For most Faulkner County families looking at private school, the decision comes down to two campuses: Conway Christian School and St. Joseph Catholic School. Both serve pre-K through grade 12. Both are large for Arkansas private schools. And both had about half their students on an Education Freedom Account in 2024-25. If you're weighing the two, here's what the state's data shows and what to ask each one.
Side by side
From the state's 2024-25 EFA report and the federal Private School Survey:
- Enrollment (federal survey, 2023-24): Conway Christian 564 students. St. Joseph 446.
- EFA students (2024-25): Conway Christian 290 of about 580 (50%). St. Joseph 234 of about 445 (53%).
- Continued in the program next year: Conway Christian 94%. St. Joseph 95%.
- Stayed at the same school: Conway Christian 90%. St. Joseph 93%.
- EFA students' average national percentile: Conway Christian 60th in math and 62nd in reading. St. Joseph 52nd and 53rd. The statewide EFA average was the 57th and 59th.
- EFA payments in the report's spring transactions: Conway Christian about $947,000. St. Joseph about $676,000.
The two schools look a lot alike on these numbers. Both have deep EFA experience, and both keep the vast majority of their EFA families. The difference between them is mostly one of identity, not numbers.
Identity and culture
St. Joseph is a Catholic parish school in the Diocese of Little Rock, located in the heart of Conway. Faith formation, the sacraments and parish life are part of the school day. Like most Catholic schools, it typically offers lower tuition for active parishioners.
Conway Christian is a non-denominational Christian school. It draws families from many church backgrounds, so expect chapel, Bible classes and a broadly evangelical culture rather than one denomination's practices.
Visit both. Sit in on a class at your child's grade level, and ask current parents what surprised them after enrolling.
How the account works at each
The 2026-27 Education Freedom Account is $7,208 per student, paid into ClassWallet in four deposits of about $1,802. Students who came from the former Succeed Scholarship receive $8,011. Both schools invoice ClassWallet, which is clear from the hundreds of thousands of dollars in account payments each received in the report's spring transactions alone.
What you'll need to compare:
- Your actual tuition. At St. Joseph, ask about the parishioner rate and what qualifies you. At Conway Christian, ask about church-member or multi-child rates.
- Fees. Registration, books, technology and activity fees can often be paid from the account if the school invoices them. Ask for the list.
- The order of discounts. Ask whether sibling discounts apply before or after the account.
- Aid. Both schools will likely count the account when calculating need-based aid. Apply for both.
Pre-K, high school and everything between
Because both schools are PK-12, a family can stay at one campus from age 3 or 4 through graduation. That's a real advantage in a county with only five private schools. Remember that the account doesn't start until kindergarten, when a child must be 5 by August 1, so pre-K years are paid privately.
For high-schoolers, ask about concurrent-credit courses. Conway's three colleges make this easier than in most Arkansas towns, and approved college course fees can be paid from the account. We cover that in our guide to using the EFA for college courses.
Questions to bring
- Do you have openings in my child's grade for next fall, and when do you need a decision?
- Which fees do you invoice through ClassWallet, and which do we pay directly?
- Which national test do you give, and will you share my child's results each year?
- Your EFA retention was over 90%. What did you hear from the families who left?
A cost walk-through
Here's a simple way to compare the two schools for your family. These are placeholder numbers, so ask each school for its real figures.
- Start with the tuition rate you qualify for at each school (parishioner or not, church member or not).
- Add required fees for your child's grade: registration, books, technology and activities.
- Subtract any sibling or multi-child discount.
- Subtract the $7,208 account (or $8,011 for a former Succeed student).
- Subtract any need-based aid the school offers on what's left.
The result is your real annual cost. Families are often surprised how close the two schools come out once every discount is counted.
Switching between them
Because the account belongs to the student, not the school, a family can move between Conway Christian and St. Joseph at the start of a school year without losing funding. Tell the new school early so it can set up ClassWallet billing before the first deposit arrives.
Both schools, and Faulkner County's three smaller schools, are in our Conway school directory. For help with the math for your family, start a funding check.