the same time. My husband and I loves this school. Also the summer program is amazing!!!!!! The tuition that we pay each month is a lifetime investment in our daughter's future endeavors. We are grateful to the staff at The Goddard School of Iselin!!!! read more

Great school with fantastic teachers - Emily Meghan Ashley and Jenn. The Director Noel was outstanding. Arna will miss you all!!. Thanks for making it a home away from home for her. We will treasure her time and the daily pictures. read more