Primrose Schools Opens Education Training Facility

Educational Child Care Franchisor Announces Four Key Leadership Initiatives Aiming to Seize Brand Leadership Despite Weak Economy

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Primrose Schools

Jan 29, 2010, 09:00 ET

ATLANTA, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Primrose Schools announced today the opening of its new Primrose School of Education, a 22,000-square foot training facility for the franchise owners of its more than 200 schools nationwide. The School of Education opening is part of Primrose Schools' vision to pursue brand leadership through four key brand leadership initiatives that will benefit the children, families, teachers, and franchise owners as well as the quality of early childhood education across the country.

America's education crisis has spurred national awareness of the importance of high quality early childhood education. Parents are willing to invest in education as they recognize that a high quality early childhood education will be critical for their children's foundation. Primrose saw a 3.5% increase in enrollment during the last quarter of 2009 in their mature schools, despite weak economic conditions.

"Primrose recognizes that having highly-trained staff is critical to delivering the most trusted early childhood education to families across America," said CEO Jo Kirchner. "The Primrose School of Education grand opening is a significant milestone in our vision to become the nation's thought-leader in early education and gain preeminent brand recognition. Primrose will be a role model to improve the quality of early education for all of America's children."

The new training facility is located on the campus of Primrose Schools' headquarters and corporate training and research school outside Atlanta, Georgia. Franchise owners and school management and staff from across the country will be able to attend classes that deal with all aspects of successfully running a school—from business management to implementation of the Balanced Learning® Curriculum. Primrose Franchise Management Training also emphasizes the leadership qualities and skills needed to maintain the highest level of services for all Primrose Schools. Classes for management teams and curriculum coordinators are designed to improve their effectiveness in supervising and training teachers.

Dr. Robert Needlman Joins Education Advisory Board

Dr. Robert Needlman, a nationally acclaimed pediatrician and author of "Dr. Spock's Baby Basics: Take Charge Parenting Guide" has joined the Primrose Education Advisory Board. Dr. Needlman is a national leader in early childhood literacy, a cause Primrose supports through its partnership with Reach out and Read.

Primrose Schools established an Education Advisory Board of leading experts to pursue continual innovation and include industry best practices in Primrose's curriculum, training and programs. Board members include: Dr. Joanne Nurss, founder of the Department of Early Childhood Education at Georgia State University; Dr. Steve Sanders, Professor and Director of the School of Physical Education, Wellness, and Sports Studies at the University of South Florida; Dr. Suzanne Thouvenell, Director of Training and Development and co-founder of MOBIUS Corporation; Donna Thornton, an author and expert in child care management; and, David M. Schwartz, Ph.D., a Neuropsychology specialist.

Appointment of CEO Jo Kirchner to AdvancED Board

As part of Primrose's vision to improve early childhood education for all of America's children, Kirchner will dedicate time to advance education and youth leadership excellence on a national level. Kirchner was selected to serve on the AdvancED Corporation and Distance Education Council. AdvancED is the parent organization of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI) and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI).

Balanced Learning® Curriculum White Paper

Primrose recently commissioned a white paper to conduct a self-evaluation of its curriculum and to study the latest early childhood education research. The resulting white paper, authored by David M. Schwartz, Ph.D., affirms the Balanced Learning® curriculum approach and offers several key findings in the areas such as social and emotional development, future success tied to high-quality early education and redefining high-quality.

To learn more about Primrose's Balanced Learning® program and to read the full version of the white paper, visit: http://www.primroseschools.com/AboutPrimrose/Press.aspx.

About Primrose Schools

Founded in 1982, Primrose Schools is the nation's leader in providing consistent, accredited early childhood education and child care services in more than 200 schools in 16 states. Primrose School's foundation is based on a dedicated and passionate group of early childhood professionals providing high quality education with a balance of learning, character development and play.

Primrose School's Balanced Learning® Curriculum blends teacher-directed and child-initiated activities and is consistently delivered in all Primrose Schools nationwide. This exclusive curriculum is standards-based and enables teachers to help children build a foundation of knowledge and skills that will enable them to move successfully from one level of development to the next. Primrose is the first preschool organization in the country to achieve the gold standard in educational accreditation from AdvancED and to require all of its schools to become SACS CASI or NCA CASI accredited.

For more information, visit www.primroseschools.com.

SOURCE Primrose Schools