Understanding The Lightbridge Academy Brand & Circle of Care

Lightbridge Academy was founded over 25 years ago as a family business. The Falzarano family was seeking to build a high-quality child care option that not only educated children but also cared for the needs busy working parents, like themselves. The business steadily grew, thanks in part to many of the differentiators. Today, there are over 140 child care centers open or in development throughout the United States.

Lightbridge Academy is so much more than daycare. In order to understand what truly differentiates this brand, you must understand that the overall business is managed and driven through a core value-based system and a philosophy used to shape how we interact and manage our business.

Lightbridge Academy Culture – Circle Of Care And Core Values

Lightbridge Academy hasn’t grown into the trusted child care brand we are today only because of our competitive advantages and successful business model. Our Circle of Care philosophy drives all our interactions: “Each person, whose life we touch, is equally essential… children, parents, staff, the community, and even our franchisees. When you join Lightbridge Academy, you become part of a family who cares, supports, and encourages each other.” It is this philosophy that builds loyalty and creates a trusting culture, unlike any other child care franchise.

Our core values are driven by a desire to nurture and develop meaningful relationships with all members of the Lightbridge Academy family never forgetting the CHILDREN are at the center of why we are all gathered together. The values are clearly outlined and used to guide how we stay accountable and foster our company culture.

Here, our Circle of Care touches every aspect of our franchise investment, as well as the services we offer. When you partner with Lightbridge Academy, you’re joining supportive family committed to your success and firmly established on a set of foundational values guiding every decision.

Proprietary Seedlings Early Childhood Curriculum

To understand how Lightbridge Academy stands out from competitors, you must take our proprietary curriculum into account. Every parent wants to give their child an advantage, and a quality early childhood program provides what they need developmentally, in addition to academically. Many child care centers don’t have curricula based on well-established educational research, and if they do, they’re may not be designed to meet the individual needs of every child.

Lightbridge Academy seeks to nurture the whole child through our Seedlings Early Childhood Curriculum, which was developed based on the work of educational researchers like Fredrich Fröbel, Howard Gardner, Loris Malaguzzi, Maria Montessori, and Jean Piaget. Our holistic approach blends learning through play and allows children to gravitate toward their natural strengths while guiding them to explore new ways of learning. Together, we work to support seven key learning domains to help children build the foundational learning necessary for today and future development:

1. Mathematics & Science
2. Creative Arts & Music
3. Language & Literacy
4. Social & Emotional
5. Sensory
6. Physical & Well-Being
7. Cognitive

As a result, 92% Proficient in Kindergarten-readiness skills according to a 2021-2022 Vine Assessment of four and five-year-old Pre-Kindergarteners across key learning domains. Utilizing the Vine Assessment, teachers actively observed and assessed children in the areas of Mathematics, Science, Literacy Knowledge & Skills, Language & Communication, Social/Emotional, Perception, Motor & Physical, Creative & Cultural Arts, and overall Approaches to Learning. The Vine is a developmentally appropriate early childhood assessment that aligns with the Common Core Standards to ensure children’s success in their future elementary years.

Importantly, parents can see the difference the Seedlings curriculum and our multi-sensory and whole child approach to learning makes for their children and their referrals are one of the main reasons others choose Lightbridge Academy over other child care centers.

Trust Us To Walk You Through The Process

We bring franchisees into the Circle of Care via a time-tested process designed to be simple and straightforward. Opening a new business can be stressful, and when going it alone or without strong franchisor support, it can be a trying time. From the moment you contact us, we’ll lay out a clear path to let you know what to expect going forward and walk you through each step.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the major stages in the discovery process:

1. Let’s Get to Know Each Other: You’ll contact us and give us some basic information about yourself and your interest in our brand. We’ll answer your questions, and together we’ll see if we’re a good fit.
2. Talk Business with Us: We’ll take a deeper dive into what it takes to open a Lightbridge Academy and will provide you with a copy of our Franchise Disclosure Document. We’ll also want to see your financial summary.
3. Discovery Day: You’ll take part in Discovery Day, where you’ll meet members of our leadership team and learn more about our brand, the support your will receive and how we operate our centers.
4. Decision Time: Once we’ve both decided that we want to move forward and pending approvals on items like background checks and financial reviews, you’ll sign a franchise agreement and pay the initial franchise fee. Now the fun begins!
5. Let’s Roll Up Our Sleeves: We’ll hit the ground running with our real estate and development experts, supporting you in identifying, negotiating and building out a prime child care location.
6. School’s in Session: It’s time to market Lightbridge Academy in your local area, hire your team, enroll families, obtain the necessary licenses, pass inspections and CELEBRATE at your grand opening!

