Our Goddard School Teachers

Joe Stickel is the owner of The Goddard School of Newark and has led the school for the past nine years. As a father, and with a background in military leadership, technology innovation, and business ownership, Joe brings a disciplined, thoughtful approach to building a school where children feel safe, supported, and challenged to grow. Throughout his career, Joe has been recognized for excellence and innovation, including national and international awards for leadership and service. Since owning the school, The Goddard School of Newark has received multiple awards recognizing its customer service, educational quality, and community impact. Joe is deeply committed to early childhood development and believes young children learn best through warm relationships, intentional teaching, positive behavior guidance, and meaningful experiences. He continues to study child development and neuroscience to ensure the school’s environment, curriculum, and approach support long-term growth.

Lisa is the school Director and has been working in early childhood education for over sixteen years. Prior to her role as Director, Lisa was the Assistant Director, Curriculum Coordinator and Pre-K teacher. Lisa graduated from Hiram College with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Lisa loves watching the children grow and develop from babies to big kids with unique personalities and opinions. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys hiking and camping with her son.

Ms. Ivory is the Assistant Director, Curriculum Coordinator. She has a Bachelor's degree in English and a Masters degree in Education from Wilmington University. She started at The Goddard School in February, 2013 as an Assistant in our Older Toddler Class and was promoted to the Infant Lead Teacher. Miss Ivory has two children, a daughter in middle school (who is a Goddard School grad) and a toddler son.

Ms. Patricia is an Assistant Teacher in the PreK classroom. She has worked with all age groups and has a wealth of knowledge that she shares with the children and the other teachers that she works with. Patricia enjoys doing academic activities with the children and watching them progress in their letter and number knowledge.

Allison is the Co-Lead Teacher in the Young Toddler classroom. She loves teaching the children self help skills and allowing them the opportunity to help in the classroom. In her free time, Ally likes to draw and create original content on Tik Tok.

Deja is the lead teacher in our infant room. She loves snuggling out little babies and watching them grow into confident toddlers. Deja loves doing art projects with the babies and showing them new things. She also loves getting them outside. In her free time, Deja is an active member in her church serving the the youth and participating in the choir.

Kamacia is our Assistant Director. She has lead other schools and joined our team to help our school grow and become successful. Kamacia loves working with all age groups but has a soft spot for our infants. She has two children of her own and is busy helping them grow when she's not at school.

Lindsay in the Lead Teacher in our Older toddler room. She enjoys doing art with the children and providing them with opportunities to experience new things. In her free time, Lindsay performs in local theater productions and concerts.

Holly is our Get Set Lead teacher. She loves working with our two year olds and watching them grow. She is one of our potty training wizards! In her free time, she teaches dance at a local dance school and enjoys bowling.

Veronica is the Lead Teacher in our KPrep classroom. She loves helping the children learn and grow throughout their final year with us. She enjoys teaching them new things about the world and helping the learn to work together. During her free time, Veronica enjoys time with friends and loves her Philly sports teams!

Alexa is our Lead Teacher in our First Steps classroom. She loves doing art with our littlest toddlers and introducing them to so many new things. Alexa likes the energy these little people bring to the world. When she is not here, Alexa is busy being a mom to her own children and exploring the world with them.

As a teacher, May believes that each child is an individual. She values and develops each child's strengths, interest, skills and abilities. Her favorite children's book is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?". She also loves the Llama Llama series. In her down time, she enjoys spending time with family and listening to music.

Dani is our KPrep assistant teacher. She enjoys working with Veronica and helping prepare our oldest children for entering school. She enjoys talking with the children and listening to their view of the world. When Dani isn't here, she is spending time with her son.

Maddie enjoys working with our younger two year olds and supporting Lindsay as they work to help the children grow in their social skills and learn how to play with each other. In the classroom, she enjoys talking with the children and hearing their stories. Outside of work, Maddie loves spending time with her family and friends and can often be found at the bowling alley.