Mat-Su Central School

Ladd K-8 School (Home of the Ladd Leopards) is a public school in Fairbanks, Alaska, operated by the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. Once known as Ladd Elementary, it has moved to a K-8 model serving students from kindergarten through 8th grade, plus a pre-kindergarten program for ages 3 to 5. About 61% of students are military-connected through nearby Fort Wainwright, with the rest coming from Fairbanks neighborhoods. The school offers a pre-k program for students working on kindergarten readiness skills, with needs identified through the district's Child Find screening process for communication, learning, or skill development. Special education staff at Ladd, the principal, and related-services providers form the team that plans supports for eligible students. A dedicated school counselor supports students' social and emotional needs. Grades 6 to 8 are open to students across the district through the Fairbanks North Star Borough K-8 lottery, while K-5 serves the neighborhood attendance area. As a public school, there is no tuition. Families register through the district enrollment system.

Fairbanks Montessori School opened its doors in 1965 and is operated by the nonprofit Fairbanks Montessori Association, a 501(c)(3). It offers a fully implemented Montessori primary curriculum for children ages 3 to 6, taught by certified Montessori Lead Teachers. Classrooms are mixed-age, with 3, 4, 5, and 6 year olds learning together across the five Montessori areas: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, and Cultural. The school has been licensed as a child care center by the State of Alaska since 2008 and maintains a staff-to-student ratio of 1 to 10. Third-year students complete the primary cycle as kindergarteners, and families can choose a 10-month program (August to May) or a 12-month program (August to July). Enrollment begins with a no-fee waiting pool application, and admission depends on availability rather than strict first-come order. Fairbanks Montessori is a member of the International Montessori Council and a candidate for IMC accreditation. It accepts several tuition assistance programs, including the State of Alaska Child Care Assistance Program, Child Care Aware of America, Tanana Chiefs Conference, and the National Park Service, and offers a 5% sibling discount.

Anchorage Waldorf School is Alaska's only nonprofit Waldorf school, located on a 2.5-acre campus at 3250 Baxter Road in Anchorage. It opened in 1989 as the Aurora Waldorf School with a single mixed-age kindergarten class and later renamed itself Anchorage Waldorf School. Today it serves children from early childhood through grade eight, following Rudolf Steiner's Waldorf philosophy of educating the whole child (head, heart, and hands). Programs run from a toddler day care (Seedlings, roughly ages 19 months to 3.5 years) and mixed-age kindergarten (ages 3.5 to 6) through Grades 1 to 8. The Waldorf curriculum balances academics with the arts, music (including violin from grade four), handwork, woodworking, eurythmy, movement, and a strong outdoor and nature-based program that uses the nearby Baxter Bog and other Anchorage green spaces. Russian is taught as a foreign language across all grades. As an independent school, Anchorage Waldorf is funded primarily through tuition set on a sliding scale so families pay according to their ability, assessed through the TADS financial-aid service. Before-care and after-care (Golden Cottage) and a summer camp are also offered.