A new all-day daycare and preschool is opening in Oxford with a mission to bring structure and education into a young child’s daily activities.
Located at 55 Gateway, west of M-24 behind the Flagstar Bank and POH Medical Center, the Goddard School for Early Childhood Development is hosting an open house on Thursday, Sept.17 from 4-8 p.m.
Families who are currently enrolled and those interested in enrolling will have an opportunity to meet the staff and look at the school building.
Goddard is a full-service licensed preschool and childcare center that caters towards families with children from six weeks to six-years-old. ‘We run a full curriculum throughout the entire day,? says on-site owner Michelle Stuhlreyer, who runs the school with her husband Peter.
The school will offer flexible year-round schedules, including a summer program, for children Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The building is a new state-of-the-art 8,000 square foot building that has been designed to accommodate approximately 130 children.
Stuhlreyer grew up in Lake Orion and knew that the Oxford area would make a great place for Goddard, which has 350 schools nationwide. She is excited to be part of a community that she grew to love.
Education Director Julie Pandrack is currently completing the teacher training and the teachers are prepping their classrooms for the upcoming year. Each classroom is arranged to accommodate of the learning centers: math, music, creative art, blocks and puzzles, science and computers.
Stuhlreyer said that the thing that separates Goddard from other daycares and preschools is the daily schedule, routine and class curriculum that is taught by educated teachers.
‘They do their own lessons plans, which are child focused lesson plans that go through the director and is approved by the director to make sure it is appropriate for the classroom age range,? she said.
Goddard has five different age ranges: infant (six weeks to 12 months), pre-toddler (12 to 24 months), toddler (24 to 30 months), get set (30 to 36 months) and four preschool rooms for three to five-year-olds.
Another key aspect that separates Goddard from other schools are their multiple enrichment programs, which include foreign and sign language, yoga and various science and math classes.
These programs are in addition to the FLEX program, which Stuhlreyer described as getting your child school ready through play.
‘It’s very important that they learn through play. You can’t tell a child to go do something mathematical and write down everything. They need to be playing with their blocks and counting blocks and playing with their cars and doing some sort of pattern with that. They don’t even realize they are learning,? she said.
The FLEX programs focuses on seven learning domains: personal and social development, language and literacy, math, science, social studies, creative expression and physical development.
The program also focuses on building a strong and balanced foundation of emotional, social, cognitive and physical skills for each child.
Goddard offers programs from two half-days a week up to five full days a week. The cost is individually based, depending on how many days a child is attending.
Goddard is currently running a special where parents would get 50 percent off their child’s first month at the school. They also offer sibling discounts.
There has been a great response and anticipation in the community about Goddard opening.
For more information about Goddard, visit their website at www.goddardschool.com or call Michelle Stuhlreyer at (248) 628-6268.