The Goddard School

I went to pick my child up everyday and asked his teacher(s) and was told he was good and occasionally it would be what they called "year old things." Hitting over toys, hitting back, playing ruff on the playground or not listening due to being distracted by being surrounded by toysHe was there for a total of months2nd month I went to pick up my some he was laying limb in the middle of the floor not movingWhen I rushed to him he could barely get upI was so angry and scared at the same time so I asked the teachers what was wrong(He was burning up) she said he had been like that all day and they had to hold him all dayI asked why I didn't get a callNo one called me but after taking my son to the ER to find out his fever was under the arm which is about plus rectally (very dangerous) I found he had a virusThe owner told me they didn't call bc some parents don't come...hmmmmm well ill leave that with youShe and I talked and came to an agreementHe wasover to another classI requested percent involvement in everything whether sick or misconduct as I checked on everyday anywayShortly after they called for my son acting up.....I went immediately for a year old and found him to be feverish in which they hadn't checkedPURE NEGLECT twiceMy child was irritated so of course he'd act upI took him home withequity for the dayI'm a single parent working for companies trying to buy my son and I a home and although I work from home him learning during the day is betterI heard so many great things but not a couple days after this I was called in the office for my son's behavior that apparently that was growing increasingly bad and that he's in the OWNERs office everyday for misconduct, to my surprise again because I ask everydayApparently my child, year old African American boy, hit another, year old Caucasian boy, and that little baby told his dad whom complained to the owner about itSo that day she, the owner ***, came up with a game plan for his "behavior." week exactly from the date I was called basically to pick him up because they were dismissing him from the schoolNot only did they tell me this while my year old was standing in front of them listening but when I went I had paid up for weeks and no check was written for reimbursementI told [redacted] how I felt and at a point of no sympathy, empathy or willingness to just understand I asked for corporate whom may I add was in the building, and ***, the owner, got so upset she hit the desk and told me it was nothing going they could do because she is FRANCHISEDDO NOT TAKE YOUR KIDS TO A FRANCHISED COMPANY OR THIS NEGLECTFUL DAYCARE

Exceptional school! My son was enrolled there a year ago but had to leave Looking at returning again for the great quality and caring environment Spread the word!

I went to pick my child up everyday and asked his teacher(s) and was told he was good and occasionally it would be what they called "normal 3 year old things." Hitting over toys, hitting back, playing ruff on the playground or not listening due to being distracted by being surrounded by toys. He was there for a total of 3 months. 2nd month I went to pick up my some he was laying limb in the middle of the floor not moving. When I rushed to him he could barely get up. I was so angry and scared at the same time so I asked the teachers what was wrong. (He was burning up) she said he had been like that all day and they had to hold him all day. I asked why I didn't get a call. No one called me but after taking my son to the ER to find out his fever was 103.7 under the arm which is about 104 plus rectally (very dangerous) I found he had a virus. The owner told me they didn't call bc some parents don't come...hmmmmm well ill leave that with you. She and I talked and came to an agreement. He wasover to another class. I requested 100 percent involvement in everything whether sick or misconduct as I checked on everyday anyway. Shortly after they called for my son acting up.....I went immediately for a 3 year old and found him to be feverish in which they hadn't checked. PURE NEGLECT twice. My child was irritated so of course he'd act up. I took him home withequity for the day. I'm a single parent working for 3 companies trying to buy my son and I a home and although I work from home him learning during the day is better. I heard so many great things but not a couple days after this I was called in the office for my son's behavior that apparently that was growing increasingly bad and that he's in the OWNERs office everyday for misconduct, to my surprise again because I ask everyday. Apparently my child, 3 year old African American boy, hit another, 3 year old Caucasian boy, and that little baby told his dad whom complained to the owner about it. So that day she, the owner [redacted], came up with a game plan for his "behavior." 1 week exactly from the date I was called basically to pick him up because they were dismissing him from the school. Not only did they tell me this while my 3 year old was standing in front of them listening but when I went I had paid up for 2 weeks and no check was written for reimbursement. I told [redacted] how I felt and at a point of no sympathy, empathy or willingness to just understand I asked for corporate whom may I add was in the building, and [redacted], the owner, got so upset she hit the desk and told me it was nothing going they could do because she is FRANCHISED..... DO NOT TAKE YOUR KIDS TO A FRANCHISED COMPANY OR THIS NEGLECTFUL DAYCARE.

