Archipelago Learning

Archipelago Learning, Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: ARCL
Industry	Educational software
Founded	2000
Founder(s)	David Muzzo Cameron Chalmers
Headquarters	Dallas, Texas, United States
Key people	Tim McEwen, CEO Mark Dubrow, CFO
Products	Study Island EducationCity.com Reading Eggs ESL ReadingSmart Northstar Learning
Website	www.archipelagolearning.com www.studyisland.com

Archipelago Learning(NASDAQ: ARCL) is an American subscription-based, software-as-a-service provider of education studies used by over 14 million students in nearly 38,700 schools throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Their comprehensive digital supplemental product suite uses technology to transform education. Their goal is to make rigorous learning fun, engaging, accessible, and affordable. The company's core business, Study Island, provides standards-based instruction, practice, testing and other tools for students in Kindergarten through 12th grade.

During the 2010-2011 school year, Study Island products were utilized by approximately 11 million students in nearly 23,7000 schools in 50 states and 3 Canadian provinces. These students answered over 3.6 billion practice questions.

In April 2009, Archipelago Learning introduced Northstar Learning, which provides instruction, practice, assessment, and test preparation for college and career subject areas through a web-based platform.

In June of 2010, Archipelago Learning acquired EducationCity, which provides an online K-6 educational program that includes instructional content and assessments in language arts, mathematics and science. At the end of 2010, EducationCity was being used by 9,200 schools in the U.K. and 6,000 in the U.S.

In August 2010, Archipelago Learning entered an agreement with Blake Publishing and began distributing Reading Eggs in the U.S. and Canada. Reading Eggs is a comprehensive, online supplemental literacy program for students Pre-K to grade 2.

In June 2011, Archipelago Learning purchased Alloy Multimedia, which publishes ESL ReadingSmart. ESL ReadingSmart, is an online, standards-based program for English language learners (ELL) targeted toward grades 4-12. The product offers individualized, content-based instruction to develop English language proficiency with emphasis on literacy and academic language development.

Founded in 2000, the company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and is a publicly held company with the largest shareholder being Providence Equity Partners, a media focused private equity firm. The company went public in November 2009 under the ticker (NASDAQ: ARCL).

Business

The company sells a suite of supplemental educational software products.

Study Island

Study Island logo

Study Island, which constitutes the bulk of the company's revenue and earnings, creates online learning programs for teachers and students in K-12 schools across the United States and Canada. Study Island develops, sells and supports state and province standards specific online learning software for use in the classroom or at home with an Internet connection in 50 U.S. states, and 3 provinces in Canada (Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia). Study Island is also involved in developing a series of state-specific Benchmarking products for use in schools in order to allow school administrators to assess their students' skill level before test taking occurs.

EducationCity

EducationCity is a developer and publisher of online educational learning solutions with offices in Chicago, USA and Rutland, UK.

Archipelago acquired EducationCity in June 2010.^[1]

Reading Eggs

Reading Eggs is a comprehensive, online supplemental literacy program for students Pre-K to grade 2.

ESL ReadingSmart

ESL ReadingSmart, is an online, standards-based program for English language learners (ELL) targeted toward grades 4-12. The product offers individualized, content-based instruction to develop English language proficiency with emphasis on literacy and academic language development.

Northstar Learning

Northstar Learning, which was launched in April 2009, uses the same web-based platform as the company's Study Island products to provide various instruction, assessment and exam preparation content, however focused on the postsecondary educational market.

History

Study Island was founded in May 2000 by Cam Chalmers and Dave Muzzo, originally providing tools related to the Ohio Proficiency Test Program. By 2002, Study Island had expanded to four states, Ohio, North Carolina, New York, and Michigan and serviced 180 schools. Continuing its rapid growth plan, Study Island, which moved its offices to Dallas, Texas added six states in 2003 and expanded its coverage to 750 schools.

In January 2007, Providence Equity Partners and MHT Partners together with co-founders Cameron Chalmers and David Muzzo completed a recapitalization of Study Island in which Archipelago Learning was created to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Study Island.^[2]

In June 2008, the company acquired TeacherWeb and in August 2009 the company acquired a minority interest in Edline, a private educational technology company. Also, in April 2009, the company launched Northstar Learning, marking its first entry into the postsecondary education market.

In October 2009, it launched in Canada.^[3]

In November 2009, Archipelago Learning launched a $75 million initial public offering on the NASDAQ under the symbol "ARCL".^[2][4][5] It also sold TeacherWeb in November 2009.^[3]

In June 2010, it bought EducationCity expanding the company's school count and porfolio of products in the U.S. and providing an entry point into the U.K.^[1] Later that summer the company entered into a distribution agreement with Blake Publishing, and in August 2010 began selling Reading Eggs in the U.S. and Canada.

In June 2011, they acquired Alloy Multimedia, the publisher of ESL ReadingSmart, an English language learning program.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Archipelago Learning buys Educationcity for $87M - Boston.com". The Boston Globe. 10 June 2010. http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2010/06/10/archipelago_learning_buys_educationcity_for_87m/. Retrieved 11 June 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Archipelago Learning, Inc. SEC Form S-1 Registration Filing"]. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1470699/000095012309040948/d68999sv1.htm. Retrieved 10 June 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Form 10-K for ARCHIPELAGO LEARNING, INC.". Edgar Online. http://biz.yahoo.com/e/100305/arcl10-k.html. Retrieved 27 June 2010. 
4. ^ "Archipelago Learning to Seek Nasdaq Listing". The New York Times. 4 September 2009. http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/archipelago-learning-to-seek-nasdaq-listing/. Retrieved 11 June 2010. 
5. ^ "Archipelago Learning Files S-1". Red Herring. http://www.redherring.com/Home/26199. Retrieved 10 June 2010. 

External links

• Archipelago Learning (company website)
• Study Island (company website)
• Northstar Learning (company website)