Cornelius · Licensed center
The Goddard School Of Cornelius
- Large center, licensed for 276 children.
- Run by a for-profit business, which holds the license.
- A Goddard School franchise. The brand is owned by Sycamore Partners, a private-equity firm.
- Shortlist has found no website for it yet.
What the state has found
The state cited rules at 7 of its 8 licensing inspections since October 2023.
Of the 74 Charlotte-area centers with 8 licensing inspections, 18% had rules cited at 7 of them, as this center did. 1% had rules cited at all 8.
Licensing inspections
Sep 22, 20261 citation
“A current activity plan was not posted for each group of children for reference. Classrooms did not have current activity plans posted.”
Violation corrected during visit
Mar 31, 20261 citation
“Children were not adequately supervised at all times. On March 24, 2026 a child 1 year of age was left on the playground unsupervised for less than 5 minutes.”
Violation corrected during visit
Mar 18, 20262 citations
“Medications including prescription and non-prescription items were not stored in a locked cabinet or other locked container. In spaces #1 and #3, there were diaper creams under the diaper changing tables, unlocked.”
Violation corrected during visit
“Staff did not model appropriate eating behaviors by consuming food or beverages that meet the nutritional requirements specified in the Meal Patterns for Children in Child Care Programs in the presence of children in care. In space #7, there was a teacher's ice coffee on a shelf.”
Violation corrected during visit
Apr 1, 20252 citations
“All walls and ceilings including doors and windows were not kept clean, free of visible fungal growth, and in good repair. In space #11, there is peeling paint on the wall in the science area.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 4/9/2025
“Each new employee did not complete, within the first two weeks of employment, six clock hours of training in required topic areas. A staff member orientation for the two weeks of employment was not on file.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 4/9/2025
Oct 1, 20243 citations
“All walls and ceilings including doors and windows were not kept clean, free of visible fungal growth, and in good repair. In spaces #4 and #7, there is peeling paint on the walls.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/11/2024
“Equipment and furnishings not meeting the requirements outlined in child care .0601(b) and (c) were not removed or made inaccessible. In space #2, there is a rip vinyl playmat.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/11/2024
“Shelter-in-place or lockdown drills were not practiced every three months and/or drill record was incomplete. There was no documentation of a required shelter in place and/or lockdown drill for May and August 2024.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/11/2024
Apr 2, 20245 citations
“Staff did not model appropriate eating behaviors by consuming food or beverages that meet the nutritional requirements specified in the Meal Patterns for Children in Child Care Programs in the presence of children in care. In space #4, there was a teachers chick fil a drink on the counter.”
Violation corrected during visit
“All equipment and furnishings were not in good repair. In space 10, there was a torn child size sofa.”
Violation corrected during visit
“Medications including prescription and non-prescription items were not stored in a locked cabinet or other locked container. In space 1ab, the diaper changing table was unlock with diaper creams. The diaper creams was below 5ft.”
Violation corrected during visit
“Each new employee did not complete, within the first two weeks of employment, six clock hours of training in required topic areas. There was no documentation of the required orientation trainings within 2 weeks of employment for R. P.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 4/15/2024
1 more from this inspection
“Health and safety training topics were not included as part of on-going training within five years of completing the previous health and safety training topics. There were 3 staff members who had not completed all the health and safety trainings for the 5 year mark.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 4/15/2024
Oct 3, 20235 citations
“A drug or medicine was administered after its expiration date. In space 11, there was a diaper cream that had expired. There was a diaper cream with expired permission to give dates.”
Violation corrected during visit
“Application for employment and date of birth was not on file for all staff. There was no application on file for A.W., H.W., T.B. and M.B. All completed the application during the visit except for M. Berstein.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/13/2023
“Child care providers and uncompensated providers who are not substitute providers or volunteers, including the director did not have a medical report on file prior to employment that was signed by a health care professional and/ or the medical report was older than 12 months. There was no medical form on file T. Burns.”
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/13/2023
“Each new employee did not complete, within the first two weeks of employment, six clock hours of training in required topic areas. There was no documentation on file for the required orientation training for M. Berstein.”
Violation corrected during visit
1 more from this inspection
“Medical exam or health assessment record was not on file before or within 30 days after admission. A child's file had an incomplete medical report.”
Violation corrected during visit
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — North Carolina DCDEE
- Last visit
- September 22, 2026
- On file
- 8 visits since October 2023 — 1 cited nothing, 1 of those unannounced
- Fixed?
- All 19 record a correction, in the licensor’s own words.
- Most serious
- North Carolina DCDEE does not publish a severity level for a citation, so there is no most-serious to name.
North Carolina DCDEE describes every citation in the licensor’s own words and records the correction in that same text — the only one of the six states that publishes whether a violation was fixed. It attaches no rule number and no report document.
Sep 2026 Unannounced visit 1 finding
Unannounced visit · September 22, 2026
A current activity plan was not posted for each group of children for reference. Classrooms did not have current activity plans posted.
Violation corrected during visit
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 60004008 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Mar 2026 Unannounced visit 1 finding
Unannounced visit · March 31, 2026
Children were not adequately supervised at all times. On March 24, 2026 a child 1 year of age was left on the playground unsupervised for less than 5 minutes.
Violation corrected during visit
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 60004008 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Mar 2026 Unannounced visit 2 findings
Unannounced visit · March 18, 2026
Medications including prescription and non-prescription items were not stored in a locked cabinet or other locked container. In spaces #1 and #3, there were diaper creams under the diaper changing tables, unlocked.
