eSCORE.com Launches as Web's First Educational Services Site For Parents

Personalized Online Services Empower Parents to Take Control of Their Child's Education and Development

NEW YORK - January 19, 2000 - SCORE! Learning Corporation, a leading provider of after-school learning programs for kids and educational resources for parents, today announced the national launch of eSCORE.com -- the first educational services Web site for parents of kids newborn to age 14. eSCORE.com helps parents determine what's best for their child's education and development. Emphasizing a customized site experience and contact between parents and education specialists, eSCORE.com is creating a new e-education category - one that blends the best of the Internet with highly interactive person-to-person services.

eSCORE.com enables parents to enter information about their child's interests and learning abilities into brief, easy-to-use online assessments and questionnaires. An immediate, in-depth analysis gives parents a clear picture of their child's individual developmental and educational needs. eSCORE.com education specialists partner with parents, recommending educational activities, products and services to address those needs. Parents can also turn to eSCORE.com for an array of other services including information on state tests and education standards, an assessment of a child's readiness for state tests, interactive workshops with other parents and experts, ongoing consultations with education specialists, and local educational event listings.

The site features original content developed with leading educational and child development organizations such as Harvard Project Zero, the Brazelton Institute, LD OnLine, Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development (CTD), and National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRCGT-UCONN). Parents have unprecedented access to more than 300 skills evaluations and assessments, 350 developmental milestones and activities, and 600 parent-child learning activities.

"Until now, there hasn't been an easy way for parents to gain an understanding of their child's learning process, and to nurture it actively," said Rob Waldron, CEO of SCORE! Learning Corporation. "SCORE! Center parents and others have told us that what they really want is a convenient online service to help them get more involved in their children's education in a meaningful, hands-on way. eSCORE.com gives parents access to a wide array of highly interactive, customized resources 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

"According to research, parental involvement in a child's development and education is critical to long-term success and achievement in school," said Dr. Janet Andron Hoffman of Teachers College, Columbia University. "Harnessing the power of the Internet appropriately can facilitate parents' involvement. They can go online anytime and receive expert guidance when they have questions or concerns, or even go online with their children and learn together."

"For answers to particular questions, she can e-mail an eSCORE.com developmental psychologist directly, or schedule an in-depth 40-minute phone consultation," continued Mr. Kaplan. "No other Web-based education service exists to make it this easy for parents to get advice pertinent to their child from live experts."

The eSCORE Store offers the most comprehensive online inventory of children's educational products available, with more than 50,000 products, toys and games, all carefully selected to help children realize their learning potential. Suppliers include Imagine the Challenge, Educator's Resource, and Baker & Taylor.

eSCORE.com has initial funding of $25 million from Kaplan, SCORE! Learning Corporation's parent company and a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

Site Features

More than 300 evaluations and assessments to determine a child's particular educational and development needs, and to help parents understand how their parenting styles influence their children's educational development;
Human-to-human interaction for parents with child development and education experts via the site, phone, e-mail;
Overviews of state tests and education standards;
Coming Q1: Assessments of a child's readiness for state tests and recommendations for building key skills;
State test score reports that analyze a child's scores and recommend action steps;
Coming Q1: More than 1,000 listings of local educational, parenting and cultural events in over 150 cities throughout the nation;
More than 350 specific development milestones and activities for kids ages birth to seven, developed by Harvard Project Zero research team;
Articles relating to diverse learning issues with special weekly features on learning disabilities, gifted/talented children and early reading;
More than 600 parent-child learning activities addressing developmental ability areas in math, reading and science;
eSCORE Store with more than 50,000 SKUs of educational products including CDs, books, toys, videos, puzzles and games;
Educational TV listings related to eSCORE.com parent-child activities;
Up-to-the-minute educational news, polls and statistics;
eSCORE Action Planner - an interactive portfolio to track and record recommended products, activities and services.

eSCORE.com selected Fort Point Partners to plan and build site technology and system architecture that reflected eSCORE.com's vision. Using Fort Point Partners' eSelling Practice, eSCORE.com reflects a higher level of customization than previously thought possible, allowing parents to identify and acquire the right educational tools for their children easily. BitFlip Interactive Group, Inc. was responsible for the graphic design and the user interface for the site. BitFlip Interactive Group specializes in the design, development and implementation of digital communications solutions for all interactive platforms.

About SCORE! Learning Corporation

SCORE! Learning Corporation, a subsidiary of Kaplan, is a leading provider of after-school learning programs for kids and educational resources for parents. Its three divisions include SCORE! Educational Centers, SCORE! Prep and eSCORE.com. At SCORE! Educational Centers, after-school learning centers nationwide, students in grades K-9 develop academic skills, confidence and a love of learning in a high-energy, motivational environment. Using a proven interactive curriculum that adapts to each student's academic needs and learning style, SCORE! centers serve all kinds of students, including many who are at or above grade level. SCORE! Prep serves high school students with one-on-one, in-home tutoring for standardized tests and academic subjects. Kaplan is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

Press Contact: pubrel@kaplan.com, (212) 492-5965

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