Montessori Schools That Accept Texas ESA: 159 Verified Campus Records for 2026–27

By The School Choice Index Editorial Team · Last verified: August 8, 2026 · State participating-school file: report run August 2, 2026 · Dataset version 1.0

The School Choice Index is an independent comparison and research resource for U.S. school choice programs. No school pays for coverage, rankings, badges, verification, placement, or result order. A school may pay a flat monthly fee only after a parent chooses it for an introduction. That fee never changes this page or the order of any result.

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Montessori schools that accept Texas ESA money do exist — we found at least 159 campus records tied to the state's participating-school file dated August 2, 2026. Of those, 148 have the word “Montessori” in the official school name. We found 11 more through exact school, address, or domain matches. But here is the part that catches most families off guard: 98 of the 148 name-matched records stop at pre-K or kindergarten. Only 50 go into first grade or higher. With the four school-age crossmatches added, the grade-1-and-up list has 54 campus records. The standard 2026–27 award is $10,474 per child at a participating private school.

So if your child is four, you have many more options. If your child is nine, you have far fewer than the state list makes it look like. And if your child is fourteen, we found seven participating-school records that list 12th grade — but the Montessori scope is not the same at all seven. That distinction matters.

That is not random. Once we lined the state's grade data up against Montessori's common three-year classroom bands, the pattern got very clear — and it explains something no other page has explained. More on that in a minute.

First, the list.

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Where you stand right now

• The 2026–27 family application window closed March 31, 2026. Any page telling families to submit a new 2026–27 application today is out of date.
• As of the state's July 29, 2026 snapshot: 85,344 accounts were funded, more than 122,000 awards had been issued, and more than 121,000 students were still waiting. The state calls it the largest school-choice waiting list in the country.
• If you were just awarded from the waitlist, September 15, 2026 matters. Confirm your child's participating-school enrollment, or confirm the homeschool/other setting, by then to keep the full award. Later confirmations are prorated.
• This is a “call the school now” situation. The state roster moves, seats move, and school admission is separate from the TEFA award.

Quick answers

Two words we will use a lot. ESA stands for education savings account. In Texas the official name is Texas Education Freedom Accounts, or TEFA. Some news stories call it a Texas voucher. Same program, three names. We will say TEFA.

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Which Montessori schools accept Texas ESA money?

Texas does not publish a Montessori-only list. We built one. We started with the state's complete participating-school file — 2,785 school records, report run August 2, 2026 — and pulled every record with “Montessori” in the official name. That gave us 148 campus records across 55 cities. Then we ran a second pass for participating schools whose official names leave the word out. Every extra match required an exact state row plus current school-owned or Montessori-organization evidence. That added 11 records.

A quick word on what these rows are. They are campus records, not school brands. If one operator runs five locations, that is five rows. The 148 name-matched rows normalize to 141 unique school names, so “148” does not mean 148 unrelated school choices.

The 54 campuses that serve grade 1 and up

How to read the evidence column. A means a current outside Montessori directory, status page, or other direct source documents the program or its scope. B means current school-owned pages document the Montessori connection. C means the exact participating-school record has “Montessori” in its official name, but we did not find enough current detail to say more. These are evidence levels, not quality scores.

Greater Houston — 25 campuses

Dallas–Fort Worth — 11 campuses

Austin area — 5 campuses

San Antonio area — 3 campuses

El Paso — 2 campuses

Everywhere else in Texas — 8 campuses

Read the scope notes on Westwood and Shelton before you assume “PK–12 Montessori.” Westwood describes a Montessori and International Baccalaureate path, with older students moving into an IB-heavy program. Shelton's state row spans PK–12, but its dedicated Montessori program is for young children. The row proves the participating school serves PK–12. It does not prove Montessori instruction at every grade.

School of the Woods is different: its current site describes Montessori programming through high school. St. Catherine's also publishes Montessori programs from early childhood through high school. Those distinctions are why the evidence column and scope notes exist.

The 105 early-only or limited-scope records

These records did not make the grade-1-and-up table. Most stop at pre-K or kindergarten. Mount Sacred Heart's participating-school row goes higher, but its school-owned Montessori description covers ages 3–5, so we treat it as limited-scope here instead of presenting the whole PK–8 row as Montessori.

If your school is not here, do not panic. It may have joined after the August 2 report, be listed under a different legal name, be public rather than private, or have a Montessori connection our disclosed method did not catch. Participating schools can still join on a rolling basis.

Here is the thing we have to tell you before you go any further

Being on this list clears one gate: program payment. That is it. It is not a state quality rating, not a seat, not a promise about price, and not proof that every listed grade uses Montessori instruction.