The Goddard SchoolDirector, Dublin II, OH - The Goddard School®Good afternoon,I am responding to complaint ID [redacted] by [redacted] states that we terminated her son due to a survey. There were many reasons that her son no longer attends our school.Ms. [redacted] has an outstanding...

balance at our school. Her tuition has still not been paid in full. You cannot attend our school if you are not paying your bill as stated in the parent handbook.Ms. [redacted]’s son has had behavior issues during his entire stay at our school. Ms. [redacted] has been fully aware through conversations and emails that there were major behavior concerns.Also she did state that our teachers were rude, our staff was unfriendly, her son was never happy at our school. I am not sure why you would continue to send your child to a school if you felt this way. Our teachers and directors have done nothing but try to work with the [redacted]’s family even though she often spoke down to them. At our school we respect our teacher and expect parents to treat them with the same respect. Please let me know if you have any other questions.Carrie P[redacted]Owner

Exceptional school! My son was enrolled there a year ago but had to leave. Looking at returning again for the great quality and caring environment. Spread the word!

Review: My son was a student(age-6months) at this school. Within a week of his enrollment, we decided to pull him out as he was getting over stimulated and frankly wasn't able to cope up with the environment. We wanted to keep him home for a months and wanted to start again with the school once our son was ready. Upon approaching the principal - [redacted] and owner- [redacted], we were told that the school's policy will still need to be followed and a notice will need to be provided. We did provide a notice right away on 06/10/2013. However, the owner kept forcing us to pay for the entire month of July, even though the school's policy as stated in the parent handbook states the following:" One month written notice is required. Any unused portion of the tuition will be refunded within 30 days". So, based on the policy, we were hoping to have our son attend school until 07/11/2013. We were hoping to still pay for the month of July, with the expectation that the unused portion from 07/12 through 07/30 would be refunded within 30 days. However, the owner declined to provide us the same and forced us to have our son's last day as 07/30 and not 07/11, since she did not like to prorate for the remaining portion. Since this clause is not present in any of the signed documents between us and the school, we talked to the Goddard Franchise relation office, who also spoke directly with the franchise owner [redacted] about our concern. However, since financial decisions are of that of the owner, the school franchise relations couldn't help us and the owner still decided to proceed with their illegal practices.To avoid having any more stress on our baby, we decided to pay for the dues to avoid our account from being reported to Collections but kept our son home. While we did pay the dues, we really hope that the Revdex.com could take a look at this seriously, as this illegal practice may be affecting many more parents and should surely be known to future parents who are interested in joining this particular franchise of the Goddard ScholDesired Settlement: We just want the school to follow the parent handbook and provide us the refund for the unused portion of the tuition. Since our formal notice was provided on 06/10, a month from then would mean 07/11. So, we hope that Revdex.com could help resolve this issue and keep this formally logged so that future parents don't go through the unnecessary stress as me and my family have been through.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates that the business has not responded to you directly. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

At this time, I have not been contacted by The Goddard School regarding complaint ID [redacted]. Since the contact information I gave, was mentioned on this particular franchise's website, I am not sure if your emails are going to an unmonitored account. I had been getting emails from the owner, [redacted] from the email account [redacted], when conversing with her about the issue in the past. Can you please also reach out to her using that email account?

If you even don't get a response from this account, I am guessing they are just ignoring the complaint and are just going to keep exploiting other innocent parents. While your stance in this matter is limited and while this particular franchise isn't accredited, I hope that this complaint will show up on the Revdex.com portal when a future parent is considering the school for their children.

I did even see you mentioning that we try to reach our state/local consumer affairs office. Since I haven't dealt with such a situation ever before, is there a contact number you know where I could reach the personnel and discuss the matter? At the end of everything, we just want the school to follow thier own handbook and provide the refund based on the clause indicated in their legal document.

Thanks so much for trying to assist and for all your time and effort. I really appreciate all your help & guidance in the matter.

Regards,

Business

Response:

September 9,2013

To: Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC and Eastern Pennsylvania

Re: Revdex.com Complaint ID [redacted]

Dear [redacted],

We received your letter and thank you for speaking with me over the phone. Due to the new school year I have been unable to reply until this time.

