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2010 Knowledge Universe Report

www.kueducation.com/us

©2011 Knowledge Universe.® All rights reserved.

Knowledge Universe® congratulates NAEYC on the 25th Anniversary of
Program Accreditation

The hisTory
For 25 years, Knowledge Universe® has proudly supported the standards and advocacy
of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). By pursuing
excellence through NAEYC Program Accreditation, Knowledge Universe has attracted
both employees and parents who share our values.

KU stays at the forefront of NAEYC activity via active involvement in accreditation
facilitation as well as by presenting and exhibiting at NAEYC conferences. As a result,
our NAEYC-accredited early childhood programs reflect the highest level of quality.

All Knowledge Universe centers and programs meet or exceed our company guidelines
for education, health, and safety. Additionally, many of our centers have achieved
NAEYC accreditation.

The CenTers
We believe accreditation offers important assurance to parents who choose a KU center
or program for their child. As of April 2011, KU has 319 NAEYC-accredited centers:

• 261 KinderCare® Learning Centers
• 54 CCLC® employer partnership programs
• 4 Champions® programs

As of April 2011, KU hAs 319
NAEYC-ACCrEditEd CENtErs. oUr
KinderCAre brAnd hAs 261 NAEYC-
ACCrEditEd EArlY Childhood EduCAtioN
CENtErs—more thAn Any other privAte
CAre provider in the CoUntry.

113517-KU-GEN ©2010 Knowledge Universe.® All Rights Reserved. w w w . K U e d U c at i o n . c o m / U S

At Knowledge Universe® (KU), we’re creating a world of learners. Our more
than 2,000 locations serve a wide range of students across the country.

KU in the United StateS: OUr BrandS
Our wide-ranging expertise in early childhood care and education results in practical,
effective strategies and solutions designed to create lifelong learners, enrich teacher
development, and enhance center quality. As of April 2011, KU has 585 nationally
accredited childhood education centers—more than any other private education
provider in the U.S.

KinderCare® • Knowledge Beginnings® • Cambridge SchoolstM
the Grove School® • CCLC®
Combined, these brands operate in 39 states and have more than 1,700 community-
based early learning centers and employer partnerships. Centers provide care and
education for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners, and school-age children.

Champions®
A nationwide brand, Champions programs provide K-12 educational solutions via
supplemental and enrichment programs. More than 400 programs across the nation
meet learners’ needs through educational offerings that include before- and after-
school academic enrichment programs and summer camps.

In the U.S., oUr teacherS
cUrrently nUrtUre, InSpIre,
and delIght more than 200,000
students each day.

w w w . K U e d U c at i o n . c o m / U S

Together, we can extend the gift of early literacy to today’s infants,
toddlers, and preschoolers—because every child deserves a chance to
be tomorrow’s leader.

Every day, we see how reading expands a child’s horizons. Our belief that all children
should have access to books—both at school and at home—leads us to participate in
literacy initiatives across the nation. To show our support for early learners, we’ve:

• Sponsored early literacy programs in Boston, Chicago, and Denver
• Supported organizations such as The Children’s Book Bank, Start Making a Reader
Today (SMART), and Schoolhouse Supplies
• Retrofitted six Los Angeles Public Libraries to better serve infants and toddlers
• Partnered with Oregon’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital to deliver literacy and
educational programs for patients
• Brought books and mobile book carts to schools in over 30 states

In 2010, we further expanded the scope of our early literacy outreach efforts by creating
two new resources:

• Today I Will Get Lost in a Book, a free guide that encourages parents to read to
their children
• The KinderCare® Book Station, a small mobile library geared toward individuals and
communities who support young readers
• As of October 2010, we’ve donated 40 of our Book Stations—and we’ll continue to
find ways to contribute to local and national groups who share our dedication to
early literacy.

being introduced to books and being
read to at home prior to beginning
school is the single most significant
factor influencing a child’s early
educational success.
—the national commission on reading