We are leading with that because it is the mistake a family can make fast. A parent finds a school on a state file, breathes out, pays a nonrefundable deposit, and then learns that the classroom is full, the real bill is thousands more than the award, or the Montessori part ends before the grade shown on the state row.

TEFA does not rate Montessori quality. The state checks program eligibility and payment rules. It does not tell a Montessori classroom how long its work cycle must be or which materials it must use. That freedom may be exactly what you want. It also means the quality check stays with you.

So use the state list as gate one of three:

1. The exact campus can receive TEFA money.
2. The campus serves your child's grade and has a seat.
3. The program, price, and support actually fit your child.

Check the live record before you commit money. Open the official TEFA school finder and search the exact campus name, city, and address.

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Why do most Montessori schools on the list stop at kindergarten?

Because the state roster is showing the shape of Montessori's common classroom bands. Montessori's developmental planes are roughly six-year periods: 0–6, 6–12, 12–18, and 18–24. Schools often divide the school-age years into three-year classrooms: ages 3–6, 6–9, 9–12, and 12–15. In grade terms, those bands commonly end around kindergarten, 3rd grade, 6th grade, and 9th grade.

Of the 148 Montessori-named campus records, 106 — 71.6% — stop at kindergarten, 3rd, 6th, or 9th grade. Eight more stop at 8th grade, a common U.S. middle-school endpoint. The old version of this page called K, 3rd, 6th, and 8th the ends of four Montessori developmental planes. That was wrong. The planes are six-year periods; the three-year classroom bands are the better match for this data.

Here is where the 148 name-matched records stop:

And 142 of the 148 records — 95.9% — start at pre-K. Montessori's footprint in this program is an early-childhood on-ramp with a much smaller set of schools that keep going.

What that means for your child, by grade

This table uses only the 148 official-name matches so every step is calculated from one consistent set.

A parent of a rising first grader has one third of the name-matched list. A parent of a rising seventh grader has one tenth. A parent of a rising sophomore has four name-matched campuses. The broader crossmatch adds three participating-school rows that list 12th grade, but one of those — Shelton — does not offer Montessori through high school.

The one operator that explains a chunk of this

Guidepost Montessori has 11 campus records on the state file, spread across 10 Texas cities — and every one stops at kindergarten. Bee Cave, Cedar Park twice, Houston, Hurst, Katy, Mansfield, Plano, Richardson, Round Rock, and Spring. That is 7.4% of all Montessori-named records held by one operator, entirely in early childhood.

They are not alone. Using one disclosed brand-normalization method, 46 of the 148 records fall under 13 multi-campus brands, and only 41 of 115 normalized brands have any campus that serves first grade or higher. The useful count is not “148 Montessori choices.” It is closer to 41 brands with at least one school-age campus, and many of those stop before high school.

Texas has two separate school rulebooks

Here is why the pre-K side of the list is crowded and the elementary side is thin. Texas uses one participation path for private schools serving K–12 and another for approved pre-K or kindergarten providers.

Rulebook A — a participating private school serving K–12. Under Texas Education Code §29.358 and the program's current school guidance, the school must:

1. Be accredited by TEPSAC or another private accrediting entity recognized by the Texas Education Agency.
2. Be a proven operator that has run a campus for at least two years.
3. Administer an approved nationally norm-referenced assessment.
4. Be located in Texas, or have a Texas office if it is virtual.
5. Follow the Comptroller's program rules.

Rulebook B — an approved pre-K or kindergarten provider. Under Texas Education Code §29.171 and the program's current school guidance, it must be in Texas, licensed by and in good standing with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and meet at least one of these five paths:

• Accreditation under a research-based system approved by the Commissioner of Education
• Texas Rising Star with three stars or more
• Texas School Ready participation
• An existing school-district partnership for the listed kind of pre-K program
• Accreditation through a TEPSAC-recognized organization

The Montessori door is wider for a four-year-old and narrower for a nine-year-old. Small schools may be new or unaccredited. That profile can fit the pre-K provider path but fail the K–12 private-school path.

A pre-K provider being approved does not make every child eligible

For 2026–27, a TEFA pre-K applicant must turn three before September 1, 2026 and qualify for free public pre-K under at least one state category. Those categories include limited English ability, economic disadvantage, homelessness, certain military-family circumstances, DFPS conservatorship, being the child of a Star of Texas Award recipient, or being the child of a public-school classroom teacher in a district that offers free pre-K.

A school can qualify as a provider while your child does not qualify for the pre-K award. Those are two separate checks.

