If you are shopping for a private school in Central Arkansas with an Education Freedom Account, the most useful document you probably haven't read is the state's annual EFA report. The Arkansas Department of Education, working with the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform, publishes it every fall. The 2024-25 edition lists every participating private school with four numbers most schools never put on their websites: how many students used an account, what share of the school that was, how many of those families came back the next year, and how EFA students scored on national tests.
We pulled the Pulaski and Saline county schools out of that report. Here is what stands out, and how to use it when you tour.
The biggest EFA enrollments in Central Arkansas
In 2024-25, schools in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Maumelle, Jacksonville, Benton and Bryant enrolled roughly 4,800 EFA students between them. That is one of the largest local concentrations in the state. The largest single EFA enrollments were:
- Little Rock Christian Academy: 637 EFA students out of roughly 1,570
- Central Arkansas Christian School: 427 of about 850
- Pulaski Academy: 383 of about 1,370
- Baptist Preparatory School: 312 of about 700
- Episcopal Collegiate School: 311 of about 770
- Christ the King School: 275 of about 546
Raw counts mostly reflect school size. A 1,500-student campus will always have more EFA families than a 150-student parish school. The more telling number is the share.
Where the EFA share is highest
Across the participating schools in our two counties, the average school had a little under half its students on an account. Some were far above that. Central Arkansas Montessori in North Little Rock reported every one of its 70 students on an EFA. Easterseals Academy at Riverdale, which serves students with disabilities, had 77 of 78. Jacksonville Christian Academy (89 of about 142) and Abundant Life Christian Academy in Sherwood (236 of about 375) were both well above the local average.
Why does the share matter to you? A school where half or more of the families pay through ClassWallet has a business office that handles quarterly EFA invoices as a matter of routine. That usually means fewer surprises: clear answers on which fees the account covers, and no expectation that you pay up front and wait for reimbursement. At a school with only a handful of EFA families, ask more questions about billing before you sign.
Who stays: the retention numbers
The report also shows what share of each school's 2024-25 EFA students were still in the program, and still at the same school, the following year. Statewide, schools kept 84% of their EFA students. Several Central Arkansas schools did better. At Christ the King, 100% of EFA students continued in the program and 88% stayed at the school. Little Rock Christian Academy kept 94%, Arkansas Christian Academy in Bryant 92%, and Pulaski Academy and Central Arkansas Christian 90% each.
Two cautions. Graduates count as leaving, so a high school or a school that ends at grade 5 will look worse than a PK-12 campus through no fault of its own. And a small school can swing a lot on a few families. Use retention as a prompt for a question, not a verdict: "About one in ten of your EFA families didn't return. What did you hear from them?"
How EFA students tested
Participating schools must give a nationally norm-referenced test every year, such as NWEA MAP, the Iowa Test or the Stanford 10. The report shows the average national percentile of each school's EFA students, where 50 is the national median. Statewide, EFA students averaged the 57th percentile in math and the 59th in reading.
In Central Arkansas, Pinnacle Classical Academy (85th math), Baseline Bilingual School (83rd math, 95th reading, from a small group), and the larger college-prep campuses, which mostly clustered in the low-to-mid 60s, were above the state average. Schools built for students with learning differences report much lower percentiles, which reflects who they serve rather than how well they teach. Comparing them with general-enrollment schools isn't fair.
Also remember these are averages for EFA students only, on whichever test the school chose. They are a starting point for a conversation about how the school uses its test data, not a ranking.
Schools that aren't in the report yet
The 2024-25 report lists 126 participating schools statewide. By the start of 2025-26 the state had approved 166, so some schools have joined since. The state's current EFA list adds Central Arkansas schools such as Baskerville Leadership Academy in Little Rock. If a school you like isn't on any list, ask whether it has applied. An account can only pay tuition at a participating school.
How to use these numbers on a tour
Bring three questions to every school, built from its own data:
- Billing. "How many of your families use an EFA, and do you invoice ClassWallet directly each quarter?"
- Retention. "Your report shows X% of EFA students stayed. Why did the others leave?"
- Testing. "Which national test do you give, and will you share my child's results with me each year?"
Then ask for the full price sheet for your child's grade. The 2026-27 account is $7,208 per student ($8,011 for students who came from the former Succeed Scholarship), paid in four quarterly deposits. At many parish elementary schools that covers most of tuition. At the large college-prep campuses it is a significant discount, not a full ride, so the balance and the school's own aid matter.
Every participating school's numbers are on its page in our Central Arkansas school directory, and our comparison table lets you sort all of them side by side.