Our History

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    Founding

    1982: Primrose Schools is launched!

    Paul and Marcy Erwin open the first Primrose in Marietta, GA and make education the center of our curriculum when "all-play" is the accepted norm.

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    Early Successes

    1990: Primrose awards first franchise in Georgia and launches the educational childcare franchise concept.

    1990: We set standards high. And, to maintain them, we create an internal review process called the Service Excellence Assurance.

    1998: Primrose® becomes the first educational child care company to receive accreditation from the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS CASI) Council on Accreditation and School Improvement, two prestigious associations recognized as the gold standard in evaluating high schools, colleges and universities.

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    Introducing & Evolving Balanced Learning®

    2001: We introduce our Balanced Learning® curriculum, which aligns with leading early childhood education philosophies, research and best practices.

    2003: We continue to innovate. Primrose is the first to integrate the use of wireless laptops into preschool and pre-K curriculum for teacher and student use. 

    2003: To facilitate infant and young toddler communication and language development, we add a sign language program.

    2006: Children learn languages most easily before age five, so we introduce our Spanish language curriculum Mucho Mundo®.

    2006: KIDWARE® software programs are introduced in preschool and pre-K classrooms to provide online extensions for learning activities and experiences.

    2008: We form the Education Advisory Board, a team of leading early childhood experts, who advise us on current research and trends in high-quality early childhood. 

    2012: AdvancED® selects Primrose to partner with them in developing and piloting the new Standards for Quality Early Learning Schools. And, we become the first early education company to earn AdvancED Corporation Systems Accreditation under these new standards.

    2016: We incorporate the latest early learning research into our curriculum and launch an exclusive STEAM integrated Balanced Learning® approach that guides our early learning experiences for children.

    2020: Primrose Schools launches Harmony & Heart™, a proprietary music, literacy and character development program.  

    2021: Primrose Friends Hit the Screens! With the launch of a video series, Primrose Friends puppets reinforce cognitive, social-emotional and character development, providing all families a glimpse inside the classroom.

    2021: Primrose Schools implements the Ages & Stages Questionnaires® (ASQ) across all schools, making us the first national education and child care provider to implement this trusted development assessment tool system wide.

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    Continued Expansion

    2005: 24 new Primrose Schools open in one year – a new record!

    2007: With 176 schools in our system, we celebrate our 25th anniversary!

    2010: Primrose expands our national support center campus with a 22,000 square foot Primrose School of Education. Now Primrose Franchise Owners and school management teams from across the country can come together for training and development. 

    2014: FranchiseGrade.com names Primrose Schools as the leader in Franchisee Satisfaction in the Children's sector.

    2015: Primrose marks the opening of its 300th school in Brookhaven, GA.

    2017: We celebrate our 35th anniversary and launched Primrose on Premise℠, a new business segment adjacent to our core business and line focused exclusively on employer-sponsored child care.

    2017: Entrepreneur ranks Primrose Schools the no. 1 child care franchise on its Franchise 500 list.

    2019: Primrose Schools opens its 400th school, bringing early education and care to the Westside community in Atlanta, Georgia  

    2019: Forbes Magazine ranked Primrose Schools #5 as America’s Best Franchises to Buy 

    2020: Entrepreneur ranks Primrose Schools the number 1 child care franchise on its Franchise 500 list for the 5th consecutive year 

    2021: Primrose marks the opening of its 450th school in Arlington, VA, serving more than 60,000 children and families across 32 states.

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    Supporting Our Communities

    2006: The Primrose Children’s Foundation® is launched to enable schools to make a greater impact on the needs of underserved children in their communities.

    2006: We establish our partnership with Reach Out and Read® by donating $100,000 to support the integration of literacy into pediatric care facilities.

    2013: We launch a national partnership with Save the Children® in a multi-year initiative that promotes early literacy, child sponsorship and protection for at-risk children in North America.

    2014: We name our Corporate Social Responsibility commitment Primrose Promise™ and integrate it throughout our organization, including our children and families.

    2015: Our Primrose Promise™ corporate social responsibility program raises $622,500 for local and national children’s charities.

    2016: Primrose forges partnerships with ZERO TO THREE® and the World Forum Foundation™.

    2018: Our Primrose Promise™ corporate social responsibility program raises more than $914,000 for local and national children’s charities.

    2020: Primrose Schools, in partnership with AdventHealth, Bainum Family Foundation, Lift Orlando, and Purpose-Built Communities – launch an innovative, scholarship early education and care center for underserved families in Orlando, Florida.

    2020: The Primrose Schools Children’s Foundation donates $250,000 to No Kid Hungry to help ensure children in need receive proper nutrition to focus and thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our Primrose Friends


At Primrose Schools, our Balanced Learning® curriculum infuses social-emotional and character development lessons through imaginative play with the Primrose Friends — 12 engaging classroom puppets that help foster compassion, creativity, gratitude, and honesty in children.

Knowing the brain develops more rapidly during the first five years than any other point in a person's life, this purposeful approach to play helps young children learn and retain valuable lessons, providing early learning experiences that are an important foundation to a child's quality of life and future success.

As early as six months old, babies begin to show signs of empathy, making the nurturing of social-emotional skills even more important from birth. Imaginative play with lovable characters like the Primrose Friends helps children make sense of the world, solve problems, learn to regulate their emotions, and develop their voices and opinions while bolstering their self-esteem.

Friends For Life

Primrose Friends for Life

Available to all children, Primrose Friends for Life is a free educational video series that gives parents and children a glimpse inside the classroom with playful and purposeful stories that reinforce positive social-emotional skills.

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online with og

Online With Og®

Helping bring Primrose lessons from the classroom into the home, Online with Og® is a free early learning platform with specially designed interactive activities for children and parents to enjoy.

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