Catapult Learning announces Jeff Cohen as upcoming CEO

– USA, NJ – Catapult Learning, Inc., today announced that Jeffrey Cohen has been hired to serve as Chief Executive Officer, effective October 2, 2015. Cohen succeeds Stuart Udell, who will assume the role of Executive Chairman of Catapult Learning’s Board of Directors. Cohen arrives to his new post two months following the successful merger of Catapult Learning, LLC, and Specialized Education Services, Inc. (SESI), which created the nation’s largest provider of contracted instructional services.

Mr. Cohen previously served as the President of Catapult Learning from 2001 to 2006, when the company was a division of Educate, Inc. In 2008, he oversaw the sale of the business to JMI Equity and The Carlyle Group, still two of the company’s current investors. For the past seven years, Cohen served as the President and CEO of Sylvan Learning.

Prior to his time at Sylvan and Catapult Learning, Mr. Cohen held senior management roles with Thomson Learning and served in the Clinton administration, first as Chief of Staff for the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor and then as a detailed attorney in the White House Counsel’s Office. Mr. Cohen holds a BA in economics from Tufts University, an MBA from the Boston University Graduate School of Management, and a JD from the University of Maryland School of Law.

“We are thrilled to have Jeff back at the helm of Catapult Learning. He has the exact combination of vision, team-building, and execution experience we are looking for in a leader,” says Brooke Coburn, Catapult Learning Board Member and Managing Director and Co-Head of Carlyle Growth Partners and Carlyle Equity Opportunity Fund.

“Jeff is not only a highly experienced and extremely talented CEO, he also has a keen knowledge and understanding of our company and business,” says Stuart Udell, Catapult Learning’s outgoing CEO. “We could not be more excited to have Jeff rejoin the Catapult team and lead us into the company’s fifth decade of work dedicated to improving academic achievement for struggling and at-risk students.”

Stuart Udell, Catapult Learning’s CEO since January 2011, will become Executive Chairman of Catapult’s Board of Directors, and Steve Freeman, a founder of the business, will become Executive Vice Chairman and continue to serve as the Interim President of the Nonpublic Schools Group. During Udell’s tenure as CEO, the company has doubled in size, becoming the nation’s largest provider of contracted instructional services, a result of both organic growth and five acquisitions.

The expansion of the company’s leadership and organizational capacity is a natural development following the Catapult-SESI merger and the subsequent growth of the company’s customer base and portfolio of services.

“I am thrilled to be rejoining the Catapult team at such an important time,” states Cohen. “The recent merger presents several immediate growth opportunities for the company, and I am excited to work with my colleagues across Catapult Learning and SESI as we prepare to maximize those opportunities on behalf of the students and schools we serve.”

About Catapult Learning:

Catapult Learning, the largest provider of K–12 outsourced instructional services in the U.S., is dedicated to improving academic performance for at-risk and struggling students, including potential dropouts and those with learning and emotional disabilities. The company’s comprehensive portfolio of proven effective programs, services, and solutions complement school and district programs in supporting low-performing students, regardless of learning barrier. With an uncompromising commitment to educational quality, Catapult Learning’s team of 5,600 educators work every day to achieve sustained academic gains and build teacher and leadership capacity through research-based programs that include intervention, alternative school education, assessment, school improvement, and professional development solutions. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, the company reaches over 300,000 students and 25,000 teachers annually across 500 school districts—including 18 of the 20 largest Title I districts—in the United States.

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