Pros
I was a full time employee at LMB, which is rare. This will shape my review, but I'll try to touch on some of the part time experience as well. • Making a difference in children's lives: SI instruction is actually effective • At the hands of driven employees, mentoring is successful and leads to genuine improvement among staff • Training on empathy and "show" (LMB's version of the concept of "face") is legitimately helpful and transferable to other positions • Work life balance: for full time you work 8 hours a day, on the dot • Fantastic center director (specific to my center): quick to give positive praise, knows how to word corrections in a kind manner
Cons
There is a clear "Us vs. Them" attitude at many of the Learning Centers (LCs) that contributes to the low morale of the company. • LCs often have to quickly make changes based on impulses of the CEO and corporate office, with no explanation as to why • Corporate structure is familial; many lower level staff members feel there is a high degree of nepotism, furthering low morale • Abysmal pay: I was making about $10-15k below city average for my position and experience. After I left, all lower level employees (including center directors) received a pay cut. The executive family did not. So you can imagine what the wages are now at this company. And you can imagine how the disparity leads to an "Us vs. Them" attitude. There are also some business practices that are at best unprofessional and at worst unethical. • High turnover; critically understaffed: students are passed around like a hot potato, center to center via online instruction to compensate • Academy (online private school) is pushed on students who wouldn't be a good fit--all to help reach sales numbers • When instruction isn't working, LCs are told to push for more instruction: this can lead to conflicted feelings where you love a kid you've been working with for many years, but there is NO progress. At $125/hour, this is unacceptable. • Employees are pushed to give full time availability, even if they are part time. Yet outside of the summer, working only 2-4 hours a week is common at smaller LCs.