KU COMMUnity LeaderShip
We support organizations that give children access to quality education experiences.
Working with our community partners, we deliver parent and mentor education,
provide access to books, and support interventions for at-risk families. Our literacy
initiatives include:

• Supplying backpacks to nearly 10,000 Portland, Oregon children in need as title
sponsor of Schoolhouse Supplies’ “Tools for Schools” program
• Developing Today I Will Get Lost in a Book, a free guide that encourages parents to
read to their children
• Creating and donating the KinderCare® Book Station, a small mobile library geared
toward individuals and community organizations who support early readers
• Supporting organizations such as: The Children’s Book Bank; Start Making a Reader
Today (SMART); Los Angeles Public Library’s infants and toddlers program; and the
library development and patient education programs of Oregon’s Doernbecher
Children’s Hospital
• Providing College of Education scholarships and School of Law Oregon Child
Advocacy Project fellowships at the University of Oregon

KU edUCatiOnaL LeaderShip
At KU, we recognize excellence in education through direct awards and sponsorship.

All of our 35,000 early childhood educators at KinderCare Learning Centers, Knowledge
Beginnings, and CCLC offer children fun and exciting learning experiences. Each year,
however, we select those teachers who’ve demonstrated exceptional skills in teaching
young children to receive the Knowledge Universe Early Childhood Educator Award.

Each recipient gets $10,000 and public acknowledgement during a reception held at the
annual National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference.

In an additional show of support for quality education in the United States, Knowledge
Universe joined Change the Equation (CTEq) in Fall 2010. This CEO-led initiative seeks
to cultivate widespread literacy in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
With research pointing to the importance of exposing children to math and science at
an early age, KU believes its high-quality infant, preschool, and school-age programs will
serve as a model for other programs.

SInce 2000, KU—together wIth oUr
35,000 employeeS and the chIldren
and famIlIeS we Serve—haS raised
more than $13 million for oUr
commUnIty partnerS.


KNOWLEDGE UNIVERSE
reaches $1.6 billion in revenue

STORY BY LINDA BAKER // PHOTOS BY LEAH NASH

On the second ﬂoor of a KinderCare center in downtown Portland, eight
preschoolers are coloring pictures of Chinese characters while listening to
their teacher speak in Mandarin. On the other side of the room, which is
decorated with parasols and Chinese lanterns, another group is interacting
with a different teacher — who is speaking in English. Eventually the groups
will switch, with the entire class spending half the day learning in Chinese,
the other half in English.

! 13517-KU-GEN ©2010 Knowledge Universe.® All Rights Reserved.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! WWW . K U E D U C AT I O N . C O M / U S

Now in its third year, the Mandarin immersion program got its start when
Knowledge Universe, KinderCare’s parent company, came across a model
program while scouting acquisitions in Singapore. “We thought this was a
really innovative and important way to deliver dual language, which is
something the United States is particularly remiss in,” says Elanna Yalow,
executive vice president at Knowledge Universe. “It is much easier to
develop second-language competency at a young age,” Yalow says. “So we
brought that program over and implemented it in several locations.”

KinderCare’s Mandarin immersion program is a window on the world of
Knowledge Universe, a global education services conglomerate that has its
U.S. headquarters in Portland. The company, which employs 40,000 people
on three continents, is the largest single private provider of early childhood
education services in the country. It also has the biggest market share in the
United Kingdom, Malaysia and Singapore, where the company’s global
headquarters are located.


Felicia Thornton is Knowledge Universe's Portland-
based CEO for U.S. operations. KU is the leading
player in a market expected to be worth $39 billion
by 2015.

Founded by former junk bond king Michael Milken and his brother, Lowell
Milken, in 1996, Knowledge Universe, which earned $1.6 billion in revenue
last year, targets early childhood learning programs. But the company also
oversees or has a stake in business units in K-12, online and post-
secondary education. “We are cradle to as-long-as you-are-a-lifelong-
learner,” says Felicia Thornton, Knowledge Universe’s Portland-based chief
executive ofﬁcer for U.S. operations. Like the Mandarin program, the
broader corporate mission is based on global best practices, Thornton says.

