Where these numbers come from. EFA enrollment, retention, spending and test percentiles are from the 2024-25 Arkansas Education Freedom Accounts Program Annual Report (Arkansas Department of Education with the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform, October 2025). Enrollment, teachers, grades and affiliation are from the U.S. Department of Education, NCES Private School Survey (2023-24 public-use file; 2021-22 where a school did not respond in 2023-24). Tuition is not reported to either, so confirm it with the school.
EFA and The Montessori School of Fort Smith
$7,208
Account for 2026-27, per studentNot listed
On the 2024-25 participating list$8,011
For former Succeed Scholarship studentsThe Montessori School of Fort Smith was not on the state's 2024-25 list of EFA participating schools. Schools can apply to participate each year, so ask whether it has applied since. Until it does, an Education Freedom Account can't pay its tuition.
In the federal Private School Survey (2023-24), the school reported 59 students, 8 full-time-equivalent teachers and a student-teacher ratio of about 7.4:1. It lists memberships in American Montessori Society.
Paying the balance
Montessori programs often start before kindergarten. The EFA begins at kindergarten (age 5 by August 1), so pre-K years are paid privately or through other early-childhood aid.
Check my funding for this school →
Questions to ask the school
- How do you bill EFA families: directly through ClassWallet each quarter, or do we pay and get reimbursed?
- What is the full cost for my child's grade, including registration, books, uniforms and fees, and what's left after the $7,208 account?
- Which discounts and aid apply on top of the account?
- Which nationally norm-referenced test do you give, and will you share my child's results?