Paragon Prep School is truly phenomenal, and we give it our highest recommendation! One of the…read morefirst things that caught our attention when visiting schools was seeing how Paragon graduates--after high school and even college--return to visit their teachers. That speaks volumes about the lasting relationships and sense of community the school creates. We love Paragon's motto: "Work Hard. Play Hard. Be Kind." It perfectly reflects what life--and education--should be about. The school is also wonderful for busy families, offering a wide variety of before- and after-school programs, enrichment classes, sports, and summer camps. Paragon's Valor program ensures that new students immediately feel welcomed and connected. The school year even begins and ends with a pool party! There are countless fun traditions and celebrations, including Elvis Day, Chinese New Year, Día de los Muertos, and even a full week of roller skating. Students are placed into "colleges" and love earning points through school spirit, volunteering, and community service--culminating in friendly competitions to see which college wins at the end of the year. Engaging field trips are an integral part of the curriculum, and the school also offers international trips for families during the summer. We accompanied the sixth graders on a trip to Colonial Virginia, and it was a truly marvelous and enriching experience for the students and for us! Our middle school son is proud to be taking all honors classes, and even with the academic rigor, he is able to play three school sports while also practicing another sport outside of school. With Valor and study hall, students have ample time to complete homework and stay organized. We would also like to give a heartfelt shoutout to the incredible educators and staff: Mrs. Lype and Mrs. Correro for being outstanding math teachers; Coach Josh and Coach Nick for being terrific coaches; Mrs. Behr for being an inspiring World Cultures teacher and for teaching invaluable organizational skills; Mr. Wyatt for being relatable and humorous; Mr. Stubblefield for encouraging students to pursue their passions through English; Mr. Aidan for being a wonderful Valor teacher and Rutgers coach; Mr. Cory for planning impactful field trips and summer camps; Mr. Joey for being such an influential Dean of Students; and Mrs. Hay for being a truly one-of-a-kind Head of School who expands learning through meaningful travel experiences. Our son will undoubtedly become one of the many Paragon graduates who return to visit the teachers, staff, and administrators who have made such a lasting difference in his life.

The staff at Paragon make all the difference. You can see their commitment to the school and…read morepassion for the kids. We have 2 kids attending and like the diversity, high expectations, and school culture. They both love this school and enjoy events like "roller skating week", pool parties, lots of after school sport options and overnight trips. This helps them bond with both students and teachers. Paragon offers high academic standards mixed with life skills. We like the focus on a well-rounded education with academics at least 1 grade level above the standard. In elementary, they are also developing good social skills, learning responsibilities, and planning skills for future academic success. (For example, Paragon gives kids a daily planner to track their homework assignments and get parent signatures for visibility). In middle school, there are lots of team projects, hands-on opportunities, presentations, and field trips. (Projects like running a small business during lunch and breaks.) There are many resources for parents and a great community within and around the school. We recommend this school to friends also.

Wow, what can I say, I feel like we won the jackpot when we found Magellan. our daughter started in…read moreKindergarten and although she isn't very good at adapting or transitions, she immediately fell in love with her teachers and school friends.. There are no cliques and no bullying and when we have had issues we have raised them with the teachers and they have jumped on them to solve them immediately, and unlike other private schools there's no sense of entitlement from the parents or students. Also, because the school is so good at awarding scholarships not everyone is 'rich'! The school also has a great parent teacher association which offer weekly meet-ups and play dates as well as adult only events. Each class also has a WhatsApp chat group so parents can easily communicate with each other. If it sounds like one big happy family you'd be right, that's exactly what it feels like. In terms of academics my adhd child has thrived. Diagnosed at 4 we thought she would struggle but the school has been amazing at supporting her needs and accommodating her. They also offer many different seating types from a bouncy ball chair, to cushions on the floor and other such. It's very holistic and non political and offers many diverse ways of learning. They have a calming corner, encourage reading and emotional open communication as well many other ways of teaching emotional and academic intelligence. They teach in Spanish from day one and introduce Mandarin from 3rd grade, they also teach following the international Baccalaureate which is amazing. It teaches the children self confidence through weekly presentations and teaches them autonomy. Honestly this school is amazing and now it goes until 12th grade we are obsessed and so you will be too. But, sshh don't tell anyone about our secret slice of heaven.