“When you look at Singapore, you realize they don’t differentiate early
childhood from K-12 or university,” says Thornton. “They look at that entire
continuum as critically important.” Singapore’s growth rate is 20%, she


adds. “It’s not by natural resources, not by anything other than investment in
human capital. It’s just staggering.”

Knowledge Universe isn’t alone in touting the benefits of high-quality
education, especially early childhood education, as the key to a nation’s
economic success. As concerns about U.S. educational performance and
lack of competitiveness mount, state and national leaders — from Kitzhaber
to Obama — are calling for universal preschool as a centerpiece of
education reform. These initiatives would build on existing state-funded
preschool programs, which already serve more than 1 million 3- to 4-year-
olds around the country.

In this environment, private sector innovation is only one part of the
company’s business. One quarter of the 200,000 children Knowledge
Universe serves in the U.S. receive a child care subsidy for low-income
families, a reflection of the changing nature of for-profit care in this country,
and the public-private partnerships that may become the signature of early
childhood education initiatives.

Such alliances are vulnerable to the recession. They also spotlight the role of
the for-profit sector, not always a welcome participant in the K-12 arena, in
shaping the public preschool agenda. But with its global footprint, lofty
rhetoric and socioeconomically diverse client base, KU is plowing ahead,
carving out a niche in a market that by 2015 is expected to exceed $39
billion a year, according to Global Industry Analysts.


Few people in Portland might realize that Knowledge Universe is one of the
city’s largest employers, with about 1,400 employees working in its Lloyd
District headquarters and in 29 centers around the state operating under the
KinderCare, Knowledge Beginnings and Children's Creative Learning
Center (CCLC) brands; the latter is the company’s employer-based child
care division. In a boost to the local economy, Knowledge Universe opened
a new Portland customer service center last August, employing 120 people.
A few months later, CCLC opened the new “Healthy Starts” center in
partnership with OHSU in the emerging South Waterfront district.

Nationwide, Knowledge Universe oversees six brands including KinderCare,
the company’s largest division, which operates 1,636 centers serving infants
through school age; “Champions,” an afterschool science enrichment
program and summer camp; and two small preschool providers: Cambridge
Schools in Florida, and the Grove School in Texas and North Carolina. The


Child Care Marketplace, a one-stop shopping consortium for child care
providers, is one of the company’s few noninstruction-based business units.

The vision doesn’t stop at the border. In KU’s grand scheme, the
conglomerate isn’t just a collection of disparate brands, but a kind of
vertically integrated corporation with global companies working toward a
common goal. “What makes us fortunate is the breadth and diversity we
have to reach out to educators,” says Yalow, adding that the U.S. program
“is constantly being refreshed and upgraded as we are integrating what’s
new in research or seeing from our international partners.”

Yalow ticks off a few examples of Knowledge Universe cross-pollination.
Some Knowledge Beginnings and CCLC centers are using “smart boards,”
an interactive white board, to deliver online content developed by K-12, an
online school Knowledge Universe oversees as a majority shareholder. The
Grove School and Odyssey, a Singapore based preschool, share an interest
in environmental sustainability. Then there is KinderCare’s language
immersion program, which started in Pat’s Schoolhouse, a Singapore-based
preschool acquired in 2007.

The trans-Pacific currents flow both ways. A study group from Singapore
and Malaysia recently toured Knowledge Universe programs in Southern
California, and plans to adopt some of the core curriculum developed by the
company’s education team in Portland, Yalow says.

A privately held company, Knowledge Universe does not disclose financial
information beyond its gross revenues and it is often difficult to get past the
company’s ubiquitous corporate messaging, which repeats themes such as


“talent, innovation and quality” but leaves out crucial details such as
companywide teacher pay and turnover rates. Nevertheless, early childhood
education experts familiar with the brands say in many cases the company’s
centers live up to the hype.

For-profit child care has come a long way since the 1980s when KinderCare,
then a pioneering company, was derided for making profits off kids and
branded with the tagline “Kentucky Fried Children.” In its early days,
KinderCare quality “was at various levels,” says Roger Neugebauer,
publisher of the Child Care Information Exchange, a management magazine
for childcare providers. Not today, says Neugebauer, “KinderCare has great
staff training and a drive to make their centers the best in the community.”

Will Parnell, a professor of early childhood education at Portland State
University, says KinderCare isn’t typically considered one of the city’s top-
ranked practitioners, a category often reserved for well-funded employers or
university-sponsored centers such as PSU’s Helen Gordon Center or Nike’s
Joe Paterno child development center. But “maybe we could” include
KinderCare in those ranks, Parnell says. He noted that many of KinderCare’s
centers are certified by the National Association for the Education for Young
Children. That’s “a tough thing to accomplish,” he says. The company “is
really diving into child development and best practices.”

Knowledge Universe’s CCLC division operates precisely the kind of
employer-sponsored centers Parnell lauds, including facilities for Stanford
University, and in Portland, Fred Meyer and Oregon Health & Science
University. The latter features a state-of-the-art indoor playground connected


to the outside by sliding doors, smart-board technology and like all CCLC
centers, an eco-healthy certification from the Oregon Environmental Council.

With its focus on technology, sustainability and foreign language
(KinderCare even offers an anti-obesity enrichment program, Active
Adventures) Knowledge Universe is positioning itself as a solution to the
myriad woes facing U.S education. The company lobbies state and national
governments to strengthen child care standards and last year joined
Change the Equation, a collaboration between the White House and CEOs
of 100 companies to cultivate widespread literacy in science, math and
technology. “We strongly support setting quality expectations,” Thornton
says. “It’s not just for us —but for states and industry.”

But if what’s good for Knowledge Universe is good for the country, KU has
its challenges — namely, while corporate operations may be seamless, the
market they are operating in is anything but. Unlike K-12 programs, child
care providers are a mixed group, ranging from grandmothers, churches
and small family providers to independent nonprofit and for-profit day care
centers. And while Knowledge Universe may be a big fish it’s swimming in
an even bigger ocean. Consider, for example, that after KinderCare,
Learning Care Group, based in Michigan, is the country’s second-largest
provider, with 1,136 sites. Massachusetts-based Bright Horizons, the third-
largest, operates 730. In total, the big three comprise only 3% of the market.

In an already fragmented market, public schools are also starting to provide
preschool programs, a move that has “inhibited growth” of for-profits in
recent years, Neugebauer says. Between 2005 and 2009, state funding for
prekindergarten increased from $2.9 billion to $5.2 billion, and pre-K is now


the fastest-growing sector in public education, according to a 2009 report
by the Pew Center for the States.

The recession has also left its mark on private-sector providers. Although
Knowledge Universe went through a period of major acquisitions mid
decade, company growth has remained ﬂat over the past few years,
Thornton says.

As the child care sector becomes more competitive, companies such as
KinderCare, which used to serve only fee-paying parents, now aim to serve
a broader demographic, Neugebauer says. “It’s a survival strategy,” he
says. In Oregon, for example, most Knowledge Universe centers enroll
families participating in the Employment Related Day Care program, a state
child care subsidy. KinderCare also partners with the Mt. Hood Community
College Head Start program to operate a classroom for low-income kids. “If
you walked in the door, there would be no way for you to know,” says
Thornton. “It’s about quality education and the socioeconomic piece should
be irrelevant.”

Most policy experts agree that such collaborations provide more kids with
high-quality child care options. But these public private partnerships are
also “very different” from the public K-12 education model, says Steve
Barnett, co-director for the National Institute for Early Education Research.
Despite the growth of charter and online schools, K-12 districts rarely
subcontract core services to the private sector. And in the K-12 arena,
corporate resumes are not always met with enthusiasm. Witness the outcry
over New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s recent appointment of Catherine


Black, a corporate executive with no education or public sector background,
as chancellor of New York City schools.

A former chief financial officer of Albertsons, a grocery story chain, Thornton
does not have a background in education, nor does CEO for global
operations Peter Maslen, the former president of Starbucks Coffee
International. Other members of the executive team, such as Yalow, do have
a background in early childhood pedagogy and research. Nevertheless, the
company’s financial management roots date back to its controversial
founder Milken, who served two years in federal prison for illegal trading and
other market manipulations in the early 1990s. Since then he has focused on
charitable and educational endeavors, among them the Milken Family
Foundation, known for its annual public educator awards.

Today Milken is chairman of Knowledge Universe, but he has no day-to-day
responsibilities, Thornton says. “He’s absolutely passionate about
education,” she says.


FACT SHEET

Headquarters Portland, Oregon Commitment to Quality
Employees 35,000 nationwide • 600 Nationally Accredited Centers – more than any
Websites www.kueducation.com/us other private education provider

Company Profile Supporting Our Communities
Knowledge Universe® - US (KU) is one of the nation’s • We support organizations that give children access to
largest private providers of early childhood and school-age quality educational experiences. Working with our
education and care, serving more than 200,000 children in community partners, we deliver parent and mentor
the United States. Knowledge Learning Corporation (KLC) education, provide access to books, and support at‐risk
is a division of Knowledge Universe. family intervention.

Our History
• Our employees and the children and families we serve
have raised more than $13 million for our community
• KinderCare Learning Centers, Inc. was founded in 1969
partners across the country since 2000.
and operated over 1,250 centers.
• Knowledge Learning Corporation (KLC) began as
Recognizing Excellence In Education
Children's Discovery Centers in 1983
Knowledge Universe Annual Early Childhood Educator
• KLC acquires Children’s World Learning Centers in 2003.
Award Program:
• In 2005, KLC acquires KinderCare Learning Centers
• The KinderCare merger made KLC the nation’s largest • Recognizes five teachers who demonstrate
private provider of early childhood education and care. exceptional skills in teaching young children with a
• In 2007, CCLC joined KLC. $10,000 award and a reception at NAEYC.
• In 2008, KU Technologies is formed. • Recipients are chosen from more than 30,000 early
• In 2009, KLC School Partnerships rebrands to childhood educators from KinderCare Learning
Champions. Centers, Knowledge Beginnings and CCLC.
• In January 2010, KU opens The Grove School in Cary, In addition, our Champions division sponsors the
North Carolina and Plano, Texas. Excellence In Education Awards.
• In July 2010, KC Distance Learning is acquired by K12,
Inc. Key Business Executives

Our Brands Felicia Thornton
• KinderCare Learning Centers®/Knowledge Chief Executive Officer
Beginnings®, Cambridge SchoolsTM, The Grove School® Dr. Elanna Yalow, Ph.D., M.B.A.
and CCLC® brands are early learning and care experts, Vice Chair, Knowledge Learning Corporation
guiding more than 1,700 community‐based centers and Executive Vice President, Knowledge Universe
employer partnerships for children six weeks through Wendy Collie
pre-K in 39 states. President, KinderCare and Champions
• Champions® provides K‐8 supplemental and Ty Durekas
enrichment educational solutions, operating more CEO, CCLC
than 400 programs nationwide which include before‐
Adrian Downes
and after‐school programs, and academic tutoring
Chief Financial Officer
programs.
• KU is affiliated with K12, Inc., the nation’s largest Anne Saunders
EVP, Chief Marketing Officer
provider of online education programs for students in
kindergarten through high school, to provide online Elizabeth Large
learning solutions to school administrators and online EVP, General Counsel
high school courses directly to families through iQ Donna Lesch
Academies, Aventa Learning and The Keystone School EVP, Human Resources

NEW $140 MILLION CAMPUS FOR
THE CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AT JURONG

Singapore, 16 March, 2010 – Singapore based Knowledge Universe and the Canadian
International School announced today a proposed joint venture that will facilitate and finance
a new world-class $140 million Canadian International School campus at Jurong in
Singapore.

