Academics Plus was founded in 1992 by Melinda and Mark Crenwelge. Melinda, who holds a doctoral degree in reading, and Mark, a master’s degree in mathematics, had worked as educators in the Dallas area since the early 1980’s. As parents and active members of their community, the Crenwelge’s understood the value and importance of a quality education. Their desire was to build a supplemental education business that positively impacted children by dramatically increasing each student’s academic performance.

The journey began over a year earlier when the Crenwelge’s purchased and operated a learning center franchise from a major, national corporation. This experience taught them the benefits and pitfalls of franchising in the supplemental education industry and the need for a completely new model to bring their dream to reality. Utilizing their extensive background in education and academics, they developed their own “engine”, a prescriptive, individualized, instructional model, and proceeded to open the doors on their new center.

Over the course of the next 10 years the model proved to be very effective in two distinct arenas:

Retail Center: The retail center quickly grew into a viable, profitable operation and remains a thriving business in Mckinney, Texas (suburb of Dallas). Utilizing the Academics Plus engine, on average, students enrolled in the center improve their reading achievement by over one full grade level and math achievement by over two full grade levels in only 48 hours of instruction.

On-Site Services: Due to the strong relationship with the local school district Academics Plus entered into a contractual agreement to provide academic services on site for students in struggling campuses. The students chosen had previously tested poorly on state mandated assessments. School results increased dramatically after implementation of the program, successfully moving these campuses from almost low-performing to acceptable and then recognized status. In turn, this success enabled A+ to expand into the Houston, Texas and Wilmer Hutchins (Dallas), Texas school districts.

Within the last few years, Academics Plus has completely “computerized” the A+ model. Utilizing the latest in technology and the internet, the company has worked with third party programmers and software developers to bring their unique concept into a medium that vastly improves the training, operation, maintenance and administration of the business. This evolution has provided the incentive to launch a new venture for the Academics Plus team:

Licensing Opportunities: Implementing the same unique, proven strategies, Academics Plus is offering an affordable business opportunity for individuals excited about the supplemental education market, but not excited about the high start-up fees, continuing royalty expenses, or limitations imposed by existing, corporate franchise options. A research based academic program with 11 years of measurable results, packaged in an easy to operate, easy to implement fashion. The realization of this undertaking has provided an opportunity for interested individuals to reap the rewards of owning your own business while impacting the lives of children in your community.