Advantage Schools Appoints New President and COO; Company Poised for Continued Growth and Success.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 16, 1999--

Advantage Schools, Inc. announced today the appointment of Geoffrey W. Swett as President and Chief Operating Officer. An accomplished executive from the healthcare industry, Mr. Swett was most recently President of the Dialysis Services Division at Fresenius Medical Care, a $2 billion division with 650 locations. His distinguished career includes seven years in not-for-profit healthcare institutions and nearly two decades in for-profit healthcare management.

"Geoff brings a wealth of experience in a multiple site service business with many parallels to charter school management," said Steven F. Wilson, Advantage's Chief Executive Officer. "His management capacity, record of success, and passion for education reform make him a natural fit for Advantage. Geoff will sustain the company's extraordinary growth while enhancing management discipline."

Mr. Swett's addition to Advantage's leadership team will dramatically expand the company's management capacity as it prepares to double in size this fall. With 17 charter public schools under its management, Advantage Schools will this summer become the nation's premier charter school management company.

"My commitment to excellence in K-12 public education drew me to Advantage Schools," said Geoffrey Swett. "In the three short years since the company's inception, Advantage has effectively shifted the landscape in urban public education, extending new opportunities and new hope to thousands of children and their families. I'm excited about all that is possible in the years ahead, and I'm delighted to be joining the company at such an important juncture."

"As Advantage transitions from an entrepreneurial start-up to a company with $66 million in revenues and 900 employees, Geoff Swett will establish the management disciplines and systems needed to build on the company's record of successful execution nationwide," said Stephen P. Murray, Advantage board member and General Partner of Chase Capital Partners. "This announcement is yet another exciting step for a company that has experienced tenfold growth in three years."

In March 1999, Advantage Schools secured $25 million in private equity capital, building on $10 million raised since the company's founding in 1996. The latest capital influx will be used to open 25 new urban charter schools in cities nationwide this fall and in 2000, and to expand eight schools already in operation.

Working with local school founders, Advantage opened its first two charter public schools in September 1997 and six additional schools last fall. Early results reflect remarkable gains in students' academic performance, conduct, and self-confidence, and parent surveys and re-enrollment rates reflect a high level of parent satisfaction. In San Antonio, Texas, for example, kindergartners scored better than 94% of their peers nationally in reading on the respected Iowa Test of Basic Skills--after just seven months in their Advantage-managed school.

With the opening of nine additional schools this fall, Advantage will be serving more than 10,000 children from primarily low-income families. Each school will implement the Advantage school design, which includes rigorous academic standards, research-based curricula and instructional practices, and character education. Advantage currently operates in nine states and the District of Columbia. Advantage cities include Phoenix, Arizona; Worcester, Massachusetts; Benton Harbor, Michigan; Albany, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Dallas, Houston, Midland, and San Antonio, Texas.