Sylvan Learning's Leadership Team Reflects on Four Decades of Success

Sylvan Learning entered the supplemental education space over 40 years ago, and its trusted name and reputation for top-notch teachers, state-of-the-art technology and individualized programs for students has since continued to resonate with families across the country. Now, with a firm footprint of more than 710 points of presence, the brand is looking to its leadership team for future growth plans. The franchise aims to expand its growth with 45 new territories in 2022 amid an increasing demand for its academic support services after multiple challenging academic years for students. 

Sylvan’s CEO John McAuliffe attributed the brand’s four decades of success to its central mission of delivering the best educational resources to kids. McAuliffe stated that all leaders who join Sylvan’s team are driven to better the lives of students by continuing to advance the technology and hiring excellent teachers. By doing this, the brand is able to continue its reputation for individualized programs that truly develop a love of learning in students. 

Sylvan’s World-Class Customer Ranking Is a Reflection of Its Leadership Team 

“Because of the pandemic — which has exacerbated the need for supplemental-learning resources — we have seen families seek out Sylvan more than ever over the last two years,” stated McAuliffe. “COVID-19 has been an enormously challenging situation, but because of our leadership team’s ability to quickly pivot in just a few days and move all our resources online, we have been able to reach more kids than ever.”

McAuliffe also noted that Sylvan has a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of over 75 — which, according to Inc. magazine, indicates a world-class ranking. He is thrilled by this score and mentioned that this industry recognition is a reminder for those in corporate that their day-to-day efforts are producing real-world results.

“We might not necessarily be in the centers, directly seeing the impact the teachers are having  on the students, but with valuable customer feedback, such as an extremely high NPS score, we know our franchisees are living Sylvan’s mission and making a huge difference in the lives of students all over the nation,” McAuliffe said. “It’s an incredible feeling: Sylvan is a deeply meaningful brand to be a part of.” 

Sylvan Centers Continued To Grow Amid the Pandemic with Support from Leadership 

In addition to bringing more students to Sylvan, the pandemic has also brought more franchisees to the brand. Many people are starting businesses they’ve always wanted and quitting the jobs they’ve grown tired of. With Sylvan’s current 710 locations, McAuliffe projects that the brand can still significantly grow while still continuing its mission to evolve its content and add new products and programs to meet every child’s academic needs. 

Sylvan’s leadership team has helped drive the brand’s growth by fostering a culture where everyone is inspired and united toward one goal. Support is always there for franchisees at all stages in business. 

For example, McAuliffe emphasized that franchisees had the full support of the leadership team at the height of the pandemic to ensure that online programs were implemented and that students could enter centers safely, as local laws permitted. 

“In addition to converting to a virtual model, we had already moved all of our scheduling and administrative systems to the cloud,” said McAuliffe. “This allowed franchisees to operate systems from anywhere without having to go into their centers. Additionally, the government provided significant funding through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and our finance people stepped up to work with every single franchisee to make sure that they had the ability to access those PPP loans. And for in-store support, Susan Valverde, our chief franchise operations officer, and her team were making sure all of our center staff knew how to adapt to the virtual systems.”

Sylvan’s Leaders Prioritize Feedback of Parents and Franchisees  

McAuliffe noted that foremost, people are attracted to Sylvan for its mission, but in particular, the brand has a much-loved aspect called “the voice of the customer,” meaning that anyone in the company can access the feedback that parents give franchisees. This allows even those not actively engaging with students to hear their stories and know that they’re playing some part in making that ultimate difference. 

Amy Przywara, Sylvan’s chief marketing officer who has been with the brand for 19 years, states that Sylvan’s leadership team has the capability to truly listen and understand its franchisees — a factor that has continued to drive more business and more franchise locations. 

“As a leadership team, we understand that the franchisees are on the front lines with the parents and children,” said Przywara. “So, we need our franchisees to be happy and successful. I think the entire corporate team and our centers all have a passion for helping kids, so it's hearing those stories — the Sylvan moments — where we are included in the life-changing things that we do for kids that resonate with us and remind us why we do what we do. We always say that if we put what's best for the kids first, the rest will come in. We all really live by that.”

Przywara described how many of the brand’s leaders have been with the franchise for several years and continue to impact the brand.

“Our corporate average tenure is over nine-and-a-half years; people really do like working here,” Przywara said. “I think a lot of that goes to the leadership team being stable and really being dedicated to the business, and that transfers over to having franchisees who are dedicated to the business. At the end of the day, what we're doing is really great — it’s a great business of advancing youth and education, and it feels good to be a part of that.”

ABOUT SYLVAN LEARNING LLC 

With more than 40 years of experience and more than 710 points of presence, Sylvan Learning is the leading provider of personal learning for students in grades K-12. Sylvan is transforming how students learn, inspiring them to succeed in school and in life. Sylvan’s proven tutoring approach blends amazing teachers with SylvanSync™ technology on the iPad® for an engaging learning experience. Sylvan also leads the way with Sylvan EDGE — STEM and accelerated courses and Sylvan Prep — college and test prep courses. Sylvan supports families through every stage of the academic journey. Sylvan is a wholly owned subsidiary of Franchise Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRG).  For more information, visit www.SylvanLearning.com or SylvanLearning.com/blog.