Meet Our Team
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Let’s launch their lifelong love of learning together. Contact us to visit a Celebree School near you!
Let’s launch their lifelong love of learning together. Contact us to visit a Celebree School near you!
Richard O. Huffman is the founder, President, and CEO of Celebree Schools. Richie founded Celebree in 1994, growing our brand from a single preschool into the company we are today. In his current role, Richie shares his expertise, insights, and leadership with Celebree School franchisees, while continuing to shape Celebree’s short-term and long-term vision.
Over the course of more than two decades, Richie has grown Celebree from a single location into Maryland’s largest privately held chain of childcare centers. With Celebree’s entry into the franchise sector, Richie now shares the secrets to his success with Celebree franchisees. In his work with Celebree School franchise owners, Richie shares more than 20 years of industry experience and entrepreneurial expertise. He offers direct support to franchisees as they develop their locations while challenging assumptions that could impede their business. He is committed to the success of every franchisee and is available on a daily basis for one-on-one support.
As the President and CEO of Celebree Schools, Richie continues to guide the core vision of our brand: a vision that embraces change, innovation, and the constant pursuit of self-improvement. Thanks to Richie’s combination of leadership and experience, Celebree continues to set industry standards within the early childhood education sector. Richie has also shaped Celebree’s dynamic corporate culture, helping us attract some of the most forward-thinking leaders and executives in our industry.
Allison Tsomos joined Celebree in 1999. She has been a School Director, District Director, Vice President of Operations, and is now Chief Operating Officer. Over the past 20 years, Allison has been a part of the growth of the company by contributing to the opening and operation of 20 of the 26 corporate-owned schools.
As Chief Operating Officer, Allison is responsible for every aspect of fully functioning schools. She develops strategies that keep Celebree at the forefront of the curriculum, ensuring that every child will be ready for kindergarten. Allison is committed to assisting franchisees in reaching their financial plan. From analyzing lead conversion to customer satisfaction to revenue trends and expense control, Allison will provide guidance and suggestions to optimize the profitability of a Celebree School.
Allison’s commitment to being a thought leader in the early childhood industry overlaps with her personal and professional goal of mentoring others and contributing to her community. She is a member of the Maryland Childcare Association and National Association for the Education of Young Children as well as serving on advisory boards.
Lisa Bricker has been working with Celebree for more than a decade. Lisa joined our team in 2004, spending her first 11 years as Celebree’s Director of Human Resources, followed by her current role as Chief Talent Officer. Over her time at Celebree, Lisa has played an integral role in talent development, helping us become the brand we are today.
Throughout Lisa’s tenure at Celebree, she has carefully documented our talent development efforts, creating a set of tools, processes, and best practices for our company. These resources are easily accessed by new franchise owners, giving them the guidance and support they need to recruit, train, and motivate the best people for their business.
As the Chief Talent Officer at Celebree, Lisa is responsible for all aspects of talent development within our organization. Her expertise guides our overall strategy for talent development, and she takes an active role in the creation, implementation, and oversight of our recruitment and training initiatives.
In her role as the leader of our HR and Training Departments, Lisa provides new franchise owners with detailed training programs, covering everything from business development to talent acquisition to industry, state, and federal regulations. Lisa has also designed a “Train the Trainer” platform, giving franchisees the knowledge and resources they need to train their own team members.
Lisa’s passion for her work is reflected in her industry involvement, which includes membership in the Society of Human Resources Management, the Chesapeake Human Resources Association, the Association of Talent Development, and the Human Capital Institute. She has been certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources by the Human Resources Certification Institute and as a Senior Certified Professional by the Society for Human Resources Management. She was named the VIP Woman of the Year in 2014 by the National Association of Professional Women.
Bio coming soon!
Kristen Miller became part of the Celebree team in 2015, joining our organization as a School Director. In 2016, she became our Director of Accreditation, and worked to ensure that each school was offering the highest quality of care for their families and children. In 2022, Kristen became the Director of Education, managing the curriculum cycle and maintaining fidelity in the classrooms. Kristen brings over 20 years of classroom and back-office experience to her work, along with an unbending commitment to excellence in early childhood education. Before graduating to a management position, Kristen spent more than a decade working in classrooms.
Kristen works directly with Celebree franchise owners and location managers, helping them achieve above-and-beyond quality standards. Her work includes direct collaboration with owners and managers, ensuring that they have the knowledge and resources to meet Celebree’s rigorous brand standards, as well as federal and state regulations. Kristen is an invaluable resource to new franchise owners during the early stages of business development. Kristen guides franchisees through the educational journey, conducts evaluations to ensure that all locations meet brand standards, and helps franchise owners understand industry grading systems, like CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring Scale) and ERS Environmental Rating Scales).
Stefanie Shurer had been providing care and support in the educational field to both children and adults since 2002. She joined the Celebree School family in May of 2009. She began working as a part-time teacher, supporting both the infant and preschool programs, transitioning to a full time teacher and School Support Manager, before taking a role in leadership as a School Director. After years in the classroom and holding a management position, Stefanie brought her knowledge and experience to the Celebree School Support Center where she began training new team members as a Training Coordinator and finally the Director of Training, ensuring that all corporate team members received a thorough onboarding and orientation process.
In her current role as the Director of Franchise Training, Stefanie provides new franchisee owners and their management team members the knowledge and framework for opening and operating a successful Celebree School in their community. She partners with subject matter experts within Celebree School to ensure that the training and support that each new franchisee and their management team receives is reflective of the promise to Grow People Big and Small.
Stefanie also has helped with the growth of the Celebree School brand by sharing her passion for early childhood education, child development, family involvement in their child’s learning at school or at home, and overall family engagement through live news broadcasts. She has hosted regular Peanut Pod(casts) to engage new and current mothers and caregivers on highly relevant or trending topics. Additionally, Stefanie supports the corporate Celebree School locations with teacher competency training, modeling in classrooms for behavioral guidance and school temperature visits.
Stefanie is a member of the Maryland State Childcare Association (MSCCA) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Her passion with education lies in the development and understanding of social and emotional skills with the educators she works with as well as nurturing the passion in new leadership team members. She has presented at NAEYC and MSCCA conferences on the importance of proper orientation for new staff members for retention, as well as classroom observation and documentation of child development.
Prior to joining Celebree, Stefanie was a public school teacher, specializing in Early Childhood Education, teaching at-risk youths, to include elementary school children during school year and Extended School Year programs. She also taught special education programs for full-day preschool for children accepted into the Child Find program.