The new 43,000 sq.m (463,000 sq. ft) “Lakeside
campus” at Jurong West is estimated to be
completed by August 2011. The campus will
provide state-of-the-art classrooms, academic
facilities, spacious sporting, outdoor and
playground facilities, as well as a Performing Arts
and Fine Arts centre, Auditorium and Media
Centre, and will reach its full capacity of 3,300
students over the next 10 years.

The Canadian International School is currently housed on four sites spread across
Singapore. On completion of the new Lakeside campus, three of the school’s existing
campuses and their communities will be consolidated into the new campus. The existing and
recently renovated East Coast campus at Tanjong Katong will remain and be further
developed.

When asked about the significance of this proposed joint venture, Peter Maslen, Chief
Executive Officer of Knowledge Universe said, “We are delighted to facilitate this large and
important project for the Canadian International School. The new world-class integrated
state-of-the-art campus will complement their well-deserved excellent academic record and
reputation. We are also pleased that the current administrative and academic leadership
team will remain in place”.

The Canadian International School’s founder and Managing Director, Thomas Tang, said
“As one of the world’s largest and most respected private educational organisations,
Knowledge Universe opens a whole new range of opportunities and resources to us.
Knowledge Universe intends to acquire a majority stake in the school and fund our
expansion, and we as founders will continue to manage the school while retaining a
significant equity stake. We had delayed our building project to finalise this collaboration,
and both parties have been very thoughtful and prudent in considering how it would best be
structured to ensure that it brings maximum benefits to our students”.

Peter Maslen, Knowledge Universe CEO, commented “In contemplating this significant
investment in the school and its future in Singapore, we are particularly focused on
maintaining the academic quality of the school, as well as the quality and capability of the
existing management team, which we found to be outstanding”.

Head of School, Dr. Glenn Odland remarked, “This announcement indicates a strong
synergy between Knowledge Universe’s educational philosophy, their expertise in online

learning, and our existing strength in developing the whole student through a wide range of
experiential learning opportunities. With the help of Knowledge Universe, we are even better
equipped to prepare our students for their futures.”

Knowledge Universe moved its global headquarters to Singapore in 2007. “We are proud to
be Singaporean,” said chief executive Peter Maslen. “Singapore’s reputation as a centre of
excellence in education, its development as an educational hub and its transparent and
open government were decisive factors in our decision to locate our global headquarters in
Singapore”.

Parents at the Canadian International School will have the opportunity to hear more about
both the new Lakeside campus and the school’s relationship with Knowledge Universe over
the coming weeks at Information evenings.

- END –

About Knowledge Universe
Knowledge Universe, a Singapore based company, is one of the world’s leading private
education providers, with over 40,000 professional staff and more than 350,000 students
enrolled in its institutions and schools worldwide.
URL: www.kueducation.com

Media Contact for Knowledge Universe:
Sally May Tan (HP +65-9739-7070 /sallymaytan@kueducation.com)

About the Canadian International School
The Canadian International School (CIS) was founded in 1990 and offers the International
Baccalaureate Programmes – Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and
Diploma Programme to students from 3 to 18 years of age. CIS also offers the Ontario
Secondary School Diploma. Students from over 50 countries pursue excellence in the
mastery of creative problem solving, effective communication, leadership, international
understanding, and responsible citizenship.
URL: www.cis.edu.sg

Media Contact for Canadian International School:
Asia PR Werkz, Ms Cho Pei Lin (HP: +65-9684-2563 / chopeilin@asiaprwerkz.com)

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