My son has attended Magellan since the age of three years old-- he is now in second and we have…read morealready registered him for third grade. Hands down, my husband and I feel it is best decision we have made for his education. Although it can be a bit pricey, we have felt that it has been worth every dollar. He is growing up to be a well spoken, well thought, caring little human. I love that he is bilingual, but I really love his open minded views and his eagerness to learn. The teachers... the teachers have all been so amazing. They are loving, caring and really take each student's personalities and abilities into consideration as they grow from year to year. As I said, it's not the cheapest option and we do discuss yearly if we will be renewing his tuition-- and, with each year this answer comes easier and easier with an astounding "YES". We love the school, the community, the parents and look forward to many more years at Magellan!

After some time at this school, I can no longer -- in good faith -- say that it has been a 5-star…read moreexperience. The people are (mostly) lovely and kind, but they are surely not openminded, innovative or fully transparent.

AHB is an amazing school! My son went here for 7th and 8th grade. He made quality friendships with…read morefriends that he has managed to stay in touch with. He experienced no bullying and only kindness from his peers. The teachers are warm and loving folks that enjoy teaching. I'm very happy that we chose to send him to AHB.

Our family loves St. Francis School (SFS, a pre-K through 8th-grade private nonprofit…read moreinterdenominational school operating for 30+ years near the ACC Highland campus in north-central Austin). After a mixed but ultimately disappointing experience in 1st - 3rd grades at a crowded, overpriced, chaotic start-up foreign language immersion school, our family needed a fresh start. Our once confident and joyful learner of a child had been reduced to an overstressed student who loathed school and struggled through hours of tedious homework each night. St. Francis provided the small, truly diverse and welcoming community environment we wanted for our child, with a balance of challenging academics, ethics reinforcement, and attention to the nurturing & development of the whole child by experienced educators who really know how to differentiate instruction to many types of learners. This approach has totally turned around our child's experience of school and his learning & achievement have skyrocketed over the past 2 years. His school grades are now more in line with his always high standardized testing results, and homework no longer comes to tears! Another parent reviewer said it well when she described the diverse and "unpretentious atmosphere" at SFS. Every imaginable demographic is represented in both the student body and faculty. People are kind and friendly and welcoming, and individual differences are celebrated. Every time I'm on campus, I just feel inspired and hopeful. Because SFS keeps class size (max of 15) and total enrollment (around 400) in check and teachers love the place so much they stay for decades, the small, cohesive "neighborhood school" feel is maintained. Huge props go to the incomparable founding head of school, Barbara Porter, who has since 1985 guided SFS on its core mission of "excellence without exclusivity." SFS backs that sentiment up by supporting 25% of the student body with scholarships and charging one of the lowest private school tuition rates in the Austin area, while consistently graduating their students into the most competitive public school magnet programs and private high schools. Another wonderfully unique feature among area private schools is the SFS Learning Center, where students with special needs can receive tutoring and additional services to support their success in school. Kids with learning differences are fully integrated into SFS classrooms and are able to thrive as part of a truly diverse school community. At the same time, a large proportion of the student body would be described as "gifted & talented," demonstrating highest performance in academics, the arts, and sports. Each Friday morning, an optional hour of "chapel" is held in which the entire student body and faculty, as well as any parents & family members who wish to attend, gather together in the gym to share an uplifting community-building and/or character-building assembly or pep rally to celebrate that month's achievements. It's not actually religious (although some religious content is shared from time-to-time; the school is named for St. Francis of Assisi, after all). The 8th-grade year culminates in a transformative Spring Break trip to Italy to visit the hometown of St. Francis (among other sites), and the kids raise all of the money for the trip themselves over the course of their years at SFS. I could say much more about all the reasons we love SFS, but if you are considering private school or are just looking for a better school for your unique learner, I encourage you to take a tour and see for yourself. Curriculum and other details are available on the school website at http://www.stfrancis-school.org.

