Anthem is a master-planned community in far north Phoenix, spread along Daisy Mountain Drive about 35 miles up Interstate 17 from downtown. New construction, parks, and a school-age population that keeps climbing mean daycare demand here runs ahead of supply. Care is a mix of mid-size centers near the Daisy Mountain corridor, church-housed preschools, and a deep bench of family child care homes in Parkside and the adjoining New River area. Almost all of Anthem feeds the Deer Valley Unified School District.
In 2026 dollars, full-time center-based daycare in Anthem runs roughly $1,350 to $1,650 per month for infants and roughly $1,100 to $1,400 per month for preschool-age children, drawing on the National Database of Childcare Prices for Maricopa County and on First Things First Quality First reimbursement work. R9-5 family child care homes price lower, in the $850 to $1,150 per month range for infants, and Anthem has an unusually strong supply of them. Nanny shares run $1,200 to $1,550 per child per month.
The infant premium tracks the R9-5 staff-to-child ratio rule: one caregiver to five children under one year and one teacher to six children for one-year-olds, with maximum group sizes set by classroom square footage. Anthem sits at the far edge of the credentialed-infant-teacher labor pool that central Phoenix and Scottsdale draw on, and its commercial rent runs below Arcadia or the Biltmore corridor. Those two facts hold center rates a notch under the citywide average. Families who can wait to enroll at 12 months commonly see a $150 to $250 monthly drop when a room shifts to the one-to-six ratio.
| Anthem sub-area | Infant, center | Preschool, center | Family child care |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthem Country Club | $1,500–$1,650 / month | $1,250–$1,400 / month | $1,000–$1,150 / month |
| Anthem Parkside | $1,450–$1,600 / month | $1,200–$1,350 / month | $900–$1,050 / month |
| Daisy Mountain Drive corridor | $1,400–$1,550 / month | $1,150–$1,300 / month | $900–$1,050 / month |
| New River | $1,350–$1,500 / month | $1,100–$1,250 / month | $850–$1,000 / month |
Arizona does not run a universal four-year-old pre-K program. State funding flows through the Arizona Early Childhood Block Grant, which districts apply for and spend on a mix of pre-K and full-day kindergarten support. Deer Valley Unified serves nearly all of Anthem and operates a tuition-pay preschool at several campuses, with a limited number of free seats prioritized for income-eligible four-year-olds and children who have an Individualized Education Program. Anthem's elementary campuses include Gavilan Peak School, Diamond Canyon School, and Canyon Springs STEM Academy. A family applies through the Deer Valley enrollment portal once the attendance area is confirmed.
For families who do not enroll in district preschool, the four-year-old year is most often spent at a private center, a Montessori program, or a church-housed preschool. The kindergarten transition then happens at the family's attendance-area campus, regardless of where pre-K was attended.
Heads up. Anthem blends into the unincorporated community of New River at its northern edge, and a handful of New River addresses sit outside the densest band of licensed care. Confirm both the AZ DHS license status of any home-based provider and the Deer Valley attendance area before you sign a contract, especially north of Daisy Mountain Drive.
Arizona's First Things First administers Quality First, the state quality rating and improvement system, and operates a scholarship program that pays a portion of full-time tuition at Quality First-rated centers for income-eligible families with children from birth to age five. Scholarships are awarded by region and routed through participating providers. Separately, the Arizona Department of Economic Security runs Child Care Assistance, a subsidy for families on or near TANF and for low-income working families, with copays set on a sliding scale. A Quality First scholarship and a DES voucher can be combined at a participating center. The practical question for an Anthem family is which Daisy Mountain Drive centers carry an active 3-, 4-, or 5-star Quality First rating and have an open scholarship slot.
Three federal tools stack on top of any Quality First scholarship, DES voucher, or district pre-K placement: the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit on IRS Form 2441, the Dependent Care FSA (up to $5,000 per household per year of pre-tax savings), and the federal Child Tax Credit. Arizona offers a state-level Dependent Tax Credit on the AZ Form 140 and an Arizona Charitable Tax Credit that can route part of a family's state tax liability to qualifying child-welfare organizations. A two-earner Anthem household paying the full private rate typically recovers $1,500 to $2,100 in combined federal tax savings on the $5,000 FSA alone, with several hundred dollars more available through the Arizona stack depending on income.
$1,400–$1,550 / month (infant)
Mid-size center along the main commercial spine. Twelve-month calendar. Strong transition reputation with Gavilan Peak and Diamond Canyon kindergartens.
$1,200–$1,350 / month (preschool)
Independent preschool serving the Parkside villages. School-year and twelve-month tracks. Quality First rated. Half-day option for the Threes.
$1,500–$1,650 / month (toddler)
Toddler and Primary classrooms near the Country Club. AMS-affiliated. Half- and full-day options. Multi-year Toddler waitlist.
$850–$1,000 / month (infant)
Licensed family child care home representative of the New River supply. Small mixed-age group. Twelve-month calendar and flexible early drop-off.
$1,150–$1,300 / month (preschool)
Church-housed preschool with a school-year calendar. Mixed-age Threes and Fours. Tuition sits below the Anthem private average.
Sliding-scale via DES and Quality First · $1,400–$1,550 (private)
Mixed-funding center that accepts DES Child Care Assistance vouchers and Quality First scholarships alongside private-pay enrollment.
Listings reflect editorial picks, not paid placements, and pricing is the licensed published rate before any Quality First scholarship, DES voucher, or federal and Arizona tax credit. Full Anthem listings directory is in progress.
Walk through the cost calculator to model your Anthem year with the FSA, the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit, and the Arizona stack factored in. Read our Arizona Quality First explainer for the scholarship eligibility rules, the Phoenix cost overview, the broader cost pillar, and our tour-questions guide if you're scheduling visits this fall. For neighboring Phoenix areas, see North Phoenix daycare and Desert Ridge daycare, or step back to all Phoenix.
Neighborhood-by-neighborhood Phoenix listings, Quality First scholarships, and DES Child Care Assistance vouchers.
Read → CostCitywide tuition ranges with FSA, the federal credit, and Quality First scholarships worked out.
Read → Pre-KHow First Things First scholarships work, the QRIS star rating, and what AZ funds at the four-year-old level.
Read →