Four unrelated franchise groups signed leases for new Lightbridge Academy centers in Anne Arundel and Howard counties, pushing the childcare brand toward 100 U.S. locations.
Four separate, unaffiliated franchise groups have signed leases to open Lightbridge Academy childcare centers across Maryland's Anne Arundel and Howard counties, according to developer St. John Properties. The new sites, expected to open between late 2026 and early 2027, will push the early education franchise past the 100-location mark it has targeted for the end of the year.
The four centers, each roughly 12,750 square feet, are landing in Laurel, Hanover, the Gambrills-Millersville area and Gambrills within a matter of months. That density signals commercial developers see childcare as a stable, recession-resistant anchor tenant, not a niche use case worth chasing one lease at a time.
Each location plans to hire 25 to 30 certified childcare professionals and administrators, but Maryland's Blueprint for Maryland's Future is raising credential requirements for both teachers and assistants. For franchisees, the harder job won't be filling seats with kids, it will be filling classrooms with staff who meet the state's rising bar.
Lightbridge Academy, founded in 1997, now counts nearly 100 franchise locations across 13 states. Landing four leases in two adjacent counties in a single announcement lets the brand cluster marketing, staffing pipelines and family referrals in one metro rather than spreading thin across disconnected markets.
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