If your child is entering pre-K or kindergarten, ask the school: “Did this campus register with TEFA as a participating private school or as an approved pre-K/kindergarten provider?” Then use our Texas TEFA award calculator before you budget.

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Does AMS or AMI accreditation count for Texas ESA?

AMS accreditation can count. AMI recognition does not count by itself. That does not mean AMI schools are shut out. It means the school needs a separate accreditor Texas recognizes for the payment side.

The four private accrediting entities Texas recognizes

The Texas Education Agency currently recognizes four private accrediting entities for TEFA purposes:

1. Texas Private School Accreditation Commission (TEPSAC)
2. International Association for Learner Driven Schools (IALDS)
3. Society for Classical Learning (SCL)
4. National Association of Private Schools (NAPS)

TEPSAC is a commission made up of approved accrediting agencies. The Texas Private Schools Association page says “19 agencies” but visibly lists 20:

ACTABS · AACS · American Montessori Society (AMS) · ACCS · ACSI · ACTS · CESA · CSI · ISAS · ICAA · LSAC · Middle States · NCSA · Cognia · SAIS · SAES · TAAPS · Texas Catholic Conference Education Department · TSDA · WASC

We are publishing the names shown, not repeating the mismatched count.

What your school's letters actually do

AMS currently reports about 1,300 member schools and 207 accredited member schools. So an AMS directory listing is not the same as AMS accreditation. Check the exact status.

The fix: two credentials, two jobs

A Montessori school does not need a Montessori-specific accreditor to take TEFA money. It needs an accreditor Texas recognizes. A strong school may carry one credential for the Montessori program and another for the legal accreditation gate.

Proof #1 — St. Catherine's Montessori, Houston. Its current AMI/USA listing shows recognition or affiliation across age levels. Its school materials also document completion of Texas Catholic Conference and Cognia accreditation work. Those are different bodies doing different jobs: Montessori recognition on one side, Texas-recognized school accreditation on the other.

Proof #2 — School of the Woods, Houston. Its current site describes Montessori through high school and shows an AMS Verified relationship plus Cognia accreditation. AMS verification documents the Montessori connection. Cognia is the recognized accreditation path for TEFA.

So ask two questions, not one:

1. Which organization currently accredits this exact campus?
2. What outside Montessori organization has reviewed this program, and for which age levels?

If the answer to question one is “we are a Montessori school,” that is not an accreditor. It is a description.

Check the name the school gives you against the current TEA private-accreditation list and the accreditor's own directory. Then check AMS or AMI separately for Montessori scope.

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Which Montessori schools serve my child's grade?

Grade is the filter that decides everything, and the field shrinks fast. The 148 Montessori-named records include 18 pre-K-only campuses, 80 that stop at kindergarten, 50 that continue into first grade or higher, 33 that reach 6th grade, 15 that reach 7th grade, 7 that reach 9th grade, and 4 that list 12th grade. The exact-match second pass adds four school-age records, bringing the grade-1-and-up shortlist to 54.

Pre-K and kindergarten: 105 early-only or limited-scope records

Run these checks before you relax:

• Is your child eligible for TEFA pre-K funding? Provider approval and child eligibility are separate.
• Which TEFA path did the campus use? Ask whether it is registered as a participating private school or an approved pre-K/kindergarten provider.
• Half day or full day? The award is fixed, but the price may not be.
• Does Montessori continue after kindergarten? Most records in this group do not.

Elementary, grades 1–6: the biggest drop happens before first grade

If your child finishes the Children's House and you want to keep going, ask one question early: What is the last grade this campus serves, and what do families do after that? The painful surprise is often not the price. It is the exit.

Middle school, grades 7–8: 18 records serve past 6th grade

Adolescent Montessori is rare. Eighteen of the 159 records we matched list a grade above 6th. That does not mean all 18 use Montessori in every older grade, so ask for the program scope.

High school, grades 9–12: 10 list 9th grade or higher, and 7 list 12th

Every matched participating-school record that goes past 6th grade:

Eighteen campuses. Thirteen cities. Seven state rows list 12th grade. But only six of those seven use “Montessori” in the official name or clearly document Montessori beyond early childhood. Shelton is the warning against reading a schoolwide grade span as a Montessori grade span.

San Antonio has no matched Montessori record that goes past 6th grade. The nearest older-grade record in this dataset is Hill Country Montessori in Boerne, and it stops at 8th.

Austin's listed ceiling is 9th grade. Mariposa in Austin and Ladybird in Buda both list 9th. Neither state row reaches 12th.

