Lightbridge Academy Honors Top Performers at Annual Owners Conference

Lightbridge Academy® honored top performers at its annual Owners Conference, a three-day conference for the early education and child care franchise’s owners, directors and home office team. At the conference, they come together to share ideas, learn new strategies and celebrate successes.

“2022 has been another tremendous year,” said Gigi Schweikert, CEO of Lightbridge Academy. “Together with our franchisees, we share a passion for the childcare industry, our brand, and for the team members on the front lines that drive the company’s success every day. It is a great opportunity to recognize those leading by example and providing best-in-class early educational child care in an environment that fosters learning and development, as well as the highest health & safety standards,” said Schweikert.

During the event, COO Joanne Sofia emphasized the importance of how owners approach the business. To become the gold standard in childhood education, following the operation playbook isn’t enough. To get there, Sofia says both the franchise’s owners and its Home Office — Lightbridge Academy’s team — will need to demonstrate the brand’s core Circle of Care philosophy and core values.

“The Circle of Care is the heart of our company,” Sofia said. “It is important to understand the needs of our families, but it is also important to support the needs of our team members, our franchise partners and our communities – together, they all contribute to the overall success of the child.”

Award Winners Announced

Sofia recognized franchisees, center directors and teachers with 22 awards. “This year’s award winners embody the brand’s values, operate to the highest standards and demonstrate how they care deeply, not only for those in their centers but also throughout the community,” said Sofia.

The nine awards are the Reviewers Choice Award, the Customer Loyalty Award, the Lightbridge Foundation Award, Launch Champion, the CEO Award, the Pinnacle Award, the Founders Award, Teacher of the Year and Director of the Year.

Reviewer’s Choice Awards, given to the franchise locations that met or exceeded all the reputation management standards – including 4.0 stars or higher, ten or more reviews and a review response rate of 50% or higher – went to the Lightbridge Academy locations of Massapequa, New York; Glenside, Pennsylvania; and Mountain Lakes, New Jersey.

The Massapequa location was also third runner-up for the Customer Loyalty Award, given to locations with the highest Net Promoter Score for enrolled families (greater than 60) that also met the requirements for response rate. First place went to the Hampton Township, Pennsylvania, location, followed by Millburn, New Jersey.

The Lightbridge Foundation Award honored the top three centers with the highest contribution to the LBA Foundation for the calendar year. The winners were Virginia Beach, Virginia, in first place, North Brunswick, New Jersey, as runner up and Edison, New Jersey, in third.

The Randolph, New Jersey, and Apex, North Carolina, locations tied for the Launch Champion Award, which went to the centers that opened with the highest FTEs. The CEO Award, going to the top three centers with the highest occupancy above 85%, went to Allentown, Pennsylvania; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and Holly Springs, North Carolina, respectively.

Teacher of the Year Awards were given to Marchesa Ababa in the franchise center category and Alyson Payerl in the corporate-owned center category. Director of the Year Awards went to Sanya Parkash in the franchise center category and to Amanda Jennings in the corporate-owned center category.

Founders Award Recipient

The Founder’s Award was the headlining honor. The award is given each year to the franchisee who best exemplifies the core value and Circle of Care philosophy. This year, it was given to Vishal and Bhavna Ajwani, who opened their Fanwood, New Jersey, location in 2018. The Fanwood location also won the Pinnacle Award, going to the top three centers with the highest revenue, followed by Edison and Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania.

Sofia listed a number of ways in which the Ajwanis applied the brand’s core values, but she gave particular attention to one example. From the time that Vishal and Bhavna Ajwani joined the Lightbridge Academy Franchise, they put a strong emphasis on learning all they could about the system, best practices, and the childcare industry. After opening their school in April 2018, they consistently climbed in occupancy month over month while maintaining a strong focus on providing an exceptional customer experience.

Families entering their center shared feeling welcomed, heard and valued as an important part of their family.

The Ajwani’s are active in their community and foster supportive relationships with other area child care owners. Vishal serves as the chairman of the Lightbridge Franchise Advisory Council, where he helps to identify & discuss ways to make the Lightbridge system even stronger.

“The Founder’s Award paints a picture of how Lightbridge Academy owners are taking the franchise’s philosophy to heart and, in doing so, becoming a valued asset to the community they serve,” Sofia said. “We take pride in setting the gold standard in early childhood education and are looking forward to continuing to grow into new markets to serve even more families.”

Established in 1997, the company was founded as a family business 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 quality early education and child care programs to children aged six weeks through kindergarten. The company currently has over 140 child care centers either open or in development throughout Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

In response to COVID-19, Lightbridge Academy launched The Lightbridge Promise as the Gold Standard for health & safety in the child care industry. In 2020, the company was featured on the Inc. 5000 ranking, Franchise Times Top 200+ awards, and on Newsweek’s 2021 list of America’s Best Customer Service.

In 2022, Lightbridge Academy was featured for the 7th year on Entrepreneur Magazine's Franchise 500 and for the 2nd year on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies.