http://www.huntingtonfranchise.com

NEW HUNTINGTON LEARNING CENTER

MAKES NATIONAL IMPACT

            (Oradell, NJ) On Friday, July 20, at a grand opening celebration in the town of Pearland, Texas, Katherine Ideno embarked on an exciting new phase in her life as the owner of a Huntington Learning Center. What she didn’t learn until recently, however, is that she’s also enabling Huntington to meet an historic milestone. The Pearland location is Huntington’s 300^th franchised learning center, and its opening comes as the company celebrates its 30^th anniversary as the nation’s original provider of supplemental education services.

"It was a total surprise to learn how significant my center is to the Huntington organization,” said Ideno. "I'm an educator first, and a businessperson second, so I'm getting a real boost of confidence knowing that the organization is thriving in its support for student achievement."

Founded in 1977 by Dr. Raymond J. and Eileen Huntington, Huntington Learning Center provides instruction in reading, writing, spelling, phonics, mathematics and study skills, as well as SAT / ACT preparation to tens of thousands of students in kindergarten through 12^th grade. Huntington prides itself on unparalleled programs that help parents, caregivers and educators identify the gaps in skills and knowledge that can limit learning potential, and in providing a personalized program of instruction to enable children to excel.

Like Katherine, the Huntingtons approached their enterprise as educators who believed that personalized, one-on-one instruction could enable students who were falling behind in school to catch up academically while building the confidence needed for increasingly challenging schoolwork. They began with one center in a suburban New Jersey community, and ended up founding the tutoring industry as it exists today. The industry is now booming. Since 1988, the field as a whole has expanded at a compounded annual rate of nearly 12 percent, reaching $6 billion in 2004.

 “When people become owners of a Huntington Learning Center today, they know they’re building on the success of a well-established company and a multi-billion dollar industry – which is very different from my mindset in 1977, when we opened our doors without any guarantee that the students would come,” said Eileen Huntington. “But my instincts told me it was a sound proposition – there were just too many students who weren’t meeting their potential.”

While the growth of the tutoring field has been fueled largely by the desire of entrepreneurial educators to create a stable, community-based business, it has also been driven by the rising number of parents and families seeking tutoring for students facing difficulties in meeting increasingly rigorous academic standards, particularly with the implementation of the No Child Left Behind education act.

            The need for supplemental education services is driven further by the rising number of students enrolled in K-12 public and private schools. According to the U.S. Department of Education, enrollment in elementary and secondary schools rose 20 percent, to more than 53 million students, between 1985 and 2005. The pool of school-age children is expected to grow by an additional two million over the next 10 years.

Huntington educators have also been encouraged by independent third party evaluations of Huntington’s particular attributes in the industry. In March of this year, Huntington Learning Center was selected for inclusion in the 2006 edition of Bond’s Top 100 Franchises. Published annually, Bond’s Top 100 Franchises chose Huntington based on historical performance, brand identification, market dynamics, operator satisfaction, the level of initial training and on-going support, financial stability and other key factors. More than 500 franchises were evaluated for the rankings.

Also in 2006, Huntington was named by The Wall Street Journal’s StartUpJournal.com as one of the top 25 high-performing brands. As the only supplemental education services organization included on the list, Huntington Learning Center was lauded for criteria that include well-experienced leadership, strong financial health and a proven record of franchising success.

"With the exception of good health and quality healthcare, education is probably the most important factor in the longtime success and happiness of our students, and of course we all know that it has a huge impact on the economic vitality of our community as well," said Ideno. "Regardless of how much a child may be struggling in school, we know everyone can learn and achieve when he/she receives personalized attention tailored to his/her specific needs. I'm excited about working in partnership with Pearland schools and forming collaborative relationships with the other fine teachers in our community."

For more information on Huntington Learning Centers, please call 1-800 CAN LEARN.