Regarding **. [redacted] statements of deciding to pull his child from our infant program after two weeks he did not expressed anything but praise to our staff of three teachers and two directors while here. **. [redacted] came to us from a family referral that has been with us for four years and had both of their children in our infant room. We have an open door policy that a family can speak to the director if they feel they cannot speak to the teachers, and they can also reach out to the owner of the school at any time. At no time did either parent approach us regarding the quality of care of their son. The Director of the School called or spoke to them daily, as the teachers. The over stimulation that the parents speak of is a normal six month old baby need to play and Interact with people. The child thrived here and is missed by all.

Both parents signed a parent handbook and enrollment agreement that states a 30 day notice is required. As an owner, I put out a reminder in March and again in May to all our parents because of our Kindergarten Program and After School Programs ending in June. The family was enrolled at the time and did received the reminders that a withdrawal from the school is a full 30 days and needs to be given at the end of the month and we do not prorate monthly tuition. The family also was told verbally in the owner's office when they came in to complete their paper work.

The letter to the Revdex.com does not portrait the relationship we had with the family including his wife [redacted] while they were here. Below you will find a small summary of what transpired with the family and what the school did to help the family.

Our intention was never one of doubt with regard to the family's need to withdraw their infant son and allowing the grandparents to care for Vihann; our intention was to provide quality care for the child and to be fair with ALL of parents regarding our policies. We do have an active Parents' Club and an Open Door Policy to speak to any of us at any time.

The family reached out to Goddard Systems Franchise Relations beginning June 11,2013 on a almost daily basis, speaking to them more than three hours; at the same time bringing Vihaan here to receive excellent care with both parents positive and showing no signs of discontent. At no time was The Goddard School; its Directors or Owners made aware the family was complaining to Franchise Relations. [redacted] did request that Franchise Relations not contact the school in regards to his complaint of not being able to withdraw on July 12 with a prorated tuition amount rather than follow the school policy of withdrawal on July 31“. Franchise Relations was not aware we had told the family we would consider an earlier withdrawal date due to medical reasons by the 25th June. Franchise Relations did not know we had told the family that the registration fee of $200.00 could hold a spot for their Infant son when the family returns. [redacted] was told to speak directly to the school regarding our disenrollment policy by Franchise Relations at every contact beginning June 11th and ending June 25th. [redacted] did not speak to the school but continue to speak to Franchise Relations, without the school's knowledge, and continued bringing the infant child to the school for care and expressing no signs of discontent.

The family gave us two reasons for withdrawing. The first reason was the commitment the family made over a weekend to allow the grandparents to care for the infant child. The family made plans with the understanding they would withdraw on July 9th and the tuition would be prorated to reflect this. After explaining to the parents, our 30 day withdrawal policy, reminding them of speaking about it when they dropped off the last of the paper work the parents then acknowledge their child had new sleep patterns, especially at night, and observations at home of Vihaan being more alert and active especially while in his high chair. The Director and the teachers had multiple conversations with the parents regarding his alertness, naps, eating and general care and it was concluded the infant child was a thriving alert baby who now enjoyed playing and being around family and his teachers at Goddard. I did suggest having Vihaan's doctor check him because the parents expressed concern it may be more than a normal 6 month baby changing his habits. I did tell the parents if a note was provided they could leave on or before the end of the month with no additional tuition due.

I reached out to the doctor's office/manager after all of us here at Goddard read the doctor's note. I did not expect the doctor to personally call me but she did. My only question to her was "What was the basis for writing the note and concern over the wording of the note that laid blame on The Goddard School for sleep problems with Vihaan ;after only in our school for two weeks. Her reply to my question cleared up this concern and she also gave us the reasons as to why she wrote the note-The parents has requested the note to move Vihaan to a smaller daycare. She also freely said, without me asking, there was no medical need to move Vihaan from our program. When the doctor told us she couid not provide a medical reason the school decided not to allow the family to withdraw June 30th.

Shortly after the Doctor's call [redacted]'s wife came in and expresses the need to have the tuition prorated through July 12th due to the cost of having the grandparents stay awhile longer with them. After she expressed this we decided to not charged the full tuition of $1637.00 but instead charge 25% less for a total of $1227.75 and not only could the family bring their son to us but the difference in what they thought they should pay if we allowed proration would be given as a credit when they return.

