--- title: "Lightbridge Academy Continues Impressive Momentum; Brings Its Circle of Care to Detroit with Latest Signing" url: https://burnaze.com/article/ad10b41d-2c1e-423f-b024-14fed36b7e6e source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/lightbridge-academy-continues-impressive-momentum-brings-its-circle-of-care-to-detroit-with-latest-signing-2721690 category: "Childcare & early learning" industry: "Education & Childcare" segment: "Childcare & early learning" published: 2023-03-23T15:10:00.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T01:19:22.805Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/6512f14555eb43a8f8f64dabe47174b77301.jpg --- # Lightbridge Academy Continues Impressive Momentum; Brings Its Circle of Care to Detroit with Latest Signing **TL;DR:** Lightbridge Academy is expanding to Detroit with a new location, bringing its Circle of Care to the community. The new location is owned by franchisees Jayesh and Vaishali Patel, who were drawn to the concept because of its focus on transparency and real-time information for parents. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2023-03-23. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/lightbridge-academy-continues-impressive-momentum-brings-its-circle-of-care-to-detroit-with-latest-signing-2721690).* ## Story Jayesh and Vaishali Patel, the franchise owners and local residents behind the new Detroit Lightbridge Academy, said they were drawn to the concept because of its focus on transparency and real-time information for parents. “I loved the Lightbridge Academy concept,” said Jayesh. “It creates an opportunity for parents to have an ongoing connection and access to real-time information on their children. This transparency is key to building trust and strong relationships with families. It doesn’t really exist in our market. Lightbridge Academy’s approach to helping children develop and learn has true value in this area, and we are looking forward to bringing the concept to Detroit.” The couple has years of business experience in their respective fields. Jayesh Patel is a professional engineer in the automotive industry, and he has also been involved in his family’s restaurant franchise business for 20 years. Vaishali Patel works in the medical field part-time as a sonographer at the local hospital. “We loved that it involved kids,” said Vaishali Patel. “When my own children went to daycare, we were so focused on choosing the right place. We had certain expectations that we wanted to be met. Lightbridge Academy is a service that I would have wanted for my own children. It’s not just daycare; it’s a learning opportunity.” The Patels are now looking to hire employees, including a center director, who share their values and can provide a customer-first approach for the parents in the community. “We want to hire a top-notch team of professionals who have a passion for children and education, especially when looking for a center director,” he said. “They will be running the day-to-day operations, so we want to ensure their values align with ours and the brand's.” - Jayesh Patel’s background includes: - Professional engineer in the automotive industry - 20 years of experience in his family’s restaurant franchise business - Vaishali Patel’s background includes: - Part-time work as a sonographer at the local hospital - Experience as a parent seeking quality child care In 2022, Lightbridge Franchise Company celebrated 28 signings for a total of 158 locations, entering new markets like Texas and Ohio while continuing to grow in existing markets like North Carolina and Florida. The Lightbridge Academy team is continuing to build out the systems, processes, and platforms that will position individual franchisees for success. For example, the brand recently rolled out a new “land banking” strategy, in which the Lightbridge team proactively finds and secures ideal real estate prior to a franchisee signing in that market. Thus, when the franchise owner does sign, they can become operational much faster. Looking ahead, the Lightbridge Academy team is eager to partner with passionate and qualified franchisees in target markets across Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. “We couldn’t be more excited to bring Lightbridge Academy’s tradition of educational child care excellence as The Solution for Working Parents to Detroit, and we couldn’t have found better partners to help us do it than Jayesh and Vaishali,” said CEO Gigi Schweikert. “This is an incredible time for Lightbridge Academy overall as we continue to make a positive impact for everyone in our Circle of Care and the communities we serve.” ## Entities - 1851 Franchise (publication) - franchise growth (topic) - location expansion (topic) - Education & Childcare (sector) - education (topic) - Gigi Schweikert (person) - Detroit (location) - childcare services (topic) --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/lightbridge-academy-continues-impressive-momentum-brings-its-circle-of-care-to-detroit-with-latest-signing-2721690). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/ad10b41d-2c1e-423f-b024-14fed36b7e6e).