History of MCA

Montessori Christian Academy is located in Arkansas’ second oldest city, Batesville. The school’s roots began in 2006 by Kelly Oster when she was called by Hope Lutheran Church to re-establish their school. It was an answer to long-term prayer for Kelly, as she prayed that the Lord would allow her to have an opportunity to establish a Christian Montessori school. She inherited a large project, with the school being inactive for many years, the building and furniture were in rough shape. But she and her husband got to work and together, they brought the school to life. It was a busy, exhausting, and exhilarating time. The school began with three children and grew to 25 in a short time span. The church was able to reimburse Kelly for all she invested financially in the school upon its revival. However, in 2013, as the school continued to grow, the church could no longer sustain and maintain the high demands of running a school. So a dedicated group of parents joined Kelly to form a Board of Trustees that helped establish the business side of Montessori Christian Academy as a non-profit religious school. They adopted all the previously written policies and procedures that Kelly had written for the school and as such, Hope Lutheran School was renamed as MCA. Our relationship with Hope Lutheran Church still remains to this day! Over the years, the school has nurtured many young minds within it’s walls and is proud to provide the local community with an option for children to receive a Christ-centered, Montessori education from ages 2.5 through grade school.