In conclusion, we wanted a fair solution to a withdrawal policy that was explained verbally, over email as a reminder and the parents signed off on-The enrollment agreement and the parent's handbook.

A $200.00 registration fee could be used when they return.

The tuition was reduced from $1637.00 to $1227.75-a full 25% discount.

The infant child could continue to receive care through the month of July.

The difference of what they believe they should pay-$818.60 and $1227.75 what we actually billed them would be given as a credit when they return-$409.15.

We were asking them to follow our school policy but at the same time allow them a credit so no . money would be lost

Since we were not a party to [redacted] speaking daily to Goddard Systems Franchise Relations, at his request, we were unaware of his true feelings until after we had made our decision on June 25th. When Goddard Systems Franchise Relations called us we had already made our decision based on the doctor's phone call and speaking to the parents here.

It was our intent to reach out to the family again; however, [redacted] sent an email that requested we do not.

Each Goddard School is independently owned and operated. The owners of the school have a professional business relationship with Goddard Systems in regards to Brand Name and Marketing. At no time did Franchise Relations say to [redacted] they could help him, rather [redacted] was told to contact the owners and directors of the school.

We all wish the family the best and feel as a school we reached out to help a family that could not or did not want to follow our school policy with a generous credit for the future while upholding our policy to be fair to our parents. We would be happy to apply the refund [redacted] requested when his little child attends The Goddard School again- No registration fee and a $409.15 credit the first month he is here.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: Based on the signed documents and the parent handbook, no where it is stated that proration isnt allowed. We did provide a 30-day notice which began on 06/10/2013. So, as per the school's policy, the 30-day notice ends on 07/09/2013. Since we have paid until 07/31/2013, we are asking for a refund of the unused portion past the 30-day notice period, which is from 07/10/2013 through 07/31/2013. The statement made in their response that the school fees were reduced

from 1637 is flawed since we had a 5-month reduced rate (1420.70) for registering

our son a year early than his attendance date of May 2013.

Regardless of what the owner says about verbally indicating the school's policy, or sending emails, the signed documents between the parents (us) and the school, are the only documents which have legal consent and acknowledgement from the parents at the time of enrollment.

I am also attaching the school's policy about withdrawal which is what I am asking be considered as the same was signed between the parents and the school.

Overall, the school has tried to portray a very different picture in their response. The decision of withdrawing our child was based on one main factor. Our son wasn't sleeping at all in the daycare, since the environment was too noisy and hence was getting overstimulted and not sleeping at night either. Looking at him suffering in the night, we immediately took him to is doctor, who indicated that overstimulation was the cause. His grandparents decided to extend their stay and take care only because of his over stimulation. When approached the school, we did not want an early withdrawal. We just wanted to pay for the 30-day notice period (06/10 through 07/09) and not for the entire month of July, based on a no-proration policy which doesn't exist in any of the signed documents between the school and us. We were told by the owner, [redacted], that the only way she will allow us to withdraw without the proration clause is if the doctor gave in writing about the overstimulation. The doctor did provide a note, which wasnt taken well by the owner. From what the doctor verbally told us, a member from the Admin team at the school, had also been using the same doctor's practice for years and spoke to the doctors management about the note. The doctor was then setback and decided to part away from the matter to avoid any issues with her management. In any case, I hope Revdex.com see's our point, that we did not want to get a doctor's note. We were in a way forced by the owners in lieu for following the school's policy. After all of the above, we, as parents who were still sending our son to the school, did not want to speak to the owners directly. [redacted] from the franchise relations office at Goddard was then contacted and we spoke to her daily about the matter. I am attaching a response received from the vice president of Education at Goddard who also indicated that the school is independently owned and hence they couldn't help us in the matter even after speaking to the owners directly multiple times. At the end, while the owners took everything personally, including the doctor's note, we were just withdrawing our son as he was just not able to cope up and had every intention of returning back in a month or two, should the matter have been handled well by the owner. So, while the owner is trying to attract future business by providing a credit, I hope we realize that that is not an option as we wouldn't want our son to go to the school and frankly as parents we don't want to go through the illegal trauma again.

I am still wondering, if verbal conversations and/or unsigned (un-consented) emails dictate a school's legal policy or does the parent handbook which was signed and consented hold legal value. Had the policy changed about withdrawal, the school should have asked for a consent from the parents, by taking a signature of their consent rather than imposing it upon them, which is illegal and immoral.

