About the Author

Dr. Lauren Starnes is an expert in early childhood education. She currently serves as the Chief Academic Officer for Goddard Systems Inc. In this leadership role, Lauren will continue to shape the premier educational programming and proprietary curriculum for the Goddard system of nearly 600 schools. In her prior role, Lauren held the position of vice president of early childhood education for Primrose School Franchising Company, where she supported curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation. Prior to that she led the early childhood education department for a private education company, authoring their proprietary early childhood curriculum and leading professional development creation and delivery. Lauren has worked at every level of early childhood education. While she began her formal career teaching at the university level, she has prior experience teaching within preschools, consulting and serving as a support professional for children with autism, and serving as an embedded instructional coach for preschool teachers. She has worked as a school principal for multiple schools and remains actively involved as a voice for early childhood education in various professional associations. When not working, Lauren enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and cheering on her two sons in sports. She lives in Marietta, Georgia, near Atlanta.