Kiddie Academy, a provider of comprehensive educational child care programs, is coming soon to Vancouver’s Fishers Landing area.
The Maryland-based franchise will kick off construction of the first Kiddie Academy in the metro region with a groundbreaking on Wednesday afternoon at 1920 SE 167th Ave., near Big Al’s.
Vijay Ilavarasan, who owns the local franchise with his wife, Deepika, said the location is an ideal spot for serving east Vancouver – and about a 20-mile radius – with childcare services.
“We originally started looking around Portland, but we felt Vancouver was the right place for us to start this,” he said. “[There’s] great development here, it’s very progressive, and [we liked] the nature of the area with all the technology companies coming in. Additionally, the city was able to provide us with much faster timelines to get through the approval process.”
Robertson & Olson has been tasked with construction of the 10,400-square-foot building, which will have the capacity to serve approximately 150 children.
“We’re already thinking of how we can leverage the good doughnut shop over there, the yoga business and the bowling center,” said Ilavarasan, about the property. “There are a lot of great learning opportunities for the children there.”
The Kiddie Academy franchise is perhaps best known for its “Life Essentials” curriculum, which promotes each child’s intellectual, social, physical and emotional growth.
“They have the most comprehensive curriculum [compared to other childcare providers],” said Ilavarasan. “They also focus a lot on keeping up with current needs; they were one of the first ones to integrate technology into their classroom…”
Big fans of Kiddie Academy’s culture, Ilavarasan said he and his wife were also attracted to the way the company empowers its local franchise owners.
“They give local franchisees a lot of freedom to understand the local market,” he said. “So for example, one of the things we are doing is an outdoor classroom because of the outdoor-loving families around here… Kiddie Academy doesn’t put you into a template and say, ‘every location has to be exactly the same around the country.’ That’s not their model.”
While Kiddie Academy of Vancouver-Fishers Landing represents the Ilavarasans’ first venture into the world of franchise ownership, that doesn’t mean the husband-and-wife team isn’t prepared. Over the past few years, Deepika has been working to earn an Early Childhood Education degree from Clark College. Additionally, Vijay said their immediate family has experience in both small business and early education.
“Both of us are master’s graduates and we have a strong passion for education,” said Vijay. “We see this as a great opportunity to bring strong, ground-up education [to the community].”
Currently residing in Portland, the Ilavarasans are now contemplating a move to Vancouver to be closer to their franchise location.
Kiddie Academy serves families and their children ages six weeks to 12 years old, offering full-time care, before- and after-school care, and summer camp programs.