If Revdex.com does feel that we are holding up any valuable information, we are

even open to speaking directly about the same with Revdex.com, to give them a

gist of the entire situation. We have all email communication between the school and Franchise Relations and hence have nothing to hide. You can feel free to call me directly at ###-###-#### should you have any questions or concerns. But, I refuse to speak directly with the owners of the school, since as paresnts, we have had enough stress due to the way the entire situation was handled.

Regards,

Business

Response:

September 24, 2013

Dear **. [redacted], Complaint ID [redacted]

In regards **. [redacted]'s response dated September 12th we have provided sections of the parent handbook that [redacted] signed May 20, 2013.

"One month advance written notice is required for withdrawing for any reason. If less than one month notice is given, parents will still be charged for the full month period. Any unused tuition will be refunded within thirty days of the withdrawal net of any outstanding charges for late fees, etc. If you withdraw without giving us any notice at all, you will be charged for the one month period following your child's last day in attendance, plus one additional month's tuition."

In addition, both **. and [redacted] signed off on the enrollment agreement date May 28, 2013. Please find below Clause 8 regarding notice of withdrawal.

“8. A non-refundable deposit of one week’s tuition is required for applications received 30 - 60 days prior to the child's enrollment. If the deposit is not paid, a place for the child cannot be guaranteed. For applications received more than 60 days prior to enrollment, a non-refundable deposit of one month’s tuition is required. Deposits are applied to monthly tuition fees. The School requires a 30 day written notice of withdrawal. If one month advance notice of withdrawal is not provided, the standard tuition fee shall be charged for that period.”

We tried to provide a reasonable solution to the family when given two different reasons for withdrawing their child from the school was given. The first reason regarding the health of their child could not be supported by the child’s doctor based on her phone to the school and her letter. The second reason for withdrawal was the grandparents would continue to care for the baby. The owner was told by a parent they do not have money to pay for the tuition and the extra cost of tickets when her in laws plans to continue care for their child was decided.

Therefore, The Goddard School did lower the monthly tuition from $1637.00 to $1227.25. The family’s tuition, had the school prorated the amount would have been $818.60 through July 12th. We offered the family to pay the $1227.20 for the entire month of July and the difference of $408.65 would be a credit along with the registration fee of $200.00 when they return. Our goal was to work with the family based on the information that was given to us, provide not only care when needed but a substantial credit when they returned. We decided we had a "moral obligation” to help the family not a contractual obligation.

The parents also signed off on the following information regarding our Open Door Policy.

"If, after reviewing this Parent's Handbook, there are any questions or comments regarding The Goddard School and its policies, parents should feel free to speak with the Director or one of the Owners. This handbook replaces ALL prior editions in full."

We were not aware **. [redacted] called Goddard Systems with complaints, daily, for a total of over three hours, about our withdrawal policy until we had already decided how to help the family. Goddard Franchise Relations did tell him daily to reach out to the owners with his complaint of not being allowed to prorate his child's tuition and to speak to us directly. This information was shared by Franchise Relations after June 25th.

Lastly, **. [redacted] signed off on the following clauses in our Parent Handbook:

"The Goddard School reserves the right to edit any of the information contained in this manual at any time, with or without notice, and the material contained herein should not be considered as sole determination of policy."

I understand the terms of this Handbook and agree to be bound by them. I have received an executed copy of this Handbook along with my enrollment agreement.

Please sign below to acknowledge you have received and read a copy of the Goddard School Parent Handbook, and understand the policies described."

In conclusion, we offered the [redacted] family a substantial credit of $408.65 regarding the difference of what **. [redacted] thought he should pay and what was actually owe, in addition to free registration upon returning, and a full month of care at a discounted rate. [redacted] signed off on the Parent Handbook and both **. and [redacted] signed off on the Enrollment Agreement agreeing to the terms of the enrollment of their child.

We wish the family the best and hope they can understand it is in the best interest of the school to be fair, help when needed, and have the best interests of all our families regarding our polices. We have no hard feelings and the family is always welcome back. We offer scholarships, and have a number of community outreach programs we support and would hope our good name continues to be heard by the [redacted]' to their coworkers, neighbors, and family and not have this single issue be one of displeasure for them and instead remember our care and love of their baby and our joy of have the [redacted] family be a part of our family here. Best wishes to the family.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because::