If your child is in middle school and you are in San Antonio or Austin, you may be looking at Montessori-for-now with a planned transition. That can be a good choice. Plan it instead of discovering it.

Planning past your child's next grade? Ask each school for its last Montessori grade and where its graduates usually go next. Then read our guide to Texas TEFA testing and accountability.

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Which Montessori schools that accept Texas ESA are near me?

The 148 Montessori-named records sit in 55 Texas cities, but they cluster hard in the big metros — and nearby does not mean usable for your child's grade. Houston leads with 16 name-matched records and Plano is second with 10. Yet 26 of those 55 cities have at least one Montessori-named record and none that serves first grade. That leaves 29 cities with at least one name-matched grade-1-and-up option.

Cities with the most Montessori-named campus records

The Plano problem

Plano has 10 Montessori-named records in the official file — second most of any city — and not one serves first grade. Every one stops at pre-K or kindergarten.

Our second pass adds two more Plano records with a school-owned Montessori connection: Kids USA Learning Center and Alpha School. They also stop before first grade. So the full matched count is 12 Plano records and zero grade-1-and-up options.

A Plano parent sees a long list and thinks they are spoiled for choice. They have many choices for a four-year-old and none on this list for a six-year-old.

Plano is not alone. The 26 name-match cities with no first-grade option are Allen, Alpine, Bee Cave, Carrollton, Colleyville, Denton, Flower Mound, Fulshear, Hurst, Keller, Lewisville, Little Elm, Mansfield, Marble Falls, McAllen, Missouri City, Murphy, North Richland Hills, Pflugerville, Plano, Richardson, Richmond, Richwood, Round Rock, San Marcos, and Trophy Club.

If you are rural, or the drive is too long

Say it plainly: a great school 70 minutes away, twice a day, five days a week, is a different life from the one you are imagining. Before you commit, price the drive — miles, days, fuel, wear, and time. Then compare it with:

• A closer private school with another method that fits your child
• Homeschooling with eligible services and materials on the $2,000 track
• A participating online school
• A public Montessori, magnet, or charter program, if one is open to your child

A closer school with a different method is not a downgrade. It is a real option, and sometimes the better one.

No Montessori campus within a workable drive? See our guide to online schools and learning options that can use Texas TEFA and check whether the option is a participating school or only an approved vendor.

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How much does Texas ESA actually cover at a Montessori school?

The standard 2026–27 award is $10,474 for a child at a participating private school or approved pre-K/kindergarten provider, $2,000 for homeschool or most other settings, and up to $30,000 for a student with a qualifying IEP on file with the Texas Education Agency. “Up to $30,000” is a ceiling. The real special-education amount is tied to the child's qualifying IEP, disability code, and home district.

The three award amounts

A private evaluation, diagnosis, or 504 plan is not the same as a qualifying IEP on file with TEA. Use the award shown in your portal, not the ceiling.

What the award really buys: St. Catherine's Montessori, Houston

We checked the school's published 2026–27 tuition and fee schedule on August 8, 2026. We picked it because it serves early childhood through high school, documents Montessori credentials, and publishes a detailed schedule.

Published tuition:

Published fees include a $750 tuition deposit that is nonrefundable but applied to tuition, a $150 application fee for new applicants, an $850 new-student fee, an $800 facility fee, and level fees of $200 for Infant and Primary, $300 for Lower Elementary, $1,200 for Upper Elementary, $2,500 for Adolescent, and $2,750 for High School. The schedule also notes extra food costs for some cooking and trips. Younger siblings receive a 10% tuition discount.

Now the math for a returning family — tuition plus the facility fee and level fee, against the $10,474 award:

Same school. Same award. Same year. The award covers 68% of the listed half-day Primary bill and 43% of the listed High School bill. That is a 25-point slide.

Three more things in the schedule:

Half day versus full day is a $2,955 difference for Primary.

Moving from Lower to Upper Elementary adds $900 in level fees even though tuition stays the same. The level fee rises from $300 to $1,200.

A new family adds $1,000 in the $150 application fee and $850 new-student fee. First-year Lower Elementary is $20,932 before any optional costs, and the $10,474 award covers exactly 50.0%.

The other end of the range

Livingston Montessori School publishes a $140 weekly K–12 rate plus a $125 registration fee. We are not turning that into an annual number because the source does not show the number of billed weeks. The point is not that it is the cheapest school in Texas; we did not verify that. The point is that Montessori prices on this list can be very far apart.

The formula to use on any school

Published tuition + required fees − your confirmed award − verified financial aid = what you actually owe

Keep the application fee, deposit, tuition, and recurring fees on separate lines. Some are due before TEFA funds arrive. Some are nonrefundable. Some may not be eligible expenses.

