The Academy: Educational Childhood Development is a military family owned child care
center that focuses on the physical and emotional needs of the child as well as the
educational needs. The staff is genuinely passionate about educating the children of the
future and inspiring them to grow to be productive and positive members of our community.
The Academy enjoys supporting and giving back to the community, through various events
and charities, allowing us the opportunity to positively impact not only the children in our
center, but in the area as well. We thrive on working closely with families, their children, and
the community to provide a family centered approach that recognizes all children develop,
grow, and learn within the context of a family. Therefore, we believe that early childhood
programs must serve the family as a whole. At the Academy, we are committed to creating a
safe, warm, and loving environment for children. This is the place where they can learn, grow
physically, emotionally, creatively, intellectually, and socially at their own pace while also
preparing them for school. We help the children increase their confidence and self esteem by
treating them as unique individuals. We are committed to supporting families by maintaining
open communication and encouraging parental involvement in our program activities. Our
objective is to care for the children the same way their families would. The Academy’s
curriculum is a balanced learning curriculum that allows children to learn and play in a
purposeful way. We develop activities centered on stories, songs, math, fine and gross motor
skills, cognitive skills, circle time, science, music, and arts/crafts. Our staff strives to prepare
our enrolled children for their early school years by utilizing our curriculum to regularly
expose them to letters, numbers, colors, shapes, names recognition, and new vocabulary.
The Academy is working with Office Equity Solutions to build our current Northlake
location as well as our future locations. This center is located on Cleveland- GIbbs road in
Northlake. This over 7,000 sqft building is placed in the heart of The Harvest community, The
majority of the enrollments are from this community and surrounding areas.
We are requesting a business loan for the amount of $320,000. This amount will allow
The Academy to pay for build out costs, equipment, employee training, and other opening
expenses.
MARKET ANALYSIS
The current struggles for the child care industry within the community is the lack of availability
within programs, staffing of programs, and access to quality programs. According to national
estimates from the National Household Education Survey, 58% of working parents with children five
years old and younger — or about 6.38 million parents across the nation — use center-based child
care options. However, roughly half of Americans have trouble finding child care, and 27% of them
say it’s because there are not enough open child care slots.
According to a 2020 study that analyzes 25 states across the nation, 8.4 million children under
the age of five needed child care. However, only about 5.9 million child care slots were available.
Thus, roughly 2.7 million children, or 31.7%, could not access quality child care due to a limited
number of child care slots.
Presently, as reported in the 2021 Texas Child Care Market Survey, less than 50% of licensed child
care centers have national accreditations, are certified as a Rising Star provider, or both. These
certifications give parents knowledge about the quality rating and improvement systems for the
involved child care centers. Facilities must meet the criteria to be involved in these programs which
hold centers to a higher standard. With the numbers showing less than 50% of child care providers
having these qualifications, parents have few options for child care in which they can have
confidence. The Academy: Educational Child Care Center prides itself on going above and beyond
with training for staff. Not only do we require the necessary training mandated by the State, we
provide other training to staff through personal development days, guest speakers, pre-developed
learning modules and additional resources. The Academy plans on becoming both nationally
accredited and certified through the Rising Star program.
Upon my own research and discussions with members of Denton County Chamber of Commerce,
sub-par child care centers currently have a wait list up to six months and reputable centers are
experiencing even longer wait periods of upwards to a year. As of 2021 Denton County’s population
was 941,647 people with 56,499 of that being children under 5 years old. With numbers this high,
the expansion of the Northlake community, and the building of multiple elementary schools, these
numbers in Northlake will increase as well as the need for child care. Northlake is already located in a
child care desert and citizens will not be able to attend work without child care - therefore affecting
the entire community.
With the expansion of this area and the lack of child care families will be forced to find care in
neighboring communities which could also cause them to seek jobs in those areas as well. However,
with a reputable child care center in the city, residents can remain in the community and contribute
to the Northlake expansion.
O R G A N I Z A T I O N
A N D
M A N A G E M E N T
The Academy: Educational Childhood Development is currently a Limited Liability Company
owned by the Krohnfeldt Group. Our Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan location will be run by
Abigail Krohnfeldt as program Director and assisted by both Chris and Michele Ackerman.
The classrooms will each have one lead teacher and one assistant teacher. All of the staff will
have the necessary requirements by the State of Texas to obtain their position. The owners
will always maintain all financial records and duties.
Abigail Krohnfeldt, currently owns The Academy: Educational Child Care Center in North
Pole, Alaska. She has six years experience both working and running a child care facility, has
experience working as a paraprofessional in a special needs classroom, and has her
Bachelor's Degree in Communication, and currently obtaining an associates in Early
Childhood Education. The North Pole Location is at full capacity and is the most sought after
child care center in the area, with over a year-long waitlist. An administrator, Christopher
Ackerman has his Bachelor's Degree in business administration, Master’s Degree in special
education, with minors in marketing, social sciences, and teaching. He also holds a Michigan
administration certification as well as a teaching certificate in Michigan and Texas. He has
been teaching for 18 years and was an administrator for five years. An additional consultant
and administrator, Michele Ackerman, has 30 years experience in education as a teacher,
administrator and district curriculum coordinator. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in teaching, a
secondary teaching endorsement in English, a Master’s Degree in education and a Doctorate
Degree in educational administration and community leadership.
