KinderCare Learning Centers is a for-profit early childhood education and childcare company currently owned by Knowledge Universe of Oregon. There were 1,700 locations as of 2014 in 39 states and the District of Columbia providing educational programs for children from six weeks to 12 years old.
Perry Mendel, a real estate developer, founded KinderCare in 1969 in Montgomery, Alabama. The company went public in 1972. In 1987, KinderCare acquired Sylvan Learning Centers, and in 2005, Knowledge Learning Corporation, a division of Knowledge Universe, purchased KinderCare. The $1 billion acquisition made KLC the largest private childcare and education provider in the U.S.