A handful of new early childhood education facilities in Cy-Fair have opened recently or are set to open soon to meet the growing demand in the area for education, and before- and after-school care.
Two Cypress residents, Caroline and Mark Mascarenhas, hope to open Kiddie Academy on Longenbaugh Road in late August or early September. Another Cy-Fair resident, Kenneth Botwe opened Young Kids Academy on Jones Road in July.
Two more Kiddie Academies are expected to open this fall, along with a new Montessori school and a Children’s Learning Adventure. The new facilities are spread throughout the Cypress area—from Northpointe Boulevard down to Langham Creek.
The strength of Cy-Fair ISD drives demand for early education centers throughout the community said John Labuda, who co-owns the Cypress location of tutoring business Mathnasium and chairs the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce’s Education and Workforce Committee.
“The Cy-Fair area student population is growing every year,” he said. “Businesses who support early education are drawn to Cy-Fair due to the area’s strong demographics. The community has always supported education at the public and private levels.”
Kiddie Academy, like many of the new centers opening in Cy-Fair, caters to children from 6 weeks through 12 years old. Upon announcing plans for the Longenbaugh location, Mascarenhas said he is excited to bring the school’s services to the community.
“This is a really exciting time for us and we are eager to introduce our well-trained, attentive staff to local area parents and their children,” he said.
Courtney Adams—who will run a new Kiddie Academy on Mueschke Road with her sister Katy Maupin and aunt Lesa Hall—said she chose Cypress because she recognized it as a rapidly growing area and she wanted to provide education to children in the community where she lives.
“In many conversations with families in the area, we learned that people are driving long distances to find child care that meets their needs,” Adams said. “Also, we wanted enough space for kids to able to run, play and develop. With the location we selected, we are able to have a playground that is even larger than our building with over 13,000 square feet.”
Adams, who is aiming to open her location by Nov. 1, said she and Maupin will be on-site running the day-to-day operations of the academy. Maupin, a former kindergarten teacher, will serve as the site’s director.
Aditi Atri, who is opening The Seedlings Montessori School across from Cypress Ranch High School this fall, said the high concentration of families in the area made Cy-Fair an obvious choice for the school.
“Being parents of young children, we soon realized that a niche area like Cypress with highly rated Cy-Fair ISD elementary schools needed quality preschool education not a day care,” she said. “It’s a great location to serve all of the families in the communities nearby.”