The state's current guidance says a participating student should not be charged different tuition just because of a TEFA award. Generally available sibling, employee, or parishioner discounts should stay available. A school may still consider the award when it sets need-based aid. Ask for the final bill in writing.

Get your real number before you sign. Use our Texas TEFA award calculator, then run the formula against the school's current written schedule.

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What Montessori costs will TEFA not pay for?

Before- and after-school care is explicitly ineligible, and that can hit Montessori families hard. Half-day, full-day, and extended-day choices are common in the 3–6 age range. TEFA may cover eligible tuition and school-day fees while leaving wraparound care to the family. Breakfast or lunch during the school day may be eligible.

We checked the state's tuition-and-fee guidance published May 28, 2026. It gives 11 examples of eligible school fees:

1. Enrollment and registration
2. Books, curriculum, materials, and supplies
3. Technology
4. School-related activities, including instruction-related extracurriculars and athletics
5. Tutoring, education-related therapies, or coursework provided by the school
6. Uniforms
7. Breakfast or lunch during the school day
8. Mandatory facility, building, or security fees
9. Graduation
10. Transportation
11. Assessment

The same guidance gives three examples of ineligible fees:

1. Before- or after-school care or other non-educational supervision
2. Capital campaigns or other fundraising
3. Parent-organization membership fees

Two more rules are worth real money:

You can pay ahead for eligible expenses. The state says there is no time-based restriction on when eligible expenses can be paid, so 2026–27 funds may be used for 2027–28 tuition if the school accepts advance payment. If the child leaves the program, the school must return unused advance payment to the state.

TEFA money never becomes cash for the parent. A school or vendor may not refund, rebate, or credit a TEFA-paid transaction to a family's personal account. Unused funds can roll over while the child remains in the program, but they do not become a personal refund.

Technology purchases are capped at 10% of the annual award. That is $1,047.40 on a $10,474 award and $200 on a $2,000 award.

Ask the school to split your bill into two columns: TEFA-eligible and family-paid. Check it against our Texas TEFA eligible-expense guide.

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Can I use Texas ESA at a public Montessori school?

No. A child enrolled in a public or charter school during the school year is removed from TEFA. Public Montessori and private Montessori can have nearly identical names, which makes this mistake easy.

Current public options that may show up in a Texas search include:

• Dallas ISD Montessori magnet programs such as George Bannerman Dealey and Harry Stone
• Houston ISD's Baker Montessori School, a public Montessori magnet
• Austin ISD's Reilly Montessori and Spanish Dual-Language Montessori program for 2026–27; the former Winn Montessori campus closed after 2025–26
• Magnolia Montessori For All, a public charter school in Austin
• Other district or charter Montessori programs around Texas

For K–12, public and charter schools do not charge tuition. Public pre-K is more complicated: eligible seats may be free, while some districts also offer tuition seats for children who do not meet free-pre-K rules. Either way, a public-school enrollment counted by the state is not compatible with TEFA.

Bezos Academy also runs no-cost Montessori-inspired preschools in Texas. It is not a TEFA private-school option, but it may be a real no-cost alternative for an eligible child.

So here is us telling you to leave: if a free public Montessori seat is open to your child and it fits, take that option seriously. You may not need an ESA, and you may keep thousands of dollars of your own money. A funded private-school award is not automatically better than a good free seat.

What you cannot do is have both at the same time. Pick one on purpose, with the numbers in front of you.

If public Montessori is the better fit, start with your district's magnet, choice, or enrollment office. Check the timeline now; many choice rounds close months before the school year starts.

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Does being on the Texas ESA list mean the Montessori school will accept my child?

No. Program participation and school admission are separate, and the school controls admission. A participating campus can still be full, serve a different grade, require an observation, decline an applicant, or be unable to meet a child's support needs.

There are five gates between an award and a child in a classroom:

1. Your child has a TEFA award or is planning for a future cycle.
2. The exact campus is in the live state finder.
3. That campus serves your child's grade.
4. The school admits your child and has a seat.
5. The family and school complete the required program confirmations.

Most families check only the first two.

Ask the school this, word for word

“Under exactly what campus or legal name should I find you in the official Texas Education Freedom Accounts finder, and does that participation cover my child's grade for 2026–27?”

Then work down this list:

• Is there an opening in my child's classroom now?
• What is the admission process, and how long does it take?
• Is an observation or student visit required?
• What deposit is due, and is any part refundable?
• What happens if TEFA payment arrives later or lower than expected?
• Which fees can TEFA pay, and which cannot?
• What written enrollment confirmation will I receive?
• Who is my named contact if something goes wrong?

