Jennifer and I decided to take a sabbatical back in 2022.\u202f We decided we wanted to stay in Tulsa and continue to help our community grow.\u202f As we considered becoming business owners, we were introduced to Celebree School<\/a> via a business broker.\u202f \u202fThis was very different from anything I had ever done, but it was intriguing.\u202f Celebree had almost 30 years of experience<\/a> successfully operating high-quality childcare centers in Maryland (as of 2022) and had recently started franchising<\/a> (in 2019).\u202f Jennifer and I are both passionate about education and continuous learning, and I’ve always loved the people development side of my leadership roles in my career.<\/p>\n As we started to evaluate the opportunity, we learned that Celebree<\/a> had developed a model that focused on “Growing People Big and Small”.\u202f \u202fBy taking care of their teachers and staff and investing in their careers, Celebree<\/a> benefited from employee turnover rates well below the industry average of 40%.\u202f By maintaining staff continuity, we learned that it helped children feel safe because their teachers were consistent.\u202f When children feel safe, their minds are ready to learn. When they have that relationship with their teacher, they are best able to learn by playing, which helps their social and emotional development. In doing our research (before the age of AI!), we found them to have a good reputation, and parents and teachers had positive impressions of the company.<\/p>\n Their approach seemed so straightforward and obvious, and it really resonated with us, having recently learned more about how ACE (adverse childhood experiences) negatively impede personal growth through my experiences in the non-profit space, especially the Tulsa Area United Way<\/a>.\u202f Jennifer saw it firsthand in her experiences as a Spanish teacher in a local public school.\u202f It felt natural for both of us that by investing in teachers’ growth, you create the right safe environment to enable education and nurturing.\u202f We saw through Celebree that we could have childcare centers in Tulsa<\/a> where we could help prepare children going to kindergarten in public or private schools, and that, in turn, could help them get ready for 3rd-grade reading tests that have been demonstrated to be a significant early indicator of long-term outcomes for children as they mature.<\/p>\n After signing in February 2023, we were fortunate to find the perfect home for our school in KingsPointe Village<\/a>. From the very first call with Sharon King Davis, we felt supported in our vision to bring something meaningful to Tulsa. Today, we\u2019re honored to partner with more than 70 families across 27 zip codes\u2014and we\u2019re just getting started. And while it\u2019s not technically Midtown (as many friends remind me!)<\/span>, we like to think we\u2019ve brought a small piece of Maryland\u2019s best early learning practices right into the heart of Tulsa. And we couldn\u2019t be more grateful for the trust our community has placed in us.<\/p>\n Written by Karl Neumaier, Owner of Celebree School of Tulsa<\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n