Celebree School Launches Strategic Plan to Grow to 100 Schools in 5 Years

For 25 years, Celebree School has been a recognized leader in providing the best in child care and early childhood education for infants, preschool and school-age children. Since starting in Ellicott City, Maryland, Celebree School has been caring for and impacting the lives of children throughout its home state and Delaware. Now, the brand is expanding its footprint through a leading franchise opportunity to bring the Celebree difference to children and families throughout the Northeast and across the U.S.

“Celebree School stands out from the competition thanks to our exceptional curriculum, talented leadership team and strong community-building relationships,” said Jim DiRugeris, Celebree School’s Chief Development Officer. “Although we are a relatively new brand in franchising, we have 26 years of experience within the education space and have served over 60,000 families during those years.”

Today, Celebree School has 26 corporate-owned locations. To reproduce the success of the corporate center model and expand the Celebree name, the brand launched a franchise offering in March 2019 and has since signed on seven franchisees, with numerous more in the pipeline. The first franchisee-owned location is slated to open in late 2020.

“Our long term goal is to grow to 100 schools in 60 months,” said DiRugeris. “We are looking for qualified prospects in order to create a new kind of neighborhood where owners, educators, parents, and children unite in support of one another. Our franchising opportunity offers flexible hours, meaningful family-oriented work and access to the booming child care industry.”

According to 2019 FranData, the early education segment is the second-fastest-growing franchise category in the U.S., and the 3rd most profitable. In fact, the childcare and child education industry is on the rise, with 12.5 million children in child care every week and an estimated industry revenue of $53.1 billion by 2023.

“Many of Celebree School’s franchisees come from outside the education industry with the goal of diversifying their portfolio,” said Allan Greenberg, Chief Financial Officer of Celebree School. “The ideal Celebree School franchisee is an active owner-operator—they need to be able to manage a world-class team, be willing to work within our system, and, most importantly, be eager to leverage a local sphere of influence within their community to change lives. We are establishing villages where people passionate about early childhood education can protect, educate and nurture, so we want our franchise owners to have roots in their community.”

In order to reach more communities, Celebree School is looking to expand throughout the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., spreading organically from its Maryland and Delaware roots.

“The Mid-Atlantic region holds 15% of the country’s total population and some of the highest median wages,” said Chris Kelleher, VP of Franchise Development & Operations. “Specifically, our development team has identified Burlington, Mercer and Middlesex Counties in New Jersey, Montgomery and Bucks Counties in Pennsylvania, and Arlington, Loudoun, Fairfax and Woodbridge Counties in Virginia.”

To help incoming franchise partners, Celebree School has a strong support infrastructure and robust three-week training program, including one week spent at the training facility headquarters in Lutherville, Maryland, and two weeks at the school prior to opening. For ongoing support, Celebree School also has a national call center that acts as a sales touchpoint process to generate leads.

To combat the industry’s high caregiver turnover rates, Celebree School helps franchisees hire and develop an amazing team of caregivers to create a life-changing impact on the children in their care. While the franchisee’s team of educators help small people to learn and grow, Celebree School offers big people the opportunity to grow as entrepreneurs and professionals.

“Celebree School is a franchising opportunity that makes a difference,” said DiRugeris. “We know that parents are juggling their careers, responsibilities and families. Our owners take pride in being a convenient and inspiring resource to help families raise independent, thoughtful children who are excited about learning.”

The initial investment for a Celebree School franchise is $525,500-$684,000, with a franchise fee of $75,000. For more information, click here.