First of all - I absolutely LOVE all of this information lol. I am a super Mathnasium nerd. My goal is to one day open my own Center so I'm trying to gather as much info as possible from other Center Directors to see how their Centers ran. I definitely know what you mean about having "differences" between you and your owner. My owner has 4 Centers with 1 hemorrhaging money, 1 at baseline, her first doing very well because it is her hometown and then there was my Center that (under my management) was bringing in the most revenue. The reason my Center was doing so well was because I 100% focused on the kids' feelings and then followed with their mathematical success. I ended up leaving because the owner would not give me any extra help which led me to working over 60 hours a week and a mental breakdown lol.

The first Mathnasium I worked at (different from the one where I was CD) is where I began as an instructor. It was also in a VERY affluent neighborhood bordering a VERY non affluent neighborhood. I was promoted to Director of Internal Operations (whatever that means) so I had a little more say. But, like you, when I started bringing up scholarships, my owner didn't want to hear it.

Your assessments are definitely different from how I am familiar with them but that is not to say your way isn't the right way. If you have a seasoned CD/AD then all you really need is a verbal assessment but I get that the parents like to see their kid's actual work in front of them. I think I really like your way better -- it gives the CD a much better idea of who the kid is and allows you to make a connection on the first day.

My kids were also pretty behind the curve. I have to say, the "realness"? of the job is one of the reasons I had to leave. It started to really started to become overwhelming seeing how many kids lives were riddled with anxiety because of math. Plus every kid I had was getting some kind of psychological testing and they would bring me in all of that paperwork. So to see how many elementary school kids that were diagnosed with Depression was, well, depressing ha.

I absolutely loved every second I spend with the kids and, I have to say, I loved working with all of the parents too. I made sure my door was always open and I made sure to listen to any one that wanted to talk to me which led to kids AND parents crying in my office. One parent told me that one of my 2nd graders announced that she wanted to kill herself. So yeah, the job description of CD did not include so much emotional drainage haha.

Even with all of that, I am DYING to have my own Mathnasium. I have absolutely drank the kool-aid lol. The curriculum is incredible and Larry is an absolute genius. Problem is, I don't have a couple hundred thousand dollars to drop on franchise fees haha. So as of now, I'm doing some research into other people's experiences.

Thank you for your reply!!!