Educate, Inc. Names Chip Paucek President, Educate Products Division

Leader to Expand 'Hooked On' Brand, Launch Sylvan Products at Retail 


BALTIMORE, Dec. 19  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Educate, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEEE), a leading pre-K-12 education services company delivering education services and products to students and their families, has named Chip Paucek President, Educate Products Division.  Mr. Paucek, who for the past year served as General Manager of the Company's fast-growing Hooked On Phonics business unit, was promoted to lead this new division, which will manage the corporation's development, marketing, distribution and sales of educational products to the consumer and educational market.

Under Mr. Paucek's leadership, the Educate Products Division will expand the "Hooked On" retail brand, releasing several new products in 2006, including Hooked On Spanish and Hooked On Science.  The Division will also introduce Sylvan branded products to the retail marketplace.  Educate acquired Hooked On Phonics in January 2005, expanding its portfolio of blue chip educational services brands by adding one of the nation's most trusted and well known consumer education brands.   By mid-year, Educate began releasing Hooked On Phonics programs into the retail marketplace, and in this short period they have become successful products at leading national retailers such as Costco, Borders, and Amazon.com.

"Chip and the his team have done a great job of transitioning Hooked On Phonics from an infomercial-driven business to a business selling via a wide variety of channels, including mass retailers, clubs, bookstores, and the Internet," noted R. Christopher Hoehn-Saric, Educate, Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  "As a result of Chip's leadership, the Educate Products team is poised to deliver exciting new products in 2006, creating substantial increases in sales domestically and internationally."

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to create and market valuable new educational products for parents from the country's two leading consumer education brands, Sylvan and Hooked On Phonics," said Mr. Paucek.  "The incredible success that our Hooked On products have had at retail in a very short period confirms that parents are hungry for high quality, engaging supplemental educational products from names they can trust.  The Educate Products Division is uniquely qualified to fill this need, and I look forward to leading the organization in this exciting and rewarding endeavor."

Mr. Paucek joined Educate in July 2004 as Vice President of Business Development, brought on board for his expertise in developing and selling educational media products at retail. Prior to his arrival at Educate, Mr. Paucek founded a company called Cerebellum Corporation that produced, among other things, a leading educational media brand called Standard Deviants. Co-CEO, Mr. Paucek grew that business substantially over a 10 year period.  He was personally responsible for all production, sales and marketing activities of the company and guided the company's progress. "Standard Deviants," one Cerebellum product, became a successful PBS television series and achieved retail distribution in over 20,000 doors.

About Educate, Inc.

Educate, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEEE) is a leading pre-K-12 education services company delivering education services and products to students and their families.  It has a portfolio of highly acclaimed brands including Sylvan Learning Centers, North America's largest and most trusted network of tutoring centers, providing supplemental, remedial and enrichment instruction; Hooked On Phonics, delivering highly regarded early reading, math and study skills programs; and Catapult Learning, a leading provider of educational services to public and non-public schools.  More information on Educate, Inc. can be found at http://www.educate-inc.com/.

Forward-looking Statements

This release includes information that could constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties.  Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, the Company's actual results could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.  The following factors might cause such a difference:  the development and expansion of the Sylvan Learning Center franchise system; changes in the relationships among Sylvan Learning Center and its franchisees; the Company's ability to effectively manage business growth; increased competition from other educational service providers; changes in laws and government policies and programs; changes in the acceptance of the Company's services by institutional customers and consumers; changes in customer relationships; the seasonality of operating results; global economic conditions, including interest and currency rate fluctuations, and inflation rates.  Additional information regarding these and other risk factors and uncertainties are set forth from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available for viewing on the Company's website http://www.educate-inc.com/.  (To access this information on the Company's website, click on "Investor Relations" and then "SEC Filings".)  All forward-looking statements are based on information available to the Company on the date of this Release.  The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 

DATASOURCE: Educate, Inc.



CONTACT:  Kevin Shaffer of Educate, Inc., [phone]



Web site:  http://www.educate-inc.com/ 

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