1
Country Day School
Largo·Pinellas County·Grades PK-08·~273 students
Accepts scholarshipsCo-edAffordable
Tuition$15.5K/yr
TypePrivate
Students~273
TAMPA BAY
Best Independent (non-religious) Private Pre-K Schools in Tampa Bay for Montessori
Independent rankings of Independent (non-religious) Private Pre-K schools in Tampa Bay with Montessori programs, built from director interviews and verified data — never from school payments.
28 schools indexed0 director-verifiedUpdated this week
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AdmitCompass tracks 28 private pre-k-level schools in Tampa Bay. Annual tuition ranges from $7.6K/yr to $17.8K/yr, with a median of $13.1K/yr across schools that publish a number. Tampa has the highest concentration with 8 schools, followed by Valrico (2). 25 of these schools accept Florida Step Up / FES scholarships — roughly 89% of the list — so families using state-funded scholarships have real choice here.
Private schools on this page set their own admissions criteria. Most ask for a school visit, prior records, and a family interview; competitive K and 6th-grade entry points often fill 6-9 months before the start of school. Every school is re-verified through direct outreach to admissions teams; data is refreshed on a 180-day cadence and timestamped on each profile.
See also: Learning Support, Gifted, IB (International Baccalaureate).
Showing 10 of 28 Tampa Bay schools
- 2Safety Harbor Montessori Academy
Clearwater·Pinellas County·Grades PK-09·~165 students
Accepts scholarshipsCo-edAffordableTuition$17.4K/yrTypePrivateStudents~165 - 3Palm Harbor Montessori Academy
Palm Harbor·Pinellas County·Grades PK-08·~129 students
Accepts scholarshipsCo-edAffordableTuition$16.5K/yrTypePrivateStudents~129 - 4The Riverview Montessori School At Rivercre
Riverview·Hillsborough County·Grades PK-05·~114 students
Accepts scholarshipsCo-edAffordableTuition$17.8K/yrTypePrivateStudents~114 - 5Montessori By The Sea
St. Pete Beach·Pinellas County·Grades PK-06·~101 students
Accepts scholarshipsCo-edAffordableTuition$11.8K/yrTypePrivateStudents~101 - 6Southshore Montessori Ii
Apollo Beach·Hillsborough County·Grades KG-06·~94 students
Accepts scholarshipsCo-edAffordableTuition$17.8K/yrTypePrivateStudents~94 - 7Montessori House Day School 1
Tampa·Hillsborough County·Grades PK-06·~78 students
Accepts scholarshipsCo-edAffordableTuition$13.1K/yrTypePrivateStudents~78 - 8Garden Montessori School
Wesley Chapel·Pasco County·Grades PK-KG·~65 students
Accepts scholarshipsCo-edAffordableTuition$10.8K/yrTypePrivateStudents~65 - 9The Brandon Montessori School
Valrico·Hillsborough County·Grades PK-KG·~57 students
Accepts scholarshipsCo-edAffordableTuition$17.8K/yrTypePrivateStudents~57 - 10Montessori House Day School
Tampa·Hillsborough County·Grades PK-06·~36 students
Accepts scholarshipsCo-edAffordableTuition$13.1K/yrTypePrivateStudents~36
How we rank these schools
Built relationships, not scrapers. AdmitCompass ranks schools using a composite score that blends four signals: enrollment size (a proxy for stability and program breadth), tuition reasonableness within the local market, freshness of our most recent verification, and a small bonus for schools with full admissions detail published on their profile.
Public data comes from the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE), the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and each school's own admissions pages. The information that actually matters to most families — acceptance rates, deadlines, what a director cares about — comes from direct interviews with school directors and admissions coaches across our active markets.
We do not publish scoring weights or per-axis thresholds. That keeps the moat intact: the rankings reflect actual conversations with people inside schools, not a formula anyone with a crawler could clone. Every profile is re-verified on a 180-day cadence, and the "last updated" date is timestamped on every school page.
Frequently asked questions
What's the average tuition for pre-k schools in Tampa Bay?
Across the 28 schools on this list, annual tuition ranges from $7.6K/yr to $17.8K/yr, with a median of $13.1K/yr. Many schools offer financial aid, sibling discounts, or accept Florida Step Up / FES scholarships — check each school's detail page for current aid policy.
How competitive is admission to private schools in Tampa Bay?
Selective private schools review transcripts, teacher recommendations, an admissions test (ISEE or SSAT for grades 5-12), and an in-person visit. Acceptance rates vary widely — some schools accept nearly every qualified applicant, while top-tier programs admit fewer than 25%. Apply 9-12 months ahead of the start date.
Do these schools accept Step Up / FES scholarships?
25 of the 28 schools on this page accept Florida's Step Up For Students / FES-EO / FES-UA scholarships. That covers most or all of tuition for income-eligible families. Each school's detail page lists the specific scholarship programs accepted.
What's the smallest and largest school on this list?
Blossom Montessori School For The Deaf is the smallest with 13 students; Country Day School is the largest at 273. Smaller schools tend to offer more direct teacher contact and tighter community; larger schools usually have more elective and extracurricular breadth.
How many schools offer Montessori programs?
28 schools on this page have documented Montessori programs. Program depth varies — some schools embed it across the curriculum, others offer dedicated tracks or after-school options. Visit each school's profile for specifics.
Is this list updated?
Yes. We re-verify school data on a 180-day cadence through direct contact with admissions teams, plus cross-checks against FLDOE, NCES, and published school sources. Each school profile shows the date of its most recent verification.
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