The Goddard School, a nationwide franchise that specializes in early-childhood development, will open a second Clark County location this summer, creating new employment opportunities for local teachers.
Currently under construction at 13201 Northeast 27th Avenue in Salmon Creek, the school will provide the community with approximately 25 jobs for full- and part-time degreed childhood educators. The project team includes local developer LJS Investors and Robertson & Olson Construction.
On-site owner Michelle Solari said it’s no accident that the school is located within a half mile of two major employers, Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center and Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV).
“This project has been two years in coming and the first six months to a year was finding my ideal location,” explained owner Solari. “We know there are going to be parents that work at Legacy, the surrounding medical offices and at WSUV.”
In addition to being strategically placed near Legacy and WSUV, Solari said the proximity to I-5 and I-205 will help serve business professionals heading north and south on their way to work.
“This was the only location that I was truly excited about,” she added.
At a cost of about $3 million, the new, 8,000-square-foot school has been designed to accommodate about 130 children from six weeks to six years old. It will offer flexible schedules for children Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
As an on-site owner, Solari is required to be at the school each day to oversee activities, something she believes helps to assure quality.
“I will focus on driving enrollment, marketing and the quality assurance reviews for Goddard,” explained Solari. “Then we go ahead and hire a director to focus on education. They won’t have to do the administrative activities that many school directors are asked to do. Instead they can focus on mentoring teachers and making sure the curriculum is being delivered in a way that Goddard [Schools] intended.”
Headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, Goddard Systems Inc. (parent of the Goddard Schools franchise) currently licenses more than 380 franchised schools with more than 45,000 students in 35 states. The franchise was recently named top Childcare Franchise in the United States by Entrepreneur magazine.
Vancouver’s first Goddard School opened in 2005 at 3111 Southeast 192nd Avenue.