Get the answers in email so you have a record.

A school's own TEFA page can help, but it is supporting evidence. The live state finder is the program record. Check both, and check the state finder last.

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How do I know whether a school is really Montessori?

The word “Montessori” is in the public domain. No government license is required to use it. The American Montessori Society names five core parts of Montessori education: trained Montessori teachers, multi-age classrooms, Montessori materials, child-directed work, and long uninterrupted work periods. A name on a sign proves none of those things.

That is why our tables use evidence levels instead of star ratings.

Level A — a current outside source documents the program or scope. This may be an AMS or AMI directory, status page, or another direct record. It does not mean we ranked the school or guaranteed its quality.

Level B — the school's own current pages show a Montessori connection. That is useful, but it is still the school's own claim. Verify teacher credentials and classroom practice on the tour.

Level C — the official participating-school name is the evidence. We confirmed the state row and the word “Montessori,” but did not find enough current detail to make a stronger claim. Most rows are Level C, and we are not hiding that. It means the next questions are yours.

Five questions to ask on a tour

1. What Montessori credential does the lead teacher hold for this exact age level, and who issued it?
2. Which ages or grades share this classroom?
3. How long is the uninterrupted work period on a normal day?
4. Can I watch children choose and finish work with Montessori materials?
5. Which parts of the day or curriculum are not Montessori?

Question five matters. Every school blends something. A clear school can tell you where.

Red flags

• “Montessori-inspired” with no clear explanation
• No teacher-credential details, or vague details with no issuing body
• Single-age classrooms with no clear reason
• Mostly worksheets and whole-group instruction
• Very short work periods
• Montessori only in preschool while older grades use another model
• Accreditation logos that do not appear in the accreditor's directory
• A PK–12 state row presented as proof of Montessori at every grade

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Will my Montessori child have to take a standardized test?

Yes, if your child is in grades 3–12 at a participating private school. The school must administer an approved nationally norm-referenced assessment each year. Current program guidance says the parent receives the results and is responsible for sharing them with the program administrator. TEFA homeschool students are not required to take that program test.

If you chose Montessori partly to step away from standardized testing, know this before you commit a seat. It is a real trade.

Here is the context. Texas private-school accreditation already requires accredited schools to administer a national norm-referenced test approved by the school's accrediting agency. Because recognized accreditation is required for the K–12 TEFA path, many participating schools already had annual testing in place. TEFA adds a program reporting step; it does not mean every child at every school is taking a brand-new kind of test.

If testing is a dealbreaker, the $2,000 homeschool/other track does not carry the TEFA private-school testing rule. Do not choose that path as a temporary holding move, though. A setting change that would increase the award is not allowed after the family application window closes.

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Award numbers you will see that are wrong

The official 2026–27 base amount is $10,474, but stale estimates are still live. We checked three current pages that publish a different number.

These may have been reasonable estimates before the final amount was posted. They are stale now. A family that budgets on $12,000 and receives $10,474 is short $1,526.

Budget on the number in your portal and the current official program page, not a school's old estimate.

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The state's own list has errors. Here is what we found.

Ten of the 148 Montessori-named records — 6.8% — have a missing or malformed website field in the August 2 file. Seven are blank. Three look like staff email addresses with https:// placed in front:

• Our Kids Montessori School, Lewisville — https://www.info@ourkidsmontessori.com
• Silverline Montessori Shadow Creek, Pearland — https://t.conn@silverlinemontessori.com
• Silverline Montessori Silverlake, Pearland — https://s.lacy@silverlinemontessori.com

Seven more have no website in the file: Casa Infantil Montessori, Acepire Montessori Academy, Heartland Montessori Academy Irving, Doe Creek Montessori Academy, Kids USA Montessori Frisco, Meridian Montessori of Plano, and Guidepost Montessori at Round Rock.

One address collision is worth knowing about. The file carries two records at 3017 Polar Lane in Cedar Park: Guidepost Montessori at Brushy Creek, listed PK–K, and Montessorium, listed K–6. Same address, two names, two grade spans.

There are also names that look like duplicates but point to different campuses. Sugar Creek Montessori School appears twice in Katy at different addresses. Happy Flower Montessori has two McKinney rows with different grade spans. Never trust a school name without the city and street address.

None of this means the program is broken. It means the roster is a working file. Verify the exact campus in the live finder rather than trusting any static spreadsheet, including ours.

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My Montessori school is not on the list. What now?