At Lightbridge, we never want our franchisees to go it alone. They can count on us to walk them through each of these stages and to provide them with comprehensive support. Our core value foundation, 25+ years of child care expertise and over 10 years of franchising expertise guide our steps and commitment to the success of every franchisee.

Next, let’s take a closer look at some of the franchise resources that factor into this process.

Franchise Resources

If you’re interested in starting a new business, you’ve likely already researched many of other child care franchisors. You might even be thinking of going it alone and opening an independent child care center. Our proven franchise system helps you to avoid some of the common pitfalls when navigating the challenges of operating independently and without the support of a brand with clear differentiation in the marketplace.

Along with unparalleled support, our Circle of Care philosophy dictates our commitment to helping franchisees establish solid businesses built for long term success with a strong return on investment. Lightbridge Academy stands out in this regard because our founders have walked in your shoes. They respect the sacrifices and dedication building a business takes because they’ve done it themselves. That unique perspective shapes all of our training and support programs.

Training

What if you don’t have a background in education or child care? That’s ok, we provide our franchisees with 129 hours of training. Through a combination of online, in classroom and independent learning programs, you’ll learn things like:

• How to hire an expert team of early childhood education
• How to deliver our high quality educational program and create a high-care culture
• How to generate leads and convert them into enrollment
• How to operate a safe and efficient child care business

Mastering this business is a process and that is why we deliver a comprehensive training program built to deliver the information you need before you need it ensuring you feel confident upon completion.  Beyond training, all franchisees are assigned a dedicated business coach as your primary support continuing to help you deepen your knowledge base and continue to grow. Your business coach is available to give you answers to your questions as they arise, follow your progress and provide feedback, and support with day-to-day activities, like employee training, parent communication etc.

With our help, you’ll find that mastering our time-tested system is easier than ever.

Support

Not only do we help franchisees master our business model, but we also support them in growing their businesses. We understand that when franchisees do well, our entire brand benefits, so we’re serious about supporting you throughout the life of your business.

Real Estate Assistance: Identifying the right location for your new business is crucial, so you can count on our real estate team to provide you with guidance and site analysis tools when researching potential locations. Our franchisees have the ability to either lease their location or purchase the property and develop it outright. With unique factors like this in mind, we’ll work with you to determine which option is the best fit for you and if your proforma works for the long-term success of the business.

Once you’ve found a prime location, we’ll further assist by working with you through the buildout process and using our prototype, transform it into a state of the art educational child care facility. We’ll connect you with experts such as architects and engineers to ensure the building is consistent with the Lightbridge branding and design.

Approved Suppliers & Set-up Support: Lightbridge approved vendors will supply everything you need to establish a brand consistent learning environment. The specifications and products necessary and furniture, fixtures and equipment are clearly outlined in the project plan along with the suppliers.

Marketing Support: A state of the art child care facility is not a thriving business until it is filled with children and families! Marketing is essential for a new businesses and an area where many new business owners struggle. We provide a marketing and advertising plan template for you to customize and execute that has been proven to produce a successful launch. Our scorecard process and key performance indicators will measure your teams progress along the way, keeping you on track to achieve your goals. Expertise is provided on building Lightbridge brand awareness in your local area, generating leads, converting those leads to enrollment and eventually build the strong reputation needed for referrals and strong future business growth. One of the benefits of partnering with a well-established franchise like Lightbridge Academy are the branded marketing materials, website and social channels available to you.

A Franchisor That Cares About Your ROI And Much More

The Circle of Care embodies the real care and commitment we have for every one of our franchisees, as well as the parents and children that rely on us. Although our company has grown over the last 20 years, we’re still a family business at heart, and we see our franchisees as an extension of that family. We want to see every franchisee thrive and know that their success is our success.

If you desire to experience the rewards of being part of a family that makes a lasting impact on the lives of children, families, and the community, contact Lightbridge Academy to learn more about what goes into starting a new early childhood education center!