May 15, 2017

Meet Irina Fofiu of Primrose School of Buckhead

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Irina Fofiu.

Irina, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
From an early age, I was taught that education was an investment worth of sacrifice. As an only child raised in a middle-class family in post-communist Romania, I learned early on that education was the best gift my family could ever give me, one that would open doors and opportunities no matter where I was going. After completing my high school in Romania, I moved to Atlanta to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, from which I graduated with a degree in Building Construction and highest honors. I spent the next decade working in the construction industry, in the General Contracting and Consulting arenas.

While I thoroughly enjoyed my roles as a project manager and senior project consultant in the industry, I always yearned to work with children and to somehow make an impact in their lives. I still remember dreaming about one day having my own school that would teach children the needed skills to thrive academically and socially. To fulfill my desire of working with children, I volunteered my time with Junior Achievement and Wamba Land, and even researched the necessary steps for becoming a school science teacher. I have to thank my parents, both university level professors and entrepreneurs, for instilling in me a desire to learn and teach, and to make a difference through education and entrepreneurship in the lives of others.

Becoming a mom only added fuel to my desire of fully pursuing my passion for working with children. My husband and I had a surprisingly difficult time finding the perfect quality early education and care provider for both of our daughters. We came across Primrose Schools through word of mouth and we were immediately impressed by Primrose’s Balanced Learning curriculum, caring atmosphere and highly engaging staff. We knew we found a great fit in Primrose for our family, but we did not have a Primrose school near where we lived or worked. Looking to fill a need for quality child care in our family and also in the community, we decided to open our own Primrose school in Buckhead.

Primrose School of Buckhead opened its doors on March 14th, 2016. My wish for our school is for it to continue to be a home-away-from-home for the children we serve, a place that provides parents with peace of mind knowing their children are well cared for while receiving a premier education, and the place where children find their curiosity nurtured, minds stimulated, and needs fulfilled.

Just as Nelson Mandela once said, ““Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. I truly believe this to be true and I am so excited to be able to help children develop the skills to thrive in school and life. For Primrose and I, believing that what children become is just as important as what they know is key to nurturing the future generations of leaders.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Every project has its challenges, and opening a school is no different. While the road hasn’t been extremely bumpy, it did (and still does at times) offer its share of dips and sudden turns. Our opening was delayed by three months which resulted in pre-registered families having to make alternative care plans for their children, and this had an unforeseen impact on the number of students we started with on day one. While initially we saw this as a major letdown, it was actually a blessing, as it allowed us to slowly ramp-up and work all the “kinks” out before our student body increased.

As you can imagine, marketing an urban school is quite different than marketing a suburban facility, and a lot of “outside of the box” thinking is needed. To this day, our biggest advertising tool is word of mouth, and we are thankful for our staff for delivering their best to our families each and every day, and to our families for trusting us with the care of their children, and for referring us to their friends and coworkers.

The childcare industry is also known for high turnover ratios for staff members, and our center did experience its share of teacher turnover. Being a new school with all new staff added to the complexity of immediately creating a cohesive team. Finding quality personnel with proper credentials and the drive to work with children day-in and day-out is not easy. Keeping people motivated and doing the right thing at every turn is also challenging. Because we recognize that the quality and longevity of staff dictates the quality of programming at our school, we go above and beyond making sure our teachers feel appreciated and our school offers competitive benefits for our staff.

Please tell us about Primrose School of Buckhead.
Primrose School of Buckhead is an early education and care center serving children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. The school has been in operation since March 2016 and has a licensing capacity of 189 children. My husband and I decided to bring Primrose to Buckhead to fill a need for premium quality care for young children in Buckhead. Primrose is the premiere early education leader in the childcare industry, known for the Balanced Learning Curriculum and Happy Hearts Character development imbedded in daily instruction. We do everything in balance and we leave nothing to chance. In each of our rooms everything has a purpose and has been intentionally placed, and children learn through play, exploration of individual interests, and teacher guided activities.

Our school prides itself with having an amazing staff of credentialed and nurturing individuals. Every single person who works at Primrose School of Buckhead has a passion for children and chose this field because of a desire to get children on the right path to a lifelong love of learning from early on. Our people are the heart of our business, and our passion for children and learning is what fuels our desire to deliver the best experience for families day-in and day-out.

Who else deserves credit – have you had mentors, supporters, cheerleaders, advocates, clients or teammates that have played a big role in your success or the success of the business? If so – who are they and what role did they plan / how did they help.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and for my husband and I, Primrose School of Buckhead is our third child, and the one that definitely requires a village to “raise”. First and foremost, our parents deserve a lot of credit for allowing us to pursue our dream of operating a Primrose and making sure our daughters are well taken care of in the process; the network of Primrose franchise owners who mentored us through the first year (a special thanks to Keri Stoltz and her team at Primrose School of Midtown), and the Primrose Schools support team. We also need to give a shout-out to our leadership team and staff for their dedication and hard work. Without them, our school wouldn’t be the happy place it is for so many children and their families.

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