PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
The Goddard School
Includes Goddard School, Goddard Systems
childcare · King of Prussia, PA
- PE Firm
- Sycamore Partners →
- Year Acquired
- 2022
Premium preschool, PE-backed since 2022. Sycamore owns your kid's daycare and your Walgreens.
What They Did
- Sycamore Partners (also owns Walgreens and Staples) acquired Goddard Systems in 2022
- Nearly 600 franchised schools when Sycamore bought in, now more than 680 serving almost 100,000 kids
- Within two months of closing, Sycamore had Goddard borrow $392 million against its future franchise royalties and fees, then went back for another $210 million in 2024
- Part of a wider PE rush into childcare, a business investors like because parents can't easily take their kid somewhere else
Since the Acquisition
- Every location sends 7% of its gross revenue to the Sycamore-owned parent as royalties, plus a monthly marketing fee and a $700-a-month curriculum fee on top. That money comes out of the tuition parents pay before a dollar reaches a classroom
- Goddard doesn't publish tuition prices. The company's own site tells parents to schedule a tour to get a rate
- Sycamore built its reputation on deep cost-cutting at retail chains like Staples, and in 2025 it took Walgreens private too — that's the ownership style now applied to where you drop off your toddler
- Sycamore built its reputation squeezing retail chains — it paid itself $1 billion out of Staples and took Walgreens private in 2025. That's the ownership style now applied to where you drop off your toddler
Sources
- What PE ownership might mean for franchisees — GSFOA(2022-07-01)
- Sycamore Partners Acquires Goddard Systems — PR Newswire(2022-06-30)
- Sycamore Partners buys Goddard School franchisor — PE Hub(2022-06-30)
- Goddard, operator of early childhood schools, makes ABS debut with $392 million — Asset Securitization Report(2022-08-12)
- Goddard Funding prepares a $210 million whole business ABS — Asset Securitization Report(2024-07-18)
- KBRA Assigns Ratings to Goddard Funding LLC Series 2024-1, and Takes Other Rating Actions — KBRA(2024-07-19)
- Sycamore Gets $1 Billion In Deal That Amazed Wall Street — Bloomberg(2019-04-11)
- Sycamore Partners Completes Acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance — Sycamore Partners(2025-08-28)
- 'The End User Is a Dollar Sign, It's Not a Child': How Private Equity and Shareholders Are Reshaping American Child Care — The 74 (Elliot Haspel)(2024-04-22)
- Lots of Colorado child care chains are backed by private equity investors. Some lawmakers are concerned. — Chalkbeat Colorado(2025-02-14)
- The Goddard School Achieves Record First Quarter, Awarding 35 New Franchise Licenses — Goddard School(2026-05-18)
- Preschool Tuition Cost, Rates & Benefits — The Goddard School(2026-07-31)
- How Much Does a Goddard School Franchise Cost? — Goddard School Franchise (official)(2026-07-31)