You have four real options. A private school may still join on a rolling basis, your award may go to another participating school, the $2,000 homeschool/other path may fit, or a public Montessori option may be open.

Option 1 — Ask the school whether it is applying and what is missing. Ask which recognized accreditor it holds, how long it has operated, and where it is in the TEFA process. Do not accept “we plan to participate” as proof that the campus is approved today.

Option 2 — Use a different participating school. Filter the full tables by your child's grade first, then by drive time, then call for a seat.

Option 3 — Move to the $2,000 homeschool/other setting if the program rules still allow that lower-funded change for your account. For 2026–27, families could move from a private-school selection to the lower homeschool/other amount. They could not later switch in a way that increased the award. Follow the instructions in your Odyssey portal; do not use this as a reversible placeholder.

Option 4 — Look hard at a public Montessori seat. If it fits, it may be the best financial answer.

What not to do: do not confirm a school you have not verified in the live finder, do not pay a nonrefundable deposit based only on a static list, and do not drift past the confirmation date in your award notice. September 15 is the full-award cutoff for later confirmations.

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Key dates for 2026–27

The family application window ran February 4 through March 31, 2026 and is closed. The March 31 extension followed a federal court order. The program now has a 2027–28 interest list.

Private-school awards arrive in installments, not one lump sum. A school may ask for money before the next TEFA installment. Put the payment dates next to the school's due dates before you sign.

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How we built this list

We started with the state's complete participating-school file instead of a hand-picked set. We separated the 2,785 school records from the report footer, searched every official school name for “Montessori,” kept every address as its own campus record, and then ran a second exact-match pass for schools whose official names omit the word.

Our sources, in order of authority

1. Texas statute and official TEFA program pages
2. The official participating-school file and live school finder
3. Texas Education Agency and Texas Private Schools Association accreditation pages
4. AMS and AMI directories and status pages
5. Schools' own current tuition, admissions, and program pages
6. News reporting for context only, never as the final program rule

The name-match method

We ran a case-insensitive search for “Montessori” in the official school-name field. We kept each campus and address as its own row. We normalized spacing, punctuation, and capitalization only when counting unique names and brands.

The additional-match method

Every extra row required:

• An exact participating-school record
• An exact address, domain, or school identity match
• Current school-owned or Montessori-organization evidence
• A scope note where Montessori covers only part of the state row's grade span

That second pass added 11 records: four that serve grade 1 or higher and seven that are early-only or limited-scope.

What we left out

• Public Montessori schools from the private-school tables
• Schools that only say they plan to participate
• Tuition figures we could not verify for 2026–27
• Third-party tuition estimates when a school publishes its own number
• Anonymous testimonials
• Star ratings as proof of Montessori quality

What we actually verified

We opened and checked the core sources on August 8, 2026: the TEFA program site, funding schedule, tuition-and-fee guidance, school requirements, live finder, Texas Education Agency accreditation page, Texas Private Schools Association accreditation page, current AMS and AMI materials, the August 2 participating-school file, and the school-owned pages used for scope or tuition examples. We recomputed the roster counts from the file: 2,785 data records; 148 official-name matches; 141 normalized unique names; 18 pre-K-only; 80 through kindergarten; 50 reaching first grade; 33 reaching sixth grade; 15 reaching seventh grade; 7 reaching ninth grade; 4 name-matched records listing 12th grade; and 10 missing or malformed website fields. The second pass brings the disclosed minimum to 159 total records and 54 serving grade 1 or higher. This list does not verify: a current open seat, admission for a specific child, the family's final price, disability support, or Montessori quality at every grade. It is a minimum produced by a disclosed method, not a promise that no qualifying campus was missed. We never say a school is excluded. If it is not in our tables, we did not find it in the August 2 file through this method. Schools may join later. Nobody paid for coverage, rank, a badge, verification, placement, or result order. A school may pay a flat monthly fee only after a parent chooses it for an introduction. That payment never changes this page or where a school appears.

We also looked for an attributable Texas parent quote specifically about using TEFA at a Montessori school. We did not find one in the public record. We did not use anonymous posts or invent a family.

Found something wrong? Use our corrections page. It is a corrections inbox, not a paid listing form.