Well run institution with a great culture…read more Pro: - Long Term: with over 35 years in operation, they've had time to build a strong program that will last through economic downturns. - Culture: teachers, students and parents are fully bought-in to the schools values (see school site for details). - Student attention: lower than average student/teacher ratios plus a dedicated, free-standing tutoring building adjacent to the school. Con: - Playground: nice but not inline with the quality of the rest of the institution. - Admissions: it's a centrally located, high quality private school in a growing city, meaning demand is high Personal lessons from our school search: After spending 12 months searching for the 'best school', we realized the importance of finding the 'best school for our child'. Initially, I was too tied up in rankings to spend the time to understand what was important for our family and how that lined up with each program. In the end, we loved the goals at St. Francis of (1) excellence without exclusivity, (2) a meaningful commitment to diversity and (3) attention to the needs of every student. Covid-19 update: School is really stepping up to deliver for students in a difficult time. The teachers are really going above-and-beyond.

We had our daughter in this school for almost a year, it was her first experience at a daycare and…read morewe were nervous, but our daughter was the happiest when attending IMSI. All the staff is very loving and nurturing, creating an environment where she felt safe, loved and cared for. We recently had to change schools because of our commuting times, but it is with heavy hearts we say bye and thank you to IMSI! You are amazing! Gracias!!!

As parents, we continue to be impressed with IMSI and are so grateful for the teachers and Director…read morethere. We have seen so much growth in our little and we know it is because of the attention, kindness, thoughtful curriculum and devotion the teachers/Director provide each child on the daily. We feel our child is supported in all aspects of her development and as parents, we appreciate the openness and communication line that exists within the IMSI community. We cannot thank IMSI enough and are incredibly happy to be a part of such a wonderful community!

Love, love love love love this school!! Amazing. We searched far and wide to find the right…read moreschool for our children. This is it. Nature based but they teach academics (pre-school level anyway). My baby is coming home teaching *me* spanish! They swim over the summer, hike in the nature reserve in the fall, my kids love it so much and we couldn't be happier with a school.

My granddaughter has attended Stepping Stone Northcross/Doman since October 2023 when she was 8…read moremonths old. She has had some wonderful teachers along the way. She is currently in the Readers Room with Miss Kylee. She loves the books that are read each day, all the fun activities they do and the extra activities she can participate in at the school. She is involved with Groovy Bus (gymnastics) and Soccer Shots (soccer) each week and gets very excited to tell me each day what all they do and how much fun she has had each day.

We've had such a great experience at this Stepping Stone and feel incredibly lucky to have found…read moreit. The teacher in our child's classroom (Alondra) is kind, attentive, and dedicated to the kids' intellectual growth. She makes learning fun with thoughtful, age-appropriate activities that keep them engaged. It's clear she puts a lot of care into her work--not only is she creative but also cleans several times a day. At my child's last daycare, she would come home with stains all over her clothes and the bathwater would be so murky it was appalling. Having a smaller classroom and a dedicated teacher has really helped. A special shoutout to the director, Connie, who is truly the heart of the facility. She is incredibly patient, knowledgeable, and approachable. From the first day, she has made us feel welcome and heard. Connie somehow knows every child by name and always takes the time to check in with both parents and kids. It's clear that she genuinely cares about each family and works hard to make the daycare a safe, nurturing environment. I've even bumped into her at our local HEB while she was buying snacks for the kids and I swear she works over 40 hours a week since she is always there no matter what time I drop off or pick up. We really couldn't ask for a better place for our child to learn and grow. Highly recommend!

