Primrose Schools, the premier early education and care leader with nearly 475 locations, today announced its 2022 growth plans, including projections of an estimated 25 incoming schools, several of which are in new urban locations like New York City. In the midst of skyrocketing demand for child care, the company is kicking off its 40th year focused on helping both new entrepreneurs and veteran franchise owners meet the early education and care needs of families in their community by opening schools and expanding access to Primrose's time-tested and award-winning Balanced Learning® Approach.

Primrose Schools maintained its trusted reputation for safety and service excellence throughout the pandemic which led to positive financial growth and several important development milestones. Enrollment remained high during 2021 with many locations continuing to have waitlists for students. Likewise, the company awarded 27 franchise agreements, opened 22 schools and experienced a 340% increase in potential franchise owner inquiries compared to 2020. Pre-pandemic inquiries from 2019 were outperformed by 142% as well. Building on this momentum, the company is poised to reach its milestone 500^th location by this time next year.

"Primrose Schools revolutionized early childhood education through our proven model, continued innovation and tireless commitment to supporting our franchise owners and the children and families they serve with the guidance and tools to thrive," said Steve Clemente, President of Primrose Schools. "We have expanded access to premier early education and quality child care significantly over the last 40 years. But as demand for these essential services continues, Primrose remains focused on empowering entrepreneurs to create a brighter future for all children and families by bringing new schools to communities across the country."

Fueling America's Economic Engines
At a time when families are returning to our nation's largest cities, new Primrose schools are opening in critical financial centers that are experiencing some of the greatest child care shortages due to the pandemic, like New York City and Chicago.

Similarly, migration of young families during the pandemic has been a major boon to secondary cities, but they need a vitally important service to sustain their growth – access to quality early education and child care. Primrose is working with new entrepreneurs, as well as veteran franchise owners, to help the nation's fastest growing metro areas, like Austin, Boise, Nashville and Reno, meet the needs of all residents.

Child care shortages in Silicon Valley, Milwaukee and other tech hubs grew significantly as they transitioned to work from home workforces at the height of the pandemic. As many businesses begin their call for a return to the office, Primrose has plans to open schools in these communities in the upcoming years to provide parents the quality early education and care solutions they need.

Accolades for Agents of Change
In addition to experiencing rapid growth, Primrose Schools has been recognized for its dedication to franchise owners and work with national partners to expand access to early education and create meaningful child care solutions.

Entrepreneur's Franchise 500® awards, the world's first, best and most comprehensive franchise ranking, named Primrose Schools No. 1 in the child care category and No. 65 on the overall list of best franchises for 2022. This is the sixth consecutive year Primrose Schools received the honor of claiming the top spot in the child care category. Primrose also received the top ranking in the child care services category of Newsweek's 2022 America's Best Customer Service list and outperformed all child care competitors on the latest Franchise Times Top 400 report, earning the 108^th spot overall.

As lawmakers continued to debate the child care funding provisions to be included in the Build Back Better bill, Primrose Schools CEO Jo Kirchner worked alongside the Early Care & Education Consortium (ECEC) to advocate for a comprehensive public-private partnership and, mixed-delivery child care framework benefitting all children. Likewise, Primrose continued its collaboration with AdventHealth at the revolutionary West Lakes Early Learning Center (ELC) and became the first national system of preschools to have their teachers and parents utilize evidence-based screening tools for their children aligned with the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Thanks to these efforts, Jo Kirchner was honored as the Female Executive of the Year at the 18th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business, in recognition of Primrose's commitment to bettering communities by providing a quality early childhood education and care for all children.

Entrepreneurs looking for impactful, innovative business opportunities can visit Primrose Schools online or call 800-PRIMROSE (774-6767) to learn more about franchise opportunities today.

Primrose Schools is the leader in providing premier early education and care to children and families in the United States. Founded in 1982, there are nearly 475 Primrose schools in 33 states today. Ranked the No. 1 child care franchise by Entrepreneur for six consecutive years and named as one of the best franchises to buy in America by Forbes, Primrose offers Franchise Owners the opportunity to invest in a financially rewarding and emotionally satisfying business while providing an essential service that delivers an unparalleled early learning experience for children and families in their community. Each school is independently owned and operated by Franchise Owners who are provided a proven and time-tested business model and exclusive approach to early education, called Balanced Learning®. Primrose has franchising opportunities available in markets throughout the U.S. and is seeking qualified potential Franchise Owners to join the brand's rapid expansion and mission to transform the future of early education. For more information, visit www.Franchise.PrimroseSchools.com, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter, and explore our news site.