Private Preschool and Daycare in Forney, TX: A Parent's Guide
If you’ve just moved to Forney — and thousands of families do every year — one of the first calls you make is about childcare. It’s also one of the hardest, because the good centers have waitlists and the pricing isn’t posted anywhere.
Here’s a straight guide to what’s actually available, what it costs, and how to check that a place is what it claims to be.
The Short Version
- Forney has roughly a dozen licensed private centers, ranging from national brands to independent Montessori programs.
- Full-time care runs about $675–$915 a month on average locally, with infant care at the top of that range and part-time preschool well below it.
- Infant and toddler rooms are the bottleneck. Waitlists of three to nine months are normal. Preschool and pre-K rooms open up more easily.
- Forney ISD offers Pre-K for eligible four-year-olds, which is free for families who qualify — worth checking before you commit to private tuition.
Who’s Actually in Forney
These are the private centers most Forney families end up choosing between:
National-brand preschools
- Primrose School of Forney at Gateway — on Whaley Drive, near Crosby and Blackburn Elementary. Programs from infant through pre-K plus a Summer Adventure Club. Balanced-learning curriculum.
- The Goddard School of Forney — Texas Rising Star accredited, STEAM-focused, infant through pre-K.
- Children’s Lighthouse of Forney — on FM 741. Faith-friendly curriculum, infant through school-age with before/after-school care.
- The Learning Experience – Forney — infant through pre-K, heavy on enrichment programming.
- Cadence Academy Preschool and KinderCare (Travis Ranch) — both national operators with Forney-area locations.
Montessori
- Pinnacle Montessori of Forney — Ridgecrest Road. Mixed-age classrooms, Montessori materials, typically starting at 18 months.
- Wishbone Montessori — independent Montessori program in Forney.
Independent and faith-based
- Noah’s Ark Early Development Center, Dunkin Academy Preschool, and Premier Kids Care are among the locally-owned options. These often have more flexible schedules and lower tuition than the national brands, with less standardized curriculum.
Addresses and program ages change — verify directly before you tour.
What It Costs
Forney pricing tends to land like this:
| Program | Typical monthly range |
|---|---|
| Infant (6 wks – 12 mo), full time | $900 – $1,200 |
| Toddler, full time | $800 – $1,050 |
| Preschool (3–4 yr), full time | $675 – $950 |
| Part-time preschool (2–3 days) | $400 – $650 |
Add a registration fee ($100–$250, usually annual) and supply fees at most centers. Montessori programs often price at the higher end but include materials.
Two things that actually reduce the bill: ask about sibling discounts (most centers offer 5–10%), and check eligibility for the Texas Workforce Commission’s Child Care Services subsidy, which serves Kaufman County families who meet income and work/school requirements.
Verify the License Before You Tour
This is the step people skip. Every licensed center in Texas is in the state’s public database through Texas Health and Human Services Child Care Regulation. You can search by name or city and see:
- Current license status and capacity
- Ages served
- Inspection history and any violations, including what was cited and whether it was corrected
A center with a couple of minor administrative citations is normal. A pattern of supervision or safety violations is not. Spend ten minutes there before you spend a morning touring.
Also look for Texas Rising Star certification — it’s the state’s voluntary quality rating, and centers that hold it have met standards above the licensing floor.
Why the Waitlists Are So Bad
Kaufman County has been among the fastest-growing counties in the country, and Forney is the center of it. Forney ISD currently serves around 18,500 students and is projected to grow past 35,000 in the next decade. That growth is overwhelmingly young families.
Childcare capacity has not kept pace. Practical consequences:
- Get on lists before you need the spot. Many Forney parents join waitlists during pregnancy. That’s not paranoia, it’s the market.
- Join more than one. Deposits are usually small and refundable or creditable.
- Ask where you actually are on the list, and ask again monthly. Lists move when people move — which happens constantly here.
Questions Worth Asking on a Tour
Skip the brochure questions. Ask these:
- What’s your teacher turnover been in the last year? High turnover is the single most reliable warning sign.
- What’s the actual ratio in this room right now, not the licensed maximum?
- How do you handle biting, hitting, and separation anxiety? You want a specific process, not a philosophy.
- What happens if I’m late for pickup? Get the fee and the grace period in writing.
- Can I drop in unannounced? The right answer is yes.
What TX Fitness Is — and Isn’t
We should be clear, because parents ask us this regularly: the TX Fitness Kids Zone is not daycare.
The Kids Zone is a supervised play area for members while they exercise on-site — not a licensed child-care facility, and not regulated by the State of Texas.
You stay in the building. Your child plays for up to two hours while you train, and you check them out when you’re done. It exists so parents don’t have to skip workouts — not so you can run errands. If you need licensed care, the centers above are who you want.
That said, it solves a real problem. The gap between “I want to work out” and “I have childcare for an hour” is where most parents’ fitness routines die. Details are in our Kids Zone parent’s guide, and we’ve written specifically about postpartum training in Forney too.
Kids Zone hours run Monday–Saturday 8 AM–1 PM and Monday–Friday 4 PM–8 PM, for ages 1–11.
Come See It
We’re at 127 E US Highway 80, Forney, TX 75126 — 25 years in the same spot, on the main corridor most Forney parents already drive daily. Weekday hours start at 5 AM if you’d rather train before drop-off.
Stop by and look at the Kids Zone before you commit to anything. Meet the team, let your kid see the room.
Questions? Call (972) 564-0909.