Child care franchise planned for Lakewood Ranch

A couple that owns a Discovery Point child care center in Bradenton plan to open a second franchise location, this time in Lakewood Ranch. 

The child care center will be off the State Road 64 Uihlein Road exit off Interstate 75 near the new Palm Grove community, according to Roger Clough, who will start the facility with his wife, Robin. The Cloughs also own Discovery Point Twelve Oaks on 55th Avenue in east Manatee County. That location is off State Road 70, about four miles south of the new one. 

The Lakewood Ranch location will serve infants to school-age children (5 to 12). It will also offer a voluntary prekindergarten program, according to Roger Clough, whose background includes working as a school system superintendent in New York.

The Cloughs say they expect to break ground in Lakewood Ranch this fall, with plans to open the new center between fall 2026 and January 2027.

Spanning 12,000 square feet, the child care center will house 11 classrooms. It will feature clear sight lines, easy access between classrooms and efficient use of multipurpose space, according to a statement.

“From the open floor plan to the activities we schedule, everything is designed to help children make friends, learn how to play in groups, and teach themselves new skills," the company says on its website.

In addition to following a research-based curriculum, the center will embrace a whole-child instructional approach for every age and stage of development, the website says.

Discovery Point teachers are trained in early childhood education. Among the staff will be the children of the Cloughs. Their daughter, McKenzie Clough, a graduate of the University of Tampa, joined the staff of Discovery Point Twelve Oaks in Bradenton as assistant director in January 2024 and will have “an active role in management of the new center in Lakewood Ranch,” according to a statement. The Cloughs’ son, Owen, is an assistant teacher for the summer camp at Discovery Point Twelve Oaks, where he also works when he is home from the University of Tampa. This is his third summer working as a camp teacher assistant.

The Cloughs opened the Bradenton child care center in 2020. It and the Lakewood Ranch location will be part of the Discovery Point network, which was founded in 1988 in Georgia. In the region, other Discovery Point child care centers are in Riverview, Land O’ Lakes, Lutz, New Port Richey, Valrico and Wesley Chapel.