Construction crews are at work on a new childcare center in Porter, with Kiddie Academy of Highlands taking shape under the ownership of operators Rakesh Patel and Apurva Patel. The project arrives as families across the New Caney and Porter area continue to struggle to find open childcare slots close to home.
According to Community Impact, Kiddie Academy of Highlands is now under construction in Porter and will be operated by Rakesh and Apurva Patel. Work on the site kicked off following an Oct. 14 social media post from the East Montgomery County Improvement District, the outlet reported.
According to Community Impact, once open, the academy plans to offer customized learning for infants through kindergarten-age children, along with after-school programs for kids ages 5 to 12. The report describes Kiddie Academy as a national child care provider with almost 30 locations across the Greater Houston area.
A Childcare Desert in the Making
The new location is landing in an area that has repeatedly struggled to keep pace with demand for early education seats. As noted by Community Impact, Children at Risk classified the Porter ZIP code 77365 as a childcare desert because it had fewer than 35 childcare seats per 100 working parents.
That designation hasn't been a one-off problem. Outside of 2023, Porter has been classified as a childcare desert every year since 2021, according to Children at Risk data cited by Community Impact. In 2025, both the New Caney and Porter ZIP codes were considered childcare deserts under the Texas Workforce Commission's standard, the report states.
Population Growth Outpacing Supply
Part of the strain traces back to how quickly the area has grown. Per a report from Community Impact, the New Caney- and Porter-area population grew by roughly 30.3% over five years, from 2019 to 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Cost has compounded the access problem. In 2026, average daily childcare market rates in the Gulf Coast region outpaced Texas' overall averages for every age range for children up to 5 years old, the outlet reported, underscoring why new capacity like the Kiddie Academy project matters to families searching for affordable options.
An opening date for Kiddie Academy of Highlands has not yet been determined, and no timeline for completing construction has been made public.