The owner/administrators all understand and believe in working vigorously to provide
care for all children - regardless of race, gender, or economic status and/or special needs. The
goal of The Academy is to provide the DFW metroplex, with a loving and respectful
environment that fosters the confidence and trust children require to learn. In addition, The
Academy strives to provide a pricing structure that enables families of all economic and social
levels to have access to quality child development opportunities.
M A R K E T I N G
O B J E C T I V E S A N D
S T R A T E G I E S
Objective 1:
Lead Generation
As child care providers we have many daily interactions with current and potential
customers by phone, email, and even in person, but oftentimes we are unable to
document their contact information. Every person that interacts with the Academy is a
potential customer and it’s critical to record these interactions.
To generate, maintain and track client leads, we will document names and contact
numbers for people who access our website, social media sites and who attend
informational presentations. We will perform follow up calls and emails with the
prospective parents, and email these parents regarding events and promotions. We will
also look for community events to attend and participate in, and announce new openings
and unused spots on the Academy website and with social media posts.
At the North Pole center we hosted car seat safety checks, first aid classes and special
evening child care on special occasions like Valentine’s Day and the Super Bowl. At these
events we kept records of attendees and included them on mailing lists and social media
groups.
In the prior months to opening of the Northlake location, The Academy will be holding
similar events in order to build a positive relationship with members of the community
and to also market to prospective families. These efforts are important in keeping parents
connected with the Academy and our organization until we have built the trust needed
for a parent to enroll.
M A R K E T I N G
O B J E C T I V E A N D
S T R A T E G I E S
Objective 2:
Strong Brand Awareness
It is important for the community to understand our brand of providing education,
supporting our community, and creating a loving environment for children. Impressing this
philosophy upon future clients gives The Academy strong brand awareness and will allow us
to be one of the most desired centers in the area.
We will increase our brand awareness by developing a referral program, shareable
infographics and providing “give aways” at community events. Partnering with community,
service and school agencies will also help to create brand awareness. For example, Academy
staff can volunteer at community events, provide child care service for special events, and
provide childcare information and resources at community and/or special events.
This brand knowledge spreads by word of mouth, and by targeted and intentional social
media posts, and creates a positive image. Following this, brand loyalty will be cultivated,
allowing us to be strong pillars within the community.
M A R K E T I N G
O B J E C T I V E A N D
S T R A T E G I E S
Objective 3:
Further Social Media Presence
Part of developing strong brand awareness is the intentional use of technology and social
media. The Academy’s website was launched early in 2022. Our objective is to constantly
update the site and make it a portal of information for families attending our Academy and
for families within the community. The goal is to make the website a platform where citizens
and community members can find events we are hosting, find resources for early childhood
education, as well as get information about each of our classrooms and enroll online.
In addition to the website, The Academy will continue to maintain a social media presence on
Facebook and Instagram. Posts will provide families with information about the Academy,
community and events and resources and other helpful information.
M A R K E T I N G
O B J E C T I V E A N D
S T R A T E G I E S
Objective 4:
Chamber of Commerce
Joining the Local Chamber of Commerce will allow The Academy to participate in other
marketing strategies that may not be available to nonparticipants. This includes the
community event calendar, sponsorship, ribbon cuttings, and other local events.
Being an active member of the community and an active member of the Chamber of
Commerce will also help to build relationships with other businesses and business owners.
In addition to the networking opportunities, this will increase visibility in the community,
bring credibility to the new center, and provide the center - and the area of child care - a
voice in local government.
F U T U R E
E N D E A V O R S
The Academy plans to expand to multiple locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. We
will continue to set ourselves apart by providing the family-like atmosphere and maintaining
a positive and enriching reputation. As the company grows every location will work to
service both our families at our center and also members of the community allowing the
knowledge and support that we can provide to benefit families bringing a culture of
positivity to our area.
F I N A N C I A L
P R O J E C T I O N S
The above projections show that with a full center of 163 children the program will bring in
$164,750 per month before expenses. With state ratios demanding at least 15 employees at our
starting rate of $15.00 per hour for assistant teachers and $17.00 per hour for lead teachers, this is
our most costly monthly expense and leads the monthly payroll to $47,840. Included in the
projections and ratio teacher count are 4 extra teachers to ensure daily ratio is met. After payroll
expenses the income is $116,910 a month leaving plenty of room for profits, utilities and
expenditures which is shown in Figure 2 below. We have projected that in order to break even with
these expenses The Academy would have to have 93 children ages 0-3 years old enrolled in the
center.
POSTED IS A DIRECT LINK TO OUR BUSNIESS PLAN.
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