How Lightbridge Academy is Meeting the Massive Demand for Quality Infant and Toddler Care, with Soaring Systemwide Occupancy

Over the last two decades, Lightbridge Academy has established itself as a leading provider of quality early education and child care throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. A major part of that equation has been providing high quality infant and toddler care, specifically, which is increasingly in demand but is not always offered by other providers.

“Many brands that provide child care services choose not to provide infant and toddler care because of the high costs associated with it,” said Lightbridge Academy’s CEO Gigi Schweikert. “Preschool and pre-Kindergarten tends to be where child care brands make most of their money, and in the business world, that is often the bottom line. But we feel it is necessary to provide quality infant and toddler care because we know parents need it and it feeds into our Circle of Care philosophy, which places equal importance on the needs of children, parents, teachers, franchisees and the community.”

Lightbridge Academy’s BottleBridge Certification Program, for example, helps infant caregivers bridge the gap between home and school by supporting every mother’s decision, whether that is to nurse, provide bottle-fed breast milk or formula. 

“It is the opportunity for mothers to choose a healthy nutritional choice for their child,” said Schweikert. “Our teachers are trained on how to properly bottle-feed expressed breast milk and safely handle its storage, so they can support parents in whatever decision they make. Most of our centers are equipped with Bonding Rooms, for example, to allow breastfeeding mothers to pump or feed on-site.”

But Schweikert notes that the importance of infant and toddler care extends even beyond the needs of the parents. 

“There are several studies that indicate that toddler care isn’t just about a place where children can go so their parents can work — it also plays a significant role in developing the brain of the child,” said Schweikert. “Children who attend these centers are more likely to graduate from college, make more money and form high social relationships. Socialization and level of self regulation are strong predictors of future success.”

An example of how Lightbridge Academy sets toddlers up for a strong educational path is its sign language program. “While infants are not able to express themselves, they do have a great capacity for receptive language and the ability to understand what others are saying around them,” said Schweikert. “Teaching them sign language before they are able to talk reduces pre-verbal frustration and allows them to better communicate to us what they need.”

As a result of being one of the few child care brands reliably offering this level of quality infant and toddler care nationwide, Schweikert says Lightbridge Academy franchisees have seen record-breaking occupancy rates this year. 

“Our pre-COVID occupancies have increased by at least 5% throughout the system for mature centers,” said Schweikert. “In fact, the majority of our child care centers have waiting lists for their infant and toddler programs. If we had larger buildings, we would probably be serving even more infants and toddlers. It really speaks to the level of demand.”

Overall, Schweikert says the Lightbridge Academy team understands that it takes a special program to instill trust in parents who are leaving their children — at an age as young as six weeks — with someone else for the very first time

“As The Solution for Working Parents®, we are in the trust business,” said Schweikert. “How can we build stronger parent relationships? What other ways can we improve communication? Do parents have enough transparency into their child’s day? How can we make our centers an even safer and healthier environment for children? These are the questions that we are constantly asking ourselves. Occupancy rates help to indicate that we are doing a great job filling this need.”

For more information on single or multi-unit franchising opportunities with Lightbridge Academy, visit https://lightbridgeacademyfranchise.com/multi-unit/.