Primary sources

• Texas Education Freedom Accounts official program site
• Official TEFA school requirements
• Official TEFA school finder
• Funding timelines and installments
• Tuition and fee guidelines
• Texas Education Agency private-accreditation recognition
• Texas Private Schools Association accreditation page
• Texas Education Code §29.358
• American Montessori Society core components
• St. Catherine's Montessori 2026–27 tuition and fees

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Before you choose: the seven-step check

1. Look up the exact campus in the live official finder. Not just the brand.
2. Confirm the campus serves your child's grade for 2026–27.
3. Ask whether there is an opening and what admission requires.
4. Get tuition, required fees, deposits, and payment dates in writing.
5. Run your confirmed award against the full bill.
6. Ask the five Montessori questions on a tour or observation.
7. Get promised learning support, accommodations, and therapy in writing, including what costs extra.

Build a backup: one preferred school, one realistic alternative, and one lower-cost or public fallback. That keeps a deadline from making the decision for you.

One note if your child has an IEP. A higher possible award does not mean a participating private school must provide special-education services in the same way a public district or charter school must. Ask what the school will provide, who provides it, whether it is included in tuition, and what sits outside the program. Our pages on schools for autistic students and schools for students with dyslexia go deeper.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Texas ESA the same thing as TEFA? Yes. “Texas ESA” is shorthand. The official name is Texas Education Freedom Accounts, usually shortened to TEFA.

How much does Texas ESA pay toward a private Montessori school? The standard 2026–27 amount is $10,474 at a participating private school or approved pre-K/kindergarten provider. A student with a qualifying IEP may receive more, up to $30,000, but the actual amount is formula-based.

Does every Texas Montessori school accept ESA money? No. The exact campus must be participating. Check the live official finder before you commit money.

Does being on the list mean the state approved the school's quality? No. It means the campus met the program's participation rules. The state did not rank its Montessori instruction, promise you a seat, or approve it for your child.

Does a TEFA award guarantee admission? No. School admission and program funding are separate.

Can Texas ESA pay for Montessori preschool? It can at an approved pre-K provider when the child also meets the narrower TEFA pre-K eligibility rules. A provider's approval does not make every three- or four-year-old eligible.

Does AMS accreditation count for TEFA? Yes. AMS is an approved agency within the TEPSAC path. AMS membership, verification, or candidate status is not the same as AMS accreditation.

Does AMI recognition count for TEFA? Not by itself. An AMI school can still participate through a different Texas-recognized accreditor.

Are there Montessori high schools on the TEFA list? Very few. We found 18 matched records that go past 6th grade and 7 state rows that list 12th grade. The Montessori scope differs, so ask whether the older grades stay Montessori.

Can I use TEFA at a public Montessori magnet or charter? No. A child enrolled in a public or charter school during the school year is removed from TEFA.

Does TEFA pay for extended day or aftercare? No. Before- and after-school care and other non-educational supervision are listed as ineligible. School-day breakfast or lunch may be eligible.

What happens if tuition is higher than the award? The family is usually responsible for the difference, subject to school aid, discounts, and payment plans. Get the full price in writing.

Can a Montessori school charge more because I have TEFA? The state's guidance says a student should not be charged different tuition simply because of TEFA, and generally available discounts should remain. A school may consider the award in need-based aid.

Do unused funds roll over? Yes, while the child remains in the program. TEFA money cannot be refunded to the family's personal account.

Can I use this year's funds for next year's tuition? The state says eligible expenses can be prepaid without a time-based restriction. The school must agree to accept advance payment.

Can my child change participating schools? Follow the Odyssey portal and current program instructions. Do not assume that changing the school or setting leaves the award unchanged.

Are applications still open? No. The 2026–27 family application window closed March 31, 2026. The 2027–28 interest list is open.

How often does the school list change? Schools may join on a rolling basis. That is why every table here has a source date.

Why is a Montessori school I know missing? It may not be participating, may use another legal name, may have joined after August 2, may be public, or may not have been discoverable through our exact-match method. Send a correction and we will check it.

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One last honest word

If you have read this far, you may have come here worried that you made a mistake. You probably did not. You were handed two school rulebooks, a child-eligibility rule for pre-K, a separate school-admission process, and a state directory that cannot tell you whether the Montessori part reaches your child's grade.

Now you know which participation path applies, which credential Texas checks, what the money can cover, how the field shrinks as your child gets older, and exactly what to ask on the phone.

That is the whole job of this page.

Still not sure which path fits your family? Use our free Find My School Path tool. See the routes first, then decide whether you want any school to contact you.

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The School Choice Index is an independent comparison and research resource for U.S. school choice programs. Last verified August 8, 2026. State participating-school file: report run August 2, 2026. Dataset version 1.0. We update the “last verified” date only after re-checking the underlying sources, not for copy edits.

No school pays for coverage, rankings, badges, verification, placement, or result order. A school may pay a flat monthly fee only after a parent chooses it for an introduction. That fee never changes our coverage or the order of results.