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Celebree’s Richard Huffman takes pride in his company’s values
When Richard Huffman visits one of his company’s 18 child care centers he not only sees them through the eyes of a boss, but also through the eyes of a dad.
Huffman, a Kingsville resident and president and CEO of the chain of Celebree Learning Centers, is the proud papa of four kids, ages 6, 4, 2, and a newborn baby girl.
“I love seeing the great things we’re doing in the centers, it’s very, very rewarding for me,” Huffman says, adding that he also is constantly evaluating the centers to see how they can be improved.
Starting with just two centers in 1985, Celebree has grown to 18 locations in Maryland and one in Delaware.
“We really pride ourselves on what we call our parent-child experience,” Huffman explains. “From 6:30 a.m. till about 9:30 when parents drop the child off, we make sure all our manager teams are visible; greeting parents, helping them with their bags. I think it starts at the front door. It doesn’t start with the classroom. It starts with the management team out front.”
Huffman is passionate about Celebree’s mission to protect, educate and nurture children. “Everything we do is around those three focuses,” he says, citing security cameras and panic buttons in the classrooms as part of the security piece. Nurturing comes into play with the well-trained and motivated staff. And with the state’s push to have all children ready for kindergarten by age 5, Huffman says Celebree has really been giving a lot of attention to early-childhood education.
In fact, the assistant state superintendent for early childhood development, Dr. Rolf Grafwallner recently visited Celebree in Harford County to see the educational component for himself.
“He came and visited the Celebree at Laurel Bush and gave us two thumbs up and congratulated us on preparing these little ones for kindergarten,” Huffman notes.
“I see a lot more accountability to education and getting these little ones prepared. That’s (State School Superintendent) Nancy Grasmick’s vision and we’re supporting it 100%,” he adds.
As well as serving infants and preschoolers, Celebree also offers an after-school program called “Hot Spots” for older kids.
“Back in the old day they were embarrassed that they were going to back to day care…now it’s cool and hip,” Huffman says.
High staff turnover tends to be a chronic problem in the child care industry. Celebree addresses that by carefully assessing new employees. New staff members go through an orientation that introduces them to the company’s requirements and values. There is a training period and the center directors observe the new hires in the classroom. Each employee also has an individual growth plan.
Plus, every October Celebree closes every center for one day so the entire staff – over 400 people – can attend an all-day educational conference.
Huffman strongly supports community involvement. Celebree is a major supporter of the Light the Night Walks, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s evening fund raising walks.
Huffman says recent statistics show the number of home day-care providers has decreased, while Celebree is experiencing growth. He attributes that to both high standards and the company’s focus on getting young learners ready for school.
And Huffman never loses sight of what’s important to families: the trust parents have in Celebree when they drop their children off in the morning.
“It’s all about the Celebree values…it’s all related around protect, educate, and nurture our children and families,” Huffman says.
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