WATERTOWN, Mass., Dec 18, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NASDAQ: BFAM), the world's leading provider of employer-sponsored child care and early education, announced that it has reached a major milestone, opening its 500th child care and early education center. The company, which was founded in 1986, now cares for more than 60,000 children and employs more than 15,000 early educators across the U.S., UK, Ireland, and Canada.

The 500th center opened by Bright Horizons has the capacity to serve hundreds of families working at the Citibank Service Center in San Antonio, TX. The state-of-the-art child development center is just the most recent in a long history of the financial service leader's commitment to child care and early education. Bright Horizons now operates eight early care and education centers for Citigroup businesses across the country, from New Jersey to Nevada.

"To us, growth is all about impact. Bright Horizons has a unique opportunity to make an impact on thousands of lives - one child, one family, one teacher, and one client at a time. This milestone for our organization is made up of countless smaller steps achieved in our centers and schools each day: a baby speaking her first words, a fourth-grader mastering fractions, a client being recognized as an employer-of-choice in their community. It is most gratifying to know that as we grow, a generation of children, educators, and employers is growing with us," said Bright Horizons Chief Executive Officer David Lissy.

Over the course of the company's 17-year history, corporations, hospitals, universities, and other employers have invested close to $1 billion to develop high-quality on-site child care centers and family-friendly workplaces. In return, these organizations have experienced healthy returns on their investment, some exceeding 100%, by reducing absenteeism and turnover, and increasing productivity and employee loyalty. A recent investment impact study of just eight U.S. companies showed their worksite child care centers saved them an aggregate $3.4 million in reduced voluntary turnover alone. (Full survey results are available at www.bfamsolutionsonline.com.)

Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (www.brighthorizons.com) is the world's leading provider of employer-sponsored child care, back-up care, early education and work/life solutions. Bright Horizons has been recognized for its commitment to quality by the Child Care Action Campaign and for its contributions to the community as the recipient of the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Citizenship. Bright Horizons serves more than 450 clients worldwide, including 84 of the FORTUNE 500 and half of the "Best Companies to Work For in America" as designated by Working Mother magazine. Bright Horizons was recently named one of FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For in America."

SOURCE: Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Bright Horizons Family Solutions
Ilene Hoffer, 617/673-8044
ihoffer@brighthorizons.com