A new early-childhood center is taking shape on North Hardin Boulevard in McKinney, where construction crews are building out Primrose School of North McKinney, a 13-classroom preschool slated to open in 2027. The project will serve infants, toddlers and pre-K students at 2131 North Hardin Boulevard, and franchise owners say families are already signing up before the doors even open.
Work on the site is underway now, according to Community Impact Newspaper, which reports the school will include more than 8,600 square feet of indoor classroom space along with about 10,500 square feet of outdoor play space once finished. The school is being developed near the Painted Tree planned neighborhood, with franchise owners pointing to that community and other established residential areas taking shape nearby as part of the draw for a new preschool in the area.
Franchise owners Mariana and Ajit Thomas are behind the McKinney location. The Primrose School of North McKinney website lists Mariana as the on-site owner and Ajit as co-owner, and the pair told Community Impact they are thrilled to bring Primrose's Balanced Learning approach to the surrounding community. “McKinney is growing quickly,” the owners said, according to the outlet's report.
What Families Can Expect Inside the New School
Once open, the school plans to run on Primrose's Balanced Learning curriculum, a model the company applies across its national network of franchises. The school's website states that every staff member undergoes a background check and is certified in CPR and first aid, and it lists planned hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. For the infant classroom specifically, the site also notes monthly emergency drills meant to prepare both children and staff for unexpected situations.
Parents in the area are already preregistering for spots, the owners told the outlet's report, even with the opening still roughly five to eight months away. That early interest tracks with broader patterns in Collin County, where demand for childcare has been climbing alongside the region's population growth.
How McKinney Stacks Up on Childcare Access
Collin County currently counts 4.4 licensed childcare providers per 1,000 children under five, according to Beverly Research's childcare data, compared with 3.2 statewide in Texas and 4.2 nationally. The same report found that the county's rapid population growth has so far been matched by provider expansion, though it notes infant-room waiting lists remain common outside central McKinney. Beverly Research's 2026 State of Childcare Index ranked McKinney second among 250 U.S. cities with a score of 73 out of 100.
The cost of that care is not small. A year of infant center care in McKinney runs about $13,139, representing roughly 10.9% of the city's median household income of $120,273, per the index data. Those figures help frame why a new facility with more than 8,600 square feet of classroom space and a 10,500-square-foot play yard is drawing early attention from local parents before a single class has even started.
