4/12/18
Media Contact:
Hallie Smith
Sr. Director of Marketing
Scientific Learning Corporation
(619) 888-0887
hsmith@scilearn.com
Oakland, Calif. — April 12, 2018 —Buoyed by their children’s success at BrainMaps English language learning centers, parents across China are fueling the company’s growth by signing up to open their own franchise learning centers. Located in cities across China, BrainMaps learning centers employ a unique Online-to-Offline (O2O) blended learning model that combines the online Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant programs from Scientific Learning Corp. (OTC PINK:SCIL) with BrainMaps’ offline methodology, to provide children with a faster path to English language proficiency.
Among BrainMaps’ franchise owners, 40 percent are parents or were referred by parents of BrainMaps’ students. In each of BrainMaps’ 70-plus franchised centers, students use Scientific Learning’s neuroscience-based learning programs and work with local English-speaking teachers to quickly achieve English proficiency. Due to the success of its O2O approach, BrainMaps has a student retention rate of more than 80 percent, far exceeding the 41 percent average for afterschool English learning centers in China.
Yika Li’s daughter, Macy, 11, has been a student at a BrainMaps center in Shenzhen since 2014. “Within six months, my child was able to read aloud fluently in English. Just two years later, she is now able to travel abroad and communicate. English has become a familiarity in her life,” said Li, who now oversees four BrainMaps franchises in Shenzhen. “After seeing such dramatic changes in my child, there was no reason for me not to believe in the power of BrainMaps.”
Jenny Wu is an owner of a fast-growing BrainMaps franchise, also in Shenzhen, that opened in 2017. Her daughter, Susan, 8, entered a BrainMaps center in 2016 through a referral from a friend. “I was pleasantly surprised to see a program that blends an engaging and innovative online system with a student-centric flipped classroom model,” said Wu. “Within two years, my daughter has become someone who is comfortable speaking English in public and approaching locals when traveling abroad. BrainMaps really stands out from its competitors. I was truly captivated and found myself determined to bring BrainMaps to as many families as I could.”
“Parents of BrainMaps’ students make fantastic partners,” said Rick Lee, CEO of BrainMaps. “Our combination of patented language learning technologies from Scientific Learning and our in-center learning model helps children achieve fluency in English in as little as three years — and parents see this firsthand. The results are proof that BrainMaps is the best English language learning solution for their children.”
About Scientific Learning Corp.
Based in Oakland, Calif., Scientific Learning is a leading SaaS provider that delivers neuroscience-based educational technologies. Scientific Learning’s programs, Fast ForWord® and Reading Assistant™, have been used by more than 2.8 million learners in more than 2,600 K-12 schools in the United States, by over 500 private practice clinicians, by thousands of students via a direct-to-consumer channel, and in over 55 countries via Value Added Resellers (VAR). The Fast ForWord programs cross-train foundational language and cognitive skills necessary for rapid English language development, while Reading Assistant uses speech verification technology to provide real-time corrective feedback to students as they read and speak, in a manner similar to that of an individualized language and reading coach.
About BrainMaps
BrainMaps, a VAR partner of Scientific Learning’s for over 12 years, was founded by Rick Lee and Tiffany Koo, who are using their past experience as national directors for companies such as Wall Street English and Gymboree to rapidly expand the BrainMaps model across China. Based on its compelling student outcomes and rapid growth, BrainMaps was named a top 10 franchise in China by Entrepreneur magazine in 2016.
