Ivybrook Academy recently opened a new location in Powhatan. The half-day preschool is at 480 Winter Place Way. (Courtesy Powhatan County Economic Development)
A local couple has added a North Carolina-based preschool chain to the region’s mix of early-education offerings.
Franchisees Alisa and Brad McKeiver last month opened the region’s first location of Ivybrook Academy at 480 Winter Place Way in Powhatan.
The school occupies a 6,000-square-foot building that has six classrooms and an indoor gym. The facility was purpose-built for the school, which was constructed on land owned by the McKeivers.
Ivybrook offers programming for children 18 months to 5 years old. It has the capacity for 125 students at full enrollment. Alisa declined to comment on tuition rates.
The half-day preschool’s curriculum combines elements of the Montessori and Reggio Emilia educational philosophies.
Alisa and Brad McKeiver. (Courtesy Alisa McKeiver)
“It’s child-led learning but we’re also introducing routines and keeping them in a schedule,” said Alisa, who is the franchise’s majority owner and runs the school’s day-to-day operations. “With the half-day program, we’re packing a lot into their days, it’s a lot of play, learning through play and that academic piece as well.”
The facility cost $2.3 million, a figure that includes the $500,000 land purchase and construction costs, said Brad. Chesterfield-based FasTrac was the project’s general contractor.
The McKeivers bought the 4.5-acre property where the Ivybrook was built in a deal that closed earlier this month. The deal wasn’t yet reflected in online county records. An LLC tied to the couple bought the property from Riverton Associates, the developer behind the Winterfield Place mixed-use development where the school is located.
Winterfield Place, a mixed-use development at the Powhatan-Chesterfield line, is also home to restaurants Toast and Wild Ginger as well as United Bank and other businesses. Corner Rock Cafe recently opened at the development and Wawa is also working on a new location there.
Alisa said the inspiration to open a preschool came out of personal experience. She and her family moved to the Midlothian area in 2020, and had a challenging, though ultimately successful, time finding a school for her two kids.
“We knew Midlothian could stand to have another school,” she said.
Prior to opening the local Ivybrook, Alisa was most recently a stay-at-home mom. She has a background in accounting and banking. Brad is a CPA and the franchise’s minority owner.
Ivybrook is headquartered in Charlotte. The company was founded in 2007 and lists nearly 50 locations on its website. The McKeivers’ location is one of two in Virginia. The other in Roanoke is expected to open in early 2025 and franchised by a different couple.
Ivybrook isn’t the only early-education company to plot an entry into the Richmond market. Lightbridge Academy has a location in the works in western Henrico.