Business Spotlight: Future Scholastics

Just 11 years ago, Cynthia Chiu-Pinheiro was treating patients in an emergency room at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Today, the former physician is tending to the educational needs of children in southwest Missouri.

As a Goddard School franchisee, Chiu-Pinheiro welcomes 130 children through her doors each week at 2238 W. Kingsley St. in southwest Springfield. The franchise model applies curriculum in its infant, preschool and after-school programs for children ages 6 weeks through 6 years.

Chiu-Pinheiro bought into the Goddard School franchise and opened the school in 2005 with initial enrollment of roughly 70 children.

“Our program is fairly structured, with nine classrooms divided into appropriate age groups,” she says. “We have a combination of large- and small-group learning times, with opportunities for free time, as well as outdoor exploration and play.”

In seven years, Chiu-Pinheiro estimates the center has delivered the company’s accredited Flex Learning Program, which emphasizes a fun learning experience, to several hundred local children.

“I appreciated that it was such a balanced approach,” says Jennifer McClure, government affairs specialist for the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield, whose son Van, now a student at Jarrett Middle School, began in the pre-kindergarten class shortly after the Goddard School opened. “They were mindful of the social environment, as well as hitting all the educational benchmarks. What was really neat for us were some special summer programs, where they went out of their way to create fine arts and outdoor opportunities. To this day, Van is very involved in music and is on a swim team, and I credit that early exposure at Goddard for sparking his interest in those areas.”

With more than 385 units nationwide, King of Prussia, Penn.-based Goddard Systems Inc. has built a recognizable and marketable brand for its local operators to leverage while seeking and enrolling their student clientele. According to GoddardSchoolFranchise.com, the initial franchise fee is $135,000 and the minimum investment is $700,000, with an annual franchise fee of 7 percent. The company reports an average of $220,000 in annual gross revenue for each franchise unit. Chiu-Pinheiro declined to disclose revenues of the Springfield operation.

For 12 consecutive years, the 25-year-old Goddard Systems ranked as Entrepreneur Magazine’s market-leading child care franchise.

In the franchise agreement, each school operator is provided a toolkit of resources for administrative support and parent communication. The company’s Flex educational model focuses on communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. Chiu-Pinheiro says the franchisor allows flexibility for tailoring curriculum at the local level.

“We have developmental guidelines in place for each classroom and age of development,” says Chiu-Pinheiro, whose center employs roughly 30, including teachers and support staff. “However, we do have a lot of latitude in how we teach. For instance, we have begun integrating technology into our learning model at earlier and earlier ages – something that we had the choice to do.”

Pointing to the usage of tablet/touchscreen technology across her school’s nine classrooms, she says a variety of software programs are used to introduce reading and fine-motor activities – such as drawing, coloring and handwriting – that even the youngest children can do by using a finger, instead of paintbrushes, pens or crayons.

Local flexibility has become more necessary in Springfield’s increasingly robust and competitive educational environment. Factors such as the addition of International Baccalaureate programs at four Springfield Public Schools sites, the formation of Reed Academy and the proliferation of private school options have created more diverse opportunities for students, and an increased focus on early learning.

“Most families who come in to tour our school are very concerned with academics, as well as children having opportunities to play and enjoy themselves,” she says. “That academic edge is what gives them a really big step up when they start school.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently reaffirmed its policy statement on the keys of early childhood education and the myriad ways children learn. For the 60 percent to 70 percent of children younger than 6 years old who are currently in out-of-home child care or early childhood programs, the academy notes, “when care is consistent, developmentally sound and emotionally supportive, there is a positive effect on the child and the family.” Additionally, the academy says children exposed to a poor-quality environment are less likely to be prepared for school demands and to experience outcomes that “often cannot be fully remedied in the formal structure of the K-12 educational system.”

According to the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, there were 678,384 families with young children in Missouri during 2012, creating a potential statewide pool of more than 300,000 children seeking preschool and child care programs. The agency estimates Missouri families will pay between $370 and $1,100 per month for each child, with a Greene County monthly average of $564 – or annualized as roughly $7,000 per child in the county.

Goddard School charges $250 to $1,000 per child per month, depending on age and sibling enrollment discounts. The school covers each child’s formula, baby food, lunch and snacks, which Chiu-Pinheiro purchases through Springfield Grocer Co. and Sam’s Club.

Ozarks Technical Community College nursing instructor Angie Messner has sent her 18-month-old son, Bryce, to Goddard School since he was 8 weeks old. She researched and visited numerous facilities with her husband and found that – even at the youngest ages – the center offers a well-thought-out academic environment.

“It’s not only a very nurturing environment, but it is a learning environment,” Messner says. “They showed us the lesson plans in place for each month, and the schedules of daily activities. We were confident that he would be taken care of, not just emotionally and physically, but also mentally.”