Oct. 15, 2024

A national early childhood education and child care business is expanding to Sioux Falls.

Atlanta-based Primrose Schools is being franchised locally by Paige and Zach Berg, who discovered it through family members in other cities who have sent children to Primrose.

“We saw how awesome the child care experience was for them, and that made us want to bring it Sioux Falls,” Paige Berg said. “It had been a dream of mine a long time to open a day care center and school.”

Berg has a background in health care; Zach Berg is a dentist who plans to continue practicing while helping with Primrose. Berg will be a hands-on owner while also hiring a director.

As parents of young children, “when we started looking for child care for our oldest, we ran into issues finding high-quality care, and we found extensive waitlists for any of the centers we were looking to get into and found how difficult it was to find not only a safe environment but an educational environment,” she said.

“Primrose has a really amazing curriculum backed by research that’s been created by leaders in the early-education space.”

The 12,700-square-foot location will be at 7500 S. Audie Ave., along 85th Street just west of Minnesota Avenue. It will be able to accommodate 176 children from infants until they start kindergarten.

“We chose the location because of the growth we’re seeing in southern Sioux Falls, and we’re hoping to reach not only Sioux Falls but Tea and Harrisburg, and with Veterans Parkway coming in, even those who aren’t on the south side will (find it) easily accessible,” Berg said.

Each day is planned for teachers through the broader Primrose organization, which continually is researching and evolving its curriculum, she said.

“So they can focus on providing care for kiddos and not creating lesson plans, and the education isn’t left up to chance,” Berg said. “Everything down to the toys and equipment in every classroom has been researched by leaders in the space to make sure it’s age-appropriate and educational for them.”

Van Buskirk Cos. plans to break ground on the project Friday. The hope is to enclose the building by winter and open next summer.

The school is taking enrollments, and “I’ve had over 20 parents already call,” Berg said. “We’ve had a lot of interest, and I’ve had teachers and directors reaching out. We aren’t actively hiring, but I’m taking resumes and would love to speak with anyone interested in working for us.”

The plan is to employ about 50 full- and part-time staff.

Primrose will have 12 classrooms, an indoor play area and multiple outdoor play spaces. The curriculum includes an exclusive library of music used in the classroom, a physical education curriculum and a focus on intellectual, creative, social and emotional development.

Primrose was founded in 1982 and has 500 locations in 34 states.

“We are called a school because we do focus on the curriculum and offering premium care,” Berg said. “We’ve had a great response. I wasn’t expecting to see it take off like this, but it’s exciting that it has taken off.”