Today in our survey of the history of BCSI, we move from Texas to Arkansas.

Founders Classical Academy – Bentonville, formerly known as Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy, opened in 2013 as a sibling of the Founders Academies in Texas (it too is operated by ResponsiveEd). It has 900 students from kindergarten through 12th grade and has an “A” letter grade (the highest awarded) from the Arkansas Department of Education as well as being named the #1 best charter elementary and middle school in Arkansas by Niche (the high school is #4).

We visited Founders Classical Academy – Bentonville at the beginning of our effort and happened to be there on their enrollment lottery day. The headmaster, Mrs. Provenza, was our gracious host and she mentioned that there were so many kids on the waiting list that they could nearly double the size of the school if they had space. This visit was formative to our efforts because it confirmed that there were indeed families clamoring for this education–even in a metro area roughly half the size of the Tulsa metro area with highly regarded district schools.