Consistent Care That Parents Can Count On!
A loving space for children to grow, giving parents peace of mind each day.
A Home Away from Home: Brendaly’s Story
For over 30 years, Good Shepherd School and Day Care has been a trusted, loving home for families in our community.
Nurturing Young Minds Through Music
Discover the power of music education at Good Shepherd!
A Floater’s Point of View
The role of a Floater plays a vital part in nurturing the lives of our children.
Growing with Good Shepherd
Annie and Liz recently shared their experience at Good Shepherd with us.
Three Generations!
Good Shepherd has been a long-term presence in the Valley, a testament to the strong sense of community we foster
Meeting the Needs of Parents, Too!
While Good Shepherd strives to provide students with quality care, a solid academic foundation, and a loving environment, it is more than just the needs of the children in our care that matters to us. We hope that our pursuit of this threefold goal is a blessing to parents as well!
A Place to Find Family
Good Shepherd strives to provide more than a sound academic and quality care experience for our customers. We want parents to have not only peace of mind when they leave their children with us, but the confidence that they are in a loving and nurturing environment. Mary Coffey, a teacher with us for seven years, is very familiar with our philosophy. During her time as a teacher at Good Shepherd, she helped many parents gain peace of mind.
Consistent Care for over 30 Years!
One of the blessings we enjoy at Good Shepherd is seeing a next generation of students, as our former students grow up and bring their own children to our care. This opportunity is afforded to us because of our long-term presence - over 30 years! - and impact in the valley.
From Little Books to Lifelong Lessons
Good Shepherd School and Day Care was founded over 30 years ago with a very specific belief. We believe that children need three basic things - a solid education, quality care, and a loving environment. Our goal ever since Day 1 has been to provide these three elements of a healthy foundation for our students. Recently, it was a blessing to us to have a former customer share their experience with us, and to hear that we had a positive impact in her family’s life in these three specific ways.
Loving Children of All Ages
At Good Shepherd School and Day Care, one of our primary goals is to surround children with the love of God at all ages. Melissa Moody, the Assistant Director at our Waynesboro campus, takes guests on a tour of our facility there, and this goal is apparent in everything she shows them and shares with them.
A Systematic Approach to Early Learning
For 31 years, one of our specific goals at Good Shepherd has been to “teach children to love reading before kindergarten.” As Aliesse Golladay, the Assistant Director at our Neff Avenue location in Harrisonburg, gives a video tour of her campus, she informs parents how we do this. And it starts even in the nursery!
Exploring Our Campuses
Good Shepherd is blessed to have three campuses, designed for meeting the needs of our students. Today, we would like to highlight a special project that we have embarked on, one that will bring you closer to the heart of our program.
We are delighted to announce that we will be adding virtual tours of each Good Shepherd location to our website! This incredible endeavor will provide parents with a more in-depth look into our program and allow them, along with their children, to familiarize themselves with their potential classrooms. Our Assistant Directors have taken the lead on this project and will be guiding visitors through video tours, offering valuable insights into what to expect in the classroom environment.
A Foundation of Preparation
At Good Shepherd, our goal is to prepare students for school and for life. We want to give them a solid foundation to build on when they leave pre-K. Mrs. Amiss has described our approach and the way she seeks to implement it in her Beginner/Intermediate class. Phonics is key to this foundation
Tools for Lifelong Learning
Good Shepherd has very specific goals for our students. We want to give them the tools for lifelong learning! Introducing them to reading, writing, math, environment, classroom skills, social skills, and much more, takes even more tools. Niki Amiss, one of our pre-K teachers who has been teaching with us for seven years, shares with us some of the tools she uses in her classroom to impart this foundation to her students.
A Training Ground
Having been in our community for 31 years, Good Shepherd has trained thousands of students for whatever comes next in their lives - kindergarten, first grade, middle school, high school, or even college. But GSS has also been a training ground for our young employees as well. Whether they are headed to college, are in college preparing for a career, or are preparing for motherhood, GSS provides a friendly and supportive environment to learn the skills they need.
A Different Approach
Some people are unaware that Good Shepherd is a not just a day care - we are also a private school! Good Shepherd offers a quality alternative for K-12 students that need a different approach to learning. We continue to use the A Beka curriculum in our Kindergartens, and then we use the ACE School of Tomorrow curriculum in our Learning Centers. Each Learning Center houses grades 1-12, each student in their own office, working on their own work, getting helping individually according to their own needs.
Learning, Growing, and Giving Back
Trinity Spencer has been with Good Shepherd for the past 18 years and is reaping the benefits of this tenure in her schooling beyond Good Shepherd. She is in her Freshman year of college and has seen immediate payoff from attending Good Shepherd all those years. Having gone though our Learning Center program, Trinity gained real life skills that has helped her in her classes.
Discovering the World!
There are a few things as beautiful as the delight of a child discovering the world he/she inhabits! At Good Shepherd, our 2 year old class is called the “Discovery Class” because of how much this applies to that age group. And at GSS3, Kim Cusimano has the privilege of guiding these little ones through this process. Kim has 20 years of experience working with children, half of that with us. She has developed her own personal approach that works wonders with an age that can be a handful of times. Her calm demeanor and laid back style are a perfect fit with 2 year olds.
Interaction is the Key!
At Good Shepherd School and Day Care, interaction is the key to helping students feel loved, and to helping them fall in love with learning. Everything we do at GSS has these two goals in mind!