- The economy cannot fully reopen until schools reopen.
- What the pandemic has shown us
is that teaching kids at home is really hard,
especially when you're also balancing work.
- Many parents say they are already overwhelmed.
- I am his support system, I am his lunch lady,
I'm his teacher.
- In 2016 Wonderschool started as the Airbnb of preschools,
a platform to help teachers
start schools in their own homes.
Their goal was to remove the red tape and real estate cost
that normally make preschools expensive
to open and enroll in.
And with the economy causing many traditional preschools
to permanently close,
parents will soon be looking for new ways
to educate their kids and regain their work life balance.
- We're seeing that there's gonna be a large increase
in the need of childcare providers to enter the market,
and our goal is to support those individuals
all over the country who wanna do that.
- So how did Wonderschool position itself
to be a leader in the new world?
(bright upbeat music)
(piano music)
- 90% of brain development occurs before the age of five.
But in the U.S., only 40% of three year olds
are enrolled in preschool,
where much of this brain development can be fostered.
Chris Bennett was in that lucky 40%.
- Growing up, I was the kid who did well in school.
I always just thought it was luck, I don't know.
- Giving children the best
is about maximizing their potential and starting early.
- I go to the TED conference every year,
and I met this incredible
leader in early childhood education,
this woman named Laura Jana.
And she said that a lot of the skills
that I use as a CEO today,
I most likely learned them in preschool.
It made me realize that there's an opportunity
to give this to everybody.
- So Chris co founded Wonderschool,
and they now have over 1000 schools on their platform.
- With Wonderschool, we help teachers
through getting licensed, getting their program live.
The school gets listed,
and parents can see reviews of the program
and enroll in the program that they like.
- Wonderschool removes the administrative,
licensing and financial barriers to starting the school.
They help teachers open preschools in their own homes,
where they already pay for rent or a mortgage,
or in places where there is no rent to pay,
like a park or a forest.
- Oh, we found you.
Hello.
- By doing this, Wonderschool has empowered great teachers
to open truly diverse and interesting schools.
This is a forest school, a unique type of Wonderschool
where children play outside, rain or shine, all day
- What color is the monarch butterfly?
(child murmurs)
How many can you find?
One of the reasons I call my school Little Earthlings
is 'cause I wanna constantly be reminded
that they just arrived here,
we are beings on a planet,
and we're here to learn and to grow,
and all the aspects of what is human development
begins in child development.
He's making a waterfall.
It's also a sensorial experience.
So he's hearing things, he's squashing things,
he's splashing things, he's getting wet.
All of these things are connected to "I wanted to do it,
I executed, and I was successful."
That three-step program, that's how children grow,
that's how learning happens.
(child shouting)
- On average, preschool in the U.S. costs $10,000 a year.
But even with parents paying big dollars,
the average U.S. preschool teacher
only makes about 20 to $30,000 a year.
- The average director on the Wonderschool platform
actually earns two and a half times that,
so roughly 70 to $80,000.
Our most successful director earns around $300,000 a year.
- The increased wages help teachers grow their programs
and accommodate more students.
Effectively, Wonderschool helps
teachers become entrepreneurs.
- (Speaks in foreign language)
- We started off in a smaller home
and in there we had six kids every day.
And after about eight months that I was there,
I filled up really quickly,
I started looking for another home and was able to expand.
Now we have 12 kids every day.
- Many Wonderschool teachers
go on to start a second preschool.
And some of these directors
will open schools in commercial real estate locations,
something previously unaffordable to them.
- I'm a first generation American
and I'm able to have my own business.
I'm able to promote the importance of Spanish
and bilingual education with my students.
- Bye Nick and Taylor. Gracias!
- The virus has prompted the closing
of entire school districts leaving many working parents
scrambling to find childcare.
- Wonderschool has had to adapt really quickly
to what's going on in the economy
and what's going on in all of the markets we're in.
We have a large number of directors on our platform
who are serving essential employees
and the children of essential employees.
And so we're making a lot of updates to our products,
so essential employees that are looking for childcare
are able to find Wonderschools in all of our markets
and enroll their children.
We also expect in-home programs
to be much more interesting to families
because of the small environment.
Studies have indicated that COVID
is less likely to spread in outdoor spaces.
I actually believe a lot more people
are gonna start forest programs,
and a lot more parents are gonna want to enroll their kids
in forest programs.
(gentle music)
- Wonderschool is still working with organizations
and nonprofits across the country
to support teachers who want to begin
preschool programs in their homes.
And by focusing more on where kids are taught
than how they're taught,
they're ready to play a role in what education looks like
when the pandemic is over.
- I believe that there will be a time
when we go to parties again,
when we enroll our children in childcare again,
when we go into offices again,
and what that will look like,
is something that we're gonna all co create.
- Thanks for watching.
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