Learning Care says it broke ground on a new Everbrook Academy at 40 Nevius Boulevard in Montgomery Township, an 11,408-square-foot school designed to serve up to 146 children from infancy through pre-kindergarten. The project is expected to create about 30 jobs for teachers and administrative staff, and it lands inside one of the township's most closely watched retail developments.
According to a release from Learning Care, the company already operates 21 schools across New Jersey, and the new academy will offer infant, toddler, preschool and pre-K programs. Learning Care CEO John Bork framed the project in personal terms, saying, “This school is an investment in the children who will grow up here, the teachers who will build their careers here and a community that is growing fast.”
Per citybiz, Bork also said families in Montgomery Township deserve high-quality early education close to where they live and work, and the company described the school as an addition that brings an educational component to Montgomery Promenade's retail mix. The outlet reported that representatives from Learning Care, SJC Ventures, Northwood Construction Company and local officials attended the November 10 groundbreaking ceremony.
A School Inside a Growing Shopping Center
The academy is being built as part of Montgomery Promenade, a mixed-use retail center developed by SJC Ventures that sits next to a new residential neighborhood still under construction, the release notes. SJC Ventures principal Jeff Garrison said, per citybiz, that the childcare facility will complement the development's existing tenant mix and give local residents another service close to home.
Montgomery Promenade itself has been years in the making. ROI-NJ reported that the project broke ground as a planned 292,700-square-foot center on a 54-acre site, anchored by a Whole Foods Market with other confirmed tenants including Ulta, Panera Bread, Iron Whale and the Robinson Ale House. The site plan has also included 34 detached single-family homes meant to buffer existing houses along Route 518 from the new shopping center, according to REBusinessOnline.
SJC Ventures said on its own site that it broke ground on the 54-acre Montgomery Promenade property in fall 2023 and had expected the center to welcome its first openings in the fourth quarter of 2025. The Everbrook Academy groundbreaking marks the latest piece of that long-running buildout taking shape.
A Statewide Childcare Squeeze
The new school arrives as researchers point to broader strain on childcare access across New Jersey. The New Jersey State Policy Lab at Rutgers has said nearly every county in the state is facing a childcare deficit, with unmet demand for center-based care projected to keep expanding in counties including Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset through 2034. The same research found that 80% of parents of children under six considered a center-based provider among the two options they took most seriously in their search.
A 2022 survey from Advocates for Children of New Jersey found a particularly tight squeeze for the youngest kids, reporting that licensed infant care statewide had only enough space to serve roughly a third of the babies who needed it because every parent in their household worked. The dossier behind this reporting does not establish that Montgomery Township itself faces a specific shortage, but the statewide pressure helps explain why a 146-child school with infant and toddler slots is notable news for the area.
Part of a Larger National Footprint
Everbrook Academy is one brand within Learning Care's broader portfolio, which also includes Childtime Learning Centers, La Petite Academy, Montessori Unlimited, The Children's Courtyard and Tutor Time, per citybiz. The company describes itself as a nationwide provider of early childhood education and childcare services, serving families through more than 1,100 schools and employing over 23,000 people across the country.
Programs at the new Montgomery Township academy are set to use Learning Care's Learn As We Grow curriculum, which incorporates play-based activities focused on early literacy, math and social-emotional development, according to citybiz. Neither Learning Care's release nor the citybiz report disclosed the project's development cost or an anticipated opening date for the school.
