industry franchise childhood care and education founded 1988 in king of prussia pa usa headquarters king of prussia pa usa key people joe schumacher president & ceo ; bob scopinich cfo owner wind river holdings website www.goddardschool.com www.facebook.com goddardschool www.twitter.com goddardschool blogs.goddardschool.com the goddard school springfield ohio . the goddard school is an early childhood education provider with more than 400 franchised schools in 35 states and hundreds of markets including the atlanta boston chicago houston philadelphia and portland markets . goddard systems inc. gsi franchises the goddard school from its headquarters in king of prussia pennsylvania . contents 1 history 2 curriculum 3 accreditation 4 quality assurance 5 affiliations 6 organization 6.1 franchising 6.2 leadership 6.2.1 leadership team 6.2.2 educational advisory board 12 7 anthony a. martino memorial scholarship 7.1 scholarship recipients 8 references history edit the goddard early learning center was founded in 1986 in malvern pennsylvania . in 1988 anthony a. martino founder of the aamco transmissions and maaco auto painting and bodyworks franchises established carousel systems inc. to offer goddard early learning center childcare and preschool franchises . 1 goddard early learning centers became the goddard school in 1993 . in 1996 philip schumacher became president of carousel systems . 2 in 1999 the 100th goddard school opened in pickerington ohio . wind river holdings lp acquired the franchise assets of carousel systems in 2002 and continued franchising carousel systems as goddard systems inc. 3 the first west coast goddard school opened the same year in portland oregon . the 200th goddard school opened in vancouver washington in 2005 . in 2007 joe schumacher who represented the company as outside counsel for 20 years joined gsi as the chief operating officer . the following year the 300th goddard school opened in centennial colorado . joe schumacher became president and ceo in 2010 . 1 4 in 2013 the 400th goddard school opened in highland heights ohio and the goddard school celebrated 25 years of learning through play by raising more than 188 000 for ronald mcdonald house charities in one month . 5 gsi was recently named the number one childcare franchise in the united states by entrepreneur magazine for the fourteenth consecutive year january 2015 6 and one of the top 200 franchise systems in worldwide sales by franchise times for the eighth consecutive year october 2014 . 7 curriculum edit the goddard school offers preschool programs for children from six weeks to six years old . the goddard school s proprietary f.l.ex . learning program focuses on building children s emotional academic social creative and physical skills through play based learning . the flex learning program is structured around developmental guidelines child focused lesson plans a creative and fun learning environment and child centered teachable moments . the program is based on research that shows that children experience the most genuine learning when they are having fun . each school also provides additional learning programs such as baby sign language yoga music spanish and mandarin . additionally goddard school teachers provide parents with daily activity reports and schedule regular conferences throughout the year to discuss children s progress and behaviors with parents . some centers send daily photos to parents as well . 8 accreditation edit gsi received advanced corporation accreditation in january 2009 and middle states corporate accreditation in 2012 . many schools have achieved or are pursuing individual school accreditation with advanced the middle states association the national association for the education of young children and or individual state accreditation programs . 9 quality assurance edit the goddard school quality assurance qa program measures each goddard school against internal standards which are often stricter than state requirements . the goddard qa team makes unannounced visits and provides helpful guidance on how to continuously improve for the benefit of the children and their families . 10 goddard quality assurance ensures respect for the individual needs of every child a warm and nurturing atmosphere in a safe setting open and daily communication with families a professional faculty committed to early childhood development and a learning environment with opportunities for creativity and exploration . http www.goddardschool.com the goddard experience approach to learning quality assurance affiliations edit in 2011 the partnership for 21st century skills a national organization that advocates for 21st century readiness for students named gsi a strategic council member . 11 the international association for continuing education and training iacet approved goddard systems university gsu which provides ongoing training for goddard school teachers as an authorized provider . 9 organization edit franchising edit each goddard school is independently owned and operated by franchisees . these franchisees receive training at gsi s corporate office in king of prussia pennsylvania before opening their schools . gsi provides franchisees with ongoing support in real estate site development operations it marketing advertising quality assurance and training . the goddard school has opened metro or downtown locations in several cities including chicago illinois ; cincinnati ohio ; atlanta georgia ; wilmington delaware ; and new york new york . leadership edit leadership team edit joe schumacher chief executive officer bob scopinich chief financial officer rich agar vice president operations craig bach vice president education jim dirugeris vice president franchise development paul koulogeorge vice president marketing advertising & public relations educational advisory board 12 edit dr. craig bach ph.d. professional development and accreditation lillian kellogg 21st century approach to learning susan magsamen parent engagement dr. jack maypole m.d. health and nutrition dr. kyle pruett m.d. playful learning and child development lee scott curriculum development and parent engagement anthony a. martino memorial scholarship edit gsi awards the anthony a. martino memorial scholarship annually to a high school senior who graduated from a pre kindergarten or kindergarten program at the goddard school . the graduate who receives the 10 000 college scholarship demonstrates the work ethic and perseverance that exemplified martino s commitment to his career family and community . 13 gsi established the scholarship after martino s death in 2008 . 14 scholarship recipients edit 2008 connor sullivan graduate of the goddard school located in king of prussia pennsylvania 2009 marjorie berman graduate of the goddard school located in wyomissing pennsylvania 2010 arthur foster graduate of the goddard school located at 6239 perimeter drive in dublin ohio 2011 brooke del guercio graduate of the goddard school located in dayton new jersey 2012 emily moss graduate of the goddard school located at 6239 perimeter drive in dublin ohio 15 2013 ethan mandel graduate of the goddard school located in horsham pennsylvania 16 2014 shelby janicki graduate of the goddard school located in eldersburg maryland 17 references edit a b about goddard systems . retrieved 28 april 2014 . schumacher replaces schumacher at goddard systems . december 18 2009 . retrieved 28 april 2014 . goddard systems inc. . wind river holdings . retrieved 28 april 2014 . goddard systems inc. appoints joseph schumacher as chief executive officer . january 13 2010 . retrieved 28 april 2014 . the goddard school raises more than 185 000 for ronald mcdonald house charities . march 19 2013 . retrieved 28 april 2014 . goddard systems inc. . entrepreneur . retrieved 28 april 2014 . franchise times top 200 . franchise times . retrieved 28 april 2014 . the goddard school approach to learning . the goddard school . retrieved 28 april 2014 . a b the goddard school accreditations and accolades . the goddard school . retrieved 28 april 2014 . the goddard school quality assurance . the goddard school . retrieved 28 april 2014 . goddard systems inc. named strategic council member of the partnership for 21st century skills . january 23 2012 . retrieved 28 april 2014 . educational advisory board eab . the goddard school . retrieved 29 april 2014 . anthony a. martino scholarship . the goddard school . retrieved 28 april 2014 . anthony a. martino 75 founder of maaco and aamco dies . january 29 2008 . retrieved 28 april 2014 . 10 000 anthony a. martino memorial scholarship recipient announced for 2012 . the goddard school . retrieved 28 april 2014 . 10 000 anthony a. martino memorial scholarship recipient announced for 2013 . the goddard school . retrieved 28 april 2014 . the goddard school announces recipient of the anthony a. martino memorial scholarship . the goddard school . retrieved 1 october 2014 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title goddard school & oldid 726189044 categories education in the united statesearly childhood education navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 20 june 2016 at 16 38 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation 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