Secrets of success of kindergartens of the Lomonosov School holding

The Lomonosov School educational holding, whose history dates back to 1987, opened its first kindergarten about six years ago. The founder of the holding, Marat Ziganov, admits that a kindergarten is the most expensive of projects, but it is extremely important: it is both prestige and a guarantee of the quality of preschool education for future students of his own school.

The investments turned out to be fabulous: just purchasing the right to lease a building in a prestigious area in the north-west of Moscow cost $250,000, not counting the rent itself. With such starting costs, the garden would be able to reach the level of profitability in 4 years if it lived in a strict economy regime. However, all these years the garden has been investing in the development of the project, so the project achieved payback only after 6 years.

Development prospects

But even with the current high rent, the garden is still profitable. This is confirmed by the dynamics of development of the “kindergarten” direction of the holding’s work: two full-fledged kindergartens are now successfully operating: on Marshal Zhukov and in the village of Cape Verde near Moscow; kindergarten directly at the Lomonosov school; as well as three part-time preschool educational institutions. Our immediate plans include going abroad: opening a kindergarten for 170 children in the UAE, in Dubai.

With the assistance of the Lomonosov School, kindergartens were opened in St. Petersburg, Samara, Tyumen and Nizhny Novgorod; under the “patronage” of Lomonosovka, a Russian-language school in Riga operates very successfully. This is not franchising in its pure form: the Lomonosov School provides consulting services: financial, legal, methodological, teaching school directors and teachers the author’s methodology for developing intelligence; and then “accompanies” the activities of the school for two years. Marat Ziganov emphasizes that these are completely independent schools: “We help, and do not impose our own scheme of work, and the personality of the director in each case plays the most important role.”

Training program

The monthly fee in Lomonosov kindergarten is 70,000 rubles. Groups have no more than ten people. For some classes - for example, with a psychologist or in computer science, even such a group has to be split up. According to Ziganov, the most cost-effective and efficient arrangement is when there are 6 groups of 10 children in the kindergarten. The number of staff in this case is almost the same as in the case if there are 3 groups of 10 children in the kindergarten - 30 employees.

” The slogan of the Lomonosov School holding is “Classical traditions of Russian education . The main emphasis is on efficiency, discipline and intellectual development. The program for each student can be created individually. In order to choose the right methodology, during admission they thoroughly study the child’s personality: assess his real abilities and needs, knowledge, interests, mastery of basic skills; discuss with parents what needs to be paid special attention to, what elements of education seem most important to them. In Lomonosovka, up to thirty individual educational subprograms can be used simultaneously.

Consulting services are the main source of income for Lomonosov kindergartens. Now this is a regional program: the holding is developing a set of seminars in the Arkhangelsk region; in the near future - Kharkov region. Educators conduct open classes and trainings for parents, participate in educational seminars, introducing the methodology to their colleagues from other cities, as well as the teaching community in the broadest sense, and primarily cabinet officials.

Staff

This directly affects teachers’ salaries. The base rate in the Lomonosov kindergarten is only 10-15% higher than in the state kindergarten; however, the quality of work with children and parents, the professional activity and initiative of teachers, and participation in additional school activities are encouraged and stimulated, including financially.

Almost all teachers of Lomonosov kindergartens participated in the preparation of another project - a set of manuals on the development of intelligence for gifted preschoolers. The set includes 20 textbooks in all areas of development for three age groups; The Eksmo publishing house recognized it as the best teaching aid for preschoolers.

Marat Ziganov attaches great importance to the educational activities carried out by the holding. The kindergarten must be well known, invest money in advertising , appear in the media, participate in professional community events, which, along with a high-quality educational product and financial transparency, creates a brand .

In general, complete openness and transparency are extremely important for this business. In Lomonosovka they are not afraid of unscheduled inspections by supervisory authorities - they are treated as a free diagnosis of the state of affairs in the kindergarten. For the same purpose, presentations of all kindergarten services are regularly held for parents. All this helps keep all employees on their toes, since parents are the most objective, strict and interested controllers.

How to keep employees on their toes