How Lightbridge Academy Got into the Business of Trust

The Lightbridge Academy leadership team understands that working parents can’t always physically be with their children, which is why it is so important that the early education and child care franchise incorporates trust into every single level of the organization.

If anyone knows about the value of trust, it’s Lightbridge Academy founder and CEO Guy Falzarano. Falzarano worked at a phone company prior to starting the early education and child care brand , which was first founded as the Rainbow Academy in 1997. As he put it, the phone company was not a place that prioritized trust, and he wanted to eliminate that uneasy feeling with parents in his new venture.

“Our competitors try to alleviate anxiety by saying ‘We have an open-door policy,’” Falzarano said. “Well, parents can’t come by the center any time they want. They have to work. So we asked ourselves, ‘How can we be transparent and give the ability to trust us if they are unable to pass by whenever they want?’”

To that end, Lightbridge Academy was an early adopter of technology tools that would allow parents to stay tuned into their children’s activities throughout the day . One such virtual tool the brand uses today is a proprietary service called ParentView®.

“One of Lightbridge Academy’s investors created this service for us in 1998,” Falzarano said. “At the time, it was a dial-up service. We didn’t have broadband technology back then so it was the best we could do. We upgraded the service regularly throughout the years.”

Around 2003, Lightbridge Academy found a new vendor to help enhance this video technology. It was perfect timing, as broadband became more prevalent and allowed for a more sophisticated video monitoring system.

“What this does is it allows parents to get over their anxiety,” Falzarano said. “They see that we are being transparent, and they get to a comfort level much more quickly than they would if we didn’t have the service.”

Using video monitoring technology such as ParentView® allows Lightbridge Academy to fulfill its mission of being a pillar in the communities it serves. ParentView® also has another major benefit.

“The cool thing about this service is that it connects grandparents to us, as well,” Falzarano said. “If grandparents are in another state or country, they can tune in throughout the course of the day and see their grandchildren. We’ve got grandparents all over the world who tune into ParentView®.”

Lightbridge Academy was also an early user of Tadpoles, an app that gives parents regular updates on their children’s daily activities, meals and naps. Parents can even receive photos and videos of their children. Lightbridge Academy beta-tested Tadpoles around 2010 when Tadpoles was still a startup, and is currently transitioning to a similar proprietary system called Lightbridge Journey.

“Lightbridge Journey is going to give us the capabilities of Tadpoles, plus a lot of other features that parents will enjoy, such as the ability to see their account and pay their bill,” Falzarano said. “We’re in the second phase of beta-testing Lightbridge Journey and have expanded its use to five centers over the past two months. We will eventually roll it out system wide.”

In addition to using technology, Lightbridge Academy also builds trust through good, old-fashioned in-person communication .

“We tell our directors that the most important times of the day for them to be on the floor are during opening and closing,” Falzarano said. “That’s when they greet parents and ask simple but important questions such as ‘How are things going?’ and ‘Is there anything we can do to make your experience better?’”

Center directors are also encouraged to do a bit of what Falzarano refers to as “Secret Service” work and learn as much as they can about the families they serve.

“What are their jobs? What are they looking forward to as their child goes from one classroom to the next? What are they hoping for their child as they leave us?” Falzarano said. “Find out whatever you can about them so you can begin to understand who they are. We already do these things with people we know, and we should also do it with the parents we serve.”

Creating this personal touch in a professional way is ultimately what sets Lightbridge Academy apart in the childcare industry and helps build trust with parents.

“When you build relationships long and strong, you are insulating yourself against the competition,” Falzarano said. “That way, when the new, shiny place opens up down the street, your parents are not going to leave you, because you have established a relationship based on trust.”

Lightbridge Academy wants parents to feel confident in the brand and trust that their children are being well taken care of. By utilizing technology in an open and transparent way and making sure center directors put in valuable face time with parents, Lightbridge Academy ensures that everyone feels at ease.