Violation corrected during visit
Staff did not model appropriate eating behaviors by consuming food or beverages that meet the nutritional requirements specified in the Meal Patterns for Children in Child Care Programs in the presence of children in care. In space #7, there was a teacher's ice coffee on a shelf.
Violation corrected during visit
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 60004008 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Apr 2025 Unannounced visit 2 findings
Unannounced visit · April 1, 2025
All walls and ceilings including doors and windows were not kept clean, free of visible fungal growth, and in good repair. In space #11, there is peeling paint on the wall in the science area.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 4/9/2025
Each new employee did not complete, within the first two weeks of employment, six clock hours of training in required topic areas. A staff member orientation for the two weeks of employment was not on file.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 4/9/2025
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 60004008 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Oct 2024 Unannounced visit 3 findings
Unannounced visit · October 1, 2024
All walls and ceilings including doors and windows were not kept clean, free of visible fungal growth, and in good repair. In spaces #4 and #7, there is peeling paint on the walls.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/11/2024
Equipment and furnishings not meeting the requirements outlined in child care .0601(b) and (c) were not removed or made inaccessible. In space #2, there is a rip vinyl playmat.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/11/2024
Shelter-in-place or lockdown drills were not practiced every three months and/or drill record was incomplete. There was no documentation of a required shelter in place and/or lockdown drill for May and August 2024.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/11/2024
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 60004008 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Apr 2024 Unannounced visit 5 findings
Unannounced visit · April 2, 2024
Staff did not model appropriate eating behaviors by consuming food or beverages that meet the nutritional requirements specified in the Meal Patterns for Children in Child Care Programs in the presence of children in care. In space #4, there was a teachers chick fil a drink on the counter.
Violation corrected during visit
All equipment and furnishings were not in good repair. In space 10, there was a torn child size sofa.
Violation corrected during visit
Medications including prescription and non-prescription items were not stored in a locked cabinet or other locked container. In space 1ab, the diaper changing table was unlock with diaper creams. The diaper creams was below 5ft.
Violation corrected during visit
Each new employee did not complete, within the first two weeks of employment, six clock hours of training in required topic areas. There was no documentation of the required orientation trainings within 2 weeks of employment for R. P.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 4/15/2024
Health and safety training topics were not included as part of on-going training within five years of completing the previous health and safety training topics. There were 3 staff members who had not completed all the health and safety trainings for the 5 year mark.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 4/15/2024
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 60004008 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Oct 2023 Unannounced visit 5 findings
Unannounced visit · October 3, 2023
No longer on the state’s site as of October 9, 2026
A drug or medicine was administered after its expiration date. In space 11, there was a diaper cream that had expired. There was a diaper cream with expired permission to give dates.
Violation corrected during visit
No longer on the state’s site as of October 9, 2026
Application for employment and date of birth was not on file for all staff. There was no application on file for A.W., H.W., T.B. and M.B. All completed the application during the visit except for M. Berstein.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/13/2023
No longer on the state’s site as of October 9, 2026
Child care providers and uncompensated providers who are not substitute providers or volunteers, including the director did not have a medical report on file prior to employment that was signed by a health care professional and/ or the medical report was older than 12 months. There was no medical form on file T. Burns.
Violation confirmed corrected by letter received from provider on 10/13/2023
No longer on the state’s site as of October 9, 2026
Each new employee did not complete, within the first two weeks of employment, six clock hours of training in required topic areas. There was no documentation on file for the required orientation training for M. Berstein.
Violation corrected during visit
No longer on the state’s site as of October 9, 2026
Medical exam or health assessment record was not on file before or within 30 days after admission. A child's file had an incomplete medical report.
Violation corrected during visit
DCDEE facility lookup On that page, enter license number 60004008 in the License Number box, choose Search and open the result; the record is listed under Visits.
Shortlist replaces people’s names in the state’s text with initials. This is done by rule, not by hand, so it can miss a name or shorten a word that isn’t one. The state’s report, linked on each row, has the original.
Openings, child care subsidies, cost, hours and late pickup, teaching approach, ratios and staff, a typical day, and sick and biting policies aren’t on this page.
Details
- Address
- 18110 Manhatten Parkway
- License
- 60004008, active
- Quality program
- Four Star License
Run The Goddard School Of Cornelius? Correct or add anything here, free.
Add what is missingSources and dates
Where every fact on this page came from, and when Shortlist last checked it against that source. Anything Shortlist could not source is named here rather than left blank.
State record
From North Carolina DCDEE’s published reports, last checked October 11, 2026.
Details
- Phone, Address, License, Quality program — Checked July 2026 ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. To check it, open ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/childcaresearch, enter licence 60004008 under License Number, and open the result.
- Who runs it — Checked September 2026 ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. To check it, open ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/childcaresearch, enter licence 60004008 under License Number, open the result and expand Owner Information: the licensee is listed as Primary Owner.
- Who runs it — Checked October 2026 goddardschool.com/…/cornelius/cornelius
- Who runs it — Checked October 2026 sycamorepartners.com
- Who runs it — Checked September 2026 goddardschool.com/about
The private-equity firm Sycamore Partners lists Goddard Systems as a current investment. sycamorepartners.com
Goddard’s own site says “All Goddard Schools are independently owned and operated.” goddardschool.com
Large means the biggest quarter of Charlotte-area’s 591 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 163 to 528 children. Small is 11 to 50; medium is 51 to 162.