Drew McWilliams Marks Ivybrook Academy's 20-Year Moment At Franchise Conference

Ivybrook Academy's annual conference has given the preschool franchise a timely platform to connect founder story, franchisee operations and network growth before its 20th anniversary. The company said the three-day event, titled Relationships: The Heart of Ivybrook, ran from July 8 to July 10 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It brought together franchise owners, school leaders, corporate team members and partners for sessions on leadership, relationships, financial strategy, team development and school community building.

The timing is useful for the brand. Ivybrook was founded in 2007 by Jennifer and Drew McWilliams in Weddington, North Carolina, and is preparing to mark 20 years in August. The company says it operates a half-day preschool model rooted in Montessori and Reggio Emilia philosophies, serving children from 18 months to 6 years old through individualized learning, small class sizes and enrichment programming. For franchising, that model is not just an education story; it is a local-owner story built around trust, curriculum, staffing and family relationships.

Drew McWilliams, co-founder of Ivybrook Academy, said the conference gave the community a chance to reflect on two decades of impact and look ahead. The release described relationships across the network as central to the brand's success. That may sound soft, but in early education franchising it is operationally hard. Parents are buying confidence in teachers, administrators, curriculum and communication. Franchise owners are trying to recruit and keep staff, manage school economics, build local enrolment pipelines and maintain consistency without making schools feel impersonal.

The conference agenda shows where the franchisor sees pressure points. Sessions included Path to Profitability, Relationships That Build Your School, Hiring for Relationships and The Afternoon Advantage. Those topics connect money, people and family engagement rather than treating growth as only a territory-sales matter. Keynote speaker Gail Kasper focused on growth mindset and empowering leadership, while conference programming gave owners at different stages a chance to compare approaches and strengthen school-level operations.

Ivybrook also used the event to recognise franchise owners and campus teams. Named award recipients included Jade Thompson of Tampa Palms, Florida, as Rookie of the Year; Amber Stravlo of Lubbock, Texas, for the President's Award; Maneesha Mankad of Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the Community Connection Award; Bruce Humphries of Seven Hills, Georgia, for the Golden Heart Award; Shea Althoff of Franklin, Tennessee, as Educator of the Year; Kathleen Bookbinder of Greenville East as Administrator of the Year; and Brittney and Michael Babb of Colorado Springs, Colorado, for the Ivybrook Spirit Award. The brand also recognised campuses through Head of the Class and Growth and Momentum awards.

The growth numbers put the conference in a broader development context. Ivybrook said it has 70 locations open or in development, plus 40 additional locations awarded to franchise partners across 22 states. For the franchise market, the message is that child-focused education brands are still trying to grow, but the strongest systems are talking about owner readiness, staff culture and family relationships as much as territory availability. Ivybrook's 20-year moment is therefore not just a milestone. It is a test of whether a founder-led preschool concept can keep scaling without losing the relational discipline that made parents and franchisees buy into it in the first place.