Lightbridge Academy Launches New Center Management Software to Create Richer Home/School Connection and Customer Experience

USA - English

• USA - English

ISELIN, N.J., June 9, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Lightbridge Academy, an early education and child care franchise with more than 50 locations open across the Mid-Atlantic and another 50 under construction or in development, announced it is deploying a powerful new center-management tool, Lightbridge Journey, to all of its centers and parents by July, 2021.

Under research and development since 2018, Lightbridge Journey provides a single cohesive, 360-degree touchpoint for parents, staff and center directors. The result of this centralized resource is increased efficiency and reduced operational costs providing additional time to support families and educators and all those in the Circle of Care.

Available on a phone, tablet or the web, Lightbridge Journey was developed in conjunction with educational management software company MomentPath. In the centers where it has been fully deployed and administrators reported saving an average of over 35 hours of center administrator and teacher time per month per center, freeing almost an entire day per week to spend on relationship building which is at the core of every successful Lightbridge Academy.

"The whole idea of the Lightbridge Journey app centers on this: If we can free the center directors and staff from administrative work, we open up time for them to spend focused on the needs of the children and parents," said Benjamin Blake, Lightbridge Academy's Chief Information Officer. "Additionally, it enhances the center directors' ability to look after the needs of teachers who are taking direct care of the children. Time is the most precious commodity. By providing more of it, we enable directors to increased their focus on what creates the most value. This is the most powerful aspect of the whole project."

Transparency for Parents

The Lightbridge Journey provides increased transparency to parents, by providing a direct line of communication between parents and the center, quick access to resources like "Peek of the Week" lesson plan previews and progress reports on their child's development.

Additionally, parents are never more than a click away from checking in on their child because the app provides real-time snapshots of what's happening with their children through photos and videos of their children's special moments and milestones as they happen. The app also lets parents have instant, 24/7 access to their billing and accounts.

"Partnering with Lightbridge provides us with an incredible opportunity to further our mission of changing the way families and educators connect, one moment at a time. We pride ourselves on bringing the best-in-class experience for teachers and parents through the Lightbridge Journey application," said MomentPath CEO, Caitlin Coffman.

Enhanced Home-School Connection

The app doesn't stop working when children leave the center, it functions as the central hub for creating a home-school connection. The app provides the ability to drop off notes and send messages between parents and teachers while also offering a central resource for reminders about necessary forms, documents, and other important paperwork.

"Parents love it because they're now able to directly communicate with their child's teachers," said Blake. "The importance was even more evident as we navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic. In many states, parents didn't have the ability to enter their child care center due to state restrictions. The app helped solidify the parent-teacher connection because they could easily message back and forth, even if they're socially distanced. The ability for parents to receive real time notifications and experience what their child is doing through pictures or videos created much needed peace of mind throughout the day."

Efficiency for Administrators

For administrators, Lightbridge Journey provides all-in-one planning, scheduling, billing and even security in one central location, helping reduce paperwork and increase time in classrooms with children and staff.

North Carolina Lightbridge Academy franchise owner Rebecca Grovenstein says the app provides powerful planning tools for her when running her business. "The reports show us forecasting with billing and enrollments from one month to four months out, and tracks attendance of our children," she said. "As owners, this helps us when making decisions with purchasing, employment and goal setting for the growth of the business."

Lightbridge Academy Center Technology Manager Shannon Kelly's two children have graduated from Lightbridge's early education program, and currently has a two-year-old enrolled at one of the centers. She understands the value of the app both as a parent and as an administrator.

"The Lightbridge Journey app has been great for me because I can be at the office and go into the app and see, 'Oh, he's taking a nap right now,'" she said. "I can stop at the food store right now, rather than go to the center and wake him up from his nap."
But she's seen the benefits for teachers as well. Previously, the 'Peek of the Week' lesson plan preview required multiple steps to be able to send it out to parents.

"Now, it is automatically generated as soon as the teachers enter their lesson plans," Kelly said. "That one process alone saved the center over 30 hours a month. A small change that made a huge difference."

About Lightbridge Academy®
Established in 1997, Guy and Julia Falzarano founded the company based on core values and a Circle of Care philosophy that places equal importance on the needs of children, their families, teachers, center owners and the community. Lightbridge Academy provides early education and child care to children ages six weeks through kindergarten, as well as special programming for children up to 10 years old for summer camp and a new school age remote learning program. The company franchised in 2011 to expand their distinctive concept throughout the Mid-Atlantic region; it currently has over 119 child care centers either open, under construction or in development throughout Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.

Media Contact

Lauren Turner, Mainland, 3125263996, [email protected]

SOURCE Lightbridge Academy