Rising Stars: Meet Jessa Depew of Smyrna

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessa Depew.

Hi Jessa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I opened The Quadrilingual Academy in the middle of the COVID-19 shutdown. August 1, 2020. It was a project of necessity. I was running clinical trials remotely for a small Swiss-based pharma company and I had a 4 year old and 2 year old boy at home wrestling with limitless energy all day long. I was also pregnant in my 40s with our 3rd child. I needed my kids to go to school after their trilingual (Spanish, Chinese, English) school shutdown on March 1st. I also wanted them to have formal French training, as I’m an American French speaker. Thus, The Quad was born. We had 13 staff and 28 kids when we opened. My students were kids of staff. I had no idea this concept would be such a high demand. By August 1, 2022, we were at full capacity for the classrooms we offered with over 120 students and a 12+ month waiting list.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t know if I would refer to opening a childcare center and school during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic smooth, but we did meet a need in the community for in-person learning when 80%+ of programs were virtual. Many of our parents were medical or essential workers that desperately needed childcare. We opened when 40% of childcare programs across the country had closed, so getting a business loan of any kind was out of the question. We needed the program to be successful for our family (I’m a clinical pulmonary pharmacist and my husband is a plastic and general surgeon) so we provided personal capital to make the vision a reality. Our medical backgrounds helped us navigate COVID-19 risk mitigation, but opening a program at that time was anything but easy. My daughter arrived just 2 months after opening, so I was navigating a new business while on maternity leave with my 3rd child. It was an exciting time!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My background and career for almost 20 years is as a clinical pulmonary pharmacist. I worked on the industry side supporting clinical trials and had the distinct pleasure of working on 2 drugs that made it to the US and EU markets in rare disease. My professional skillset prepared me well. Running timelines, business plans, budgets, and teams of people set The Quad for success when I decided to leave my role in pharma and focus 100% on the development and success of the school.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love that Atlanta is a transplant city. Our families at The Quad represent real world diversity. Beyond language, having such a diverse community prepares our kids to see character instead of color. If you want to know how diverse a city is, just look at the restaurants offered. If you can dream it, you can find it in Atlanta. I do wish our city had a better public transportation system. Every time I’m in New England, I’m reminded that we still have a long way to go to make the the city and suburbs accessible to everyone.

Pricing:

• Toddler 1 $2,100/month
• Toddler 2 through 3rd grade $1,950/month

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thequadacademy.com
• Instagram: @thequadacademy
• Facebook: @thequadacademy
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82555420
• Twitter: @thequadacademy