Riverton Educator Pushes to Bring Tuition-Free ‘Classical Academy’ to Fremont County

The original story by Vince Tropea for County 10.

A Riverton early childhood educator is working to bring a new tuition-free public charter school to Fremont County — and she’s asking local families to help get it across the finish line.

On KOVE’s Coffee Time with host Vince Tropea, Donna Harrison shared her plans to open a Wyoming Classical Academy campus in Riverton, open to students from across Fremont County.

Harrison, who runs Smart-Start Quality Child Care in Riverton under the Montessori model, is leading the effort to launch the charter school, which would follow the Hillsdale College classical curriculum.

The proposed Wyoming Classical Academy – Riverton would:

• Be tuition-free;
• Be a public charter school (not private);
• Have no entrance exams;
• Have no religious affiliation;
• Start with grades K–6, then add grades each year.

The curriculum centers on classic literature, logic, rhetoric, math, science and the fine arts, with an emphasis on critical thinking, communication, and character development.

There is already a Wyoming Classical Academy campus in Mills, and another is scheduled to open in Alpine in fall 2026.

Harrison says the goal is to open the Riverton campus for the 2027–2028 school year.

To get there, she and a small team are preparing an application to submit to the Wyoming Charter School Board in March 2026.

Before that can happen, though, they need to show there’s real interest.

To even file the application, the group must collect around 150–200 letters of interest from local families. They already have more than 80.

A letter of interest is not a commitment to enroll. It’s simply a way to show the state there’s enough community support to justify moving forward.

Families can submit a letter of interest online through the group’s form.

Harrison is also inviting families to learn more in person.

Parent Information Night

• When: Tuesday, November 18, 6:00 p.m.;
• Where: Riverton Library;
• What: Overview of the school model, timeline, questions from parents.

For full details and to hear Harrison explain the vision in her own words, listeners can check out the full Coffee Time interview on KOVE 1330 AM / 107.7 FM or via the station’s live stream during “Today in the 10” and Coffee Time between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m.