Korean Education Franchise Opens In Ramsey

A new Eye Level Learning Center, a franchise which provides extracurricular math, reading and writing instruction to kids ages 3 to 15, is now open in Ramsey. The learning center, which is located in the Ramapo Valley Medical Center on N. Franklin Turnpike, opened last week.

“My son was having some issues in school, so when I researched it and really looked into it, I felt that there was a gap in our education system,” Allendale resident Jim Lockard, a real estate agent in Saddle River, said of why he decided to open an Eye Level. “If your kids are advanced or behind for their age group, it’s very hard for the district to service them.”

Lockard said his feelings prompted him to research after school educational facilities. He was intrigued by e. nopi, a South Korean firm that started in the 1970’s, and changed its name to Eye Level, the English translation, this year.

The educational philosophy of the center, Lockard said, is very “linear.” Curricula are broken into levels, and students cannot advance to the next academic level until they receive a score of 100% on the previous level’s test. “But, we don’t give the kids the test until we know they will get 100%,” Lockard said.

Instruction at Eye Level, led by certified teachers trained in Eye Level’s curriculum, is very student-driven, the owner explained. Instruction is given in small groups of three or four students, and is “more like coaching or guiding students during self-directed learning,” Lockard said.

Though students do have about 15 minutes of Eye Level homework a day, and tackle a wide, in-depth curriculum at the center, Lockard said they have fun doing it.

“Kids enjoy it, in large part because they develop a confidence in what they are doing,” he said. And, activities the kids engage in to understand concepts are built to be enjoyable, he said.

As a new business in the borough, Lockard said Eye Level will be offering discounts to its first 50 students. Students generally attend the center once a week.

“I love Ramsey, it’s a great town,” Lockard said. “It’s centrally located, we are right across the street from the Interstate Shopping Plaza, and it’s easy access for parents from here and surrounding towns. 

"We are meant to be a great supplement to kids' experiences in school, and I think we can do that really well here."

Learn more about Eye Level here.

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