Giovanni and Caterina Cuzzocrea in front of the recently opened Goddard School in Adams Township. Submitted photo

Less than a year after breaking ground, The Goddard School’s Adams Township location is fully running with around 160 students and 30 teachers.

A new educational option for families around Mars, the national education franchise broke ground on its location at 1000 Winston Way in late November 2024.

Thanks to quickly putting together a staff and student body, plus a quick turnaround on construction, it opened just after Labor Day.

“Things are going along phenomenal, we have some great kids and great families enrolled here. We started off very strong with enrollment. We still have some open spots in classes but we got off to a great start,” said Giovanni Cuzzocrea, owner of the Adams location.

Cuzzocrea and his wife, Caterina, co-own the new Mars location. At the time of the groundbreaking, Cuzzocrea said he wanted to give back to his community and envisioned the new Goddard School as a loving and safe environment for children’s social, emotional and academic growth.

Matt Speranza, a member of the Goddard School system’s advisory council, previously said the project had been in early planning stages since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Cuzzocrea said Goddard leadership has been huge in helping lay the foundation for success, he gave credit to new employees who have signed on amid the rush to opening.

“Enrolling students started right when that sign went up and it’s been a big success,” Cuzzocrea said. “In March, we started interviewing teachers and I give credit, we interviewed them in March, brought them on board in August. They have to believe what you’re saying and the teachers stuck it out with us to be a teacher at Goddard.”

The Goddard School has hundreds of locations in 38 states with a total of around 75,000 students. This includes existing locations in Cranberry Township, Wexford and Gibsonia.

The Goddard School said in a news release its new 12,000 square-foot education building has 10 classrooms, along with an indoor gymnasium with a rock wall, an outdoor classroom, multiple outdoor play areas and a bike track.

Cuzzocrea touted the Goddard School’s curriculum, the “Wonder of Learning,” which promotes students learning through their own curiosity.

“With teacher-guided inquiry topics, children learn about themselves and the world around them by exploring their interests, investigating concepts and asking questions. Wonder of Learning builds age-appropriate academic, social and emotional skills through curiosity, collaboration, investigation and discovery,” the news release said.

He said the school will have a Nov. 8 open house for families that haven’t been able to step inside the location yet.

“What sets the Goddard school apart is the proprietary curriculum, the Wonder of Learning. We’re gong to take phenomenal care of the kids, give them an education they wont get anywhere else,” Cuzzocrea said.