I can't express how wonderful AJA has been for our kids over the last 5 years. They use a…read moreProject-Based Learning (PBL) curriculum, where my kids have gained skills crucial to success later in life: teamwork, communication, creativity, executive functioning, but most of all CONFIDENCE. PBLs take a kid's natural curiosity in a subject and show them how to combine ALL their school subjects (STEM, Social Studies, Language Arts, Hebrew, art and music) to present what they've learned. The kids learn how to present starting in kindergarten-- I'll never forget the first time my kid presented their Portfolio, I had no idea this 5 year old was capable of being so prepared, articulate, and confident. My jaw must've dropped a foot. I was just blown away!!! This child comes with some extremely unique, diagnosed developmental and learning challenges that, I've realized in the years since, would likely be too challenging to work with in a public school class three times bigger than his is. At AJA my kids get so much individual support, not just from their teachers but from every adult in the building. Academically, my kids are thriving. The expectations are high, and the teachers have been so talented and creative in their approaches to supporting my kids (not by coincidence-- they are constantly doing new faculty trainings). Our more neurotypical child has thrived and been encouraged to really push herself as well, and as a result has discovered proclivities for math specifically. I've wondered if, in a much larger class, this kiddo might have been kind of lost in the mix as a good-enough B student. Money well spent in my opinion! And then there's what brought us here: the Jewish education. I can see the way the school integrates Jewish values into the kids' daily lives. I see my children actually enjoy participation in Jewish culture and tradition, and apply lessons from our ancient texts to their modern day lives. They know exactly who they are and where they came from. They teach me stuff now!!! It makes a Jewish mother proud.

Awful and abusive admin with no experience. Subpar teaching with unqualified teachers. Very little…read morematerial covered academically. And despite deep promises, absolutely no support for ADHD and other special needs. These people cannot get their stuff together! I love that my boy got a quality religious education. But his regular academics were beyond awful. Terrible classroom management. My son was bullied and nothing was done about it. They finally have a new board, but I would wait 5 more years to see if they iron out their issues before I sent my child there!

I am a conversion student at Temple Beth Shalom and I have felt welcomed since the beginning. Rabbi…read moreFreedman, Rabbi Steinman, and Cantor Gostein are fantastic. All of my instructors have been very helpful and have really made this experience even more special. Even though we've been dealing with the effects of social distancing and the restrictions of Covid-19, Temple Beth Shalom has still maintained a strong connection with it's congregants and students, whether it's through classes or events or Shabbat service or High Holidays. When my Aunt passed from Covid-19 this year, Rabbi Freedman called to comfort me even though I was only a conversion student. I felt so grateful. The congregation also came together to unofficially sit Shiva for my Aunt. Temple Beth Shalom is a wonderful community. I can't wait to take my beit din at the end of Spring so I can officially be a part of this community.

I honestly didn't want to write this review but I just had to get this off my chest. My family and…read moreI joined this synagogue because we wanted to help our children identify with Judaism more closely and it was important to us that they celebrated their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs in a friendly and loving Jewish environment. Rabbi Freedman even came to our house for a naming ceremony when our third daughter was born. We enrolled our eldest daughter in Bat Mitzvah classes and started attending services. When we joined we couldn't afford to pay the full membership fees and the synagogue allowed us to pay a lower rate. About six months later we started getting regular calls from the finance person at the synagogue wanting to discuss our membership fees and to see if we could start paying more. Needless to say this was stressful and embarrassing and ultimately we just couldn't find the extra money. Sadly we had to cancel our membership. Never once did we receive a call from the synagogue asking about our leaving. It was difficult explaining to our kids why we left. As a Jew I am extremely aware of and sensitive to the stereotypes regarding Jews and money. It was heartbreaking to see that what we could provide financially to the synagogue was more important than us being a part of their community.

I don't understand why the reviews here are so low! We have loved this location of Jump for my 4…read moreand 7 year old kiddos. We especially appreciate coach Alex's energy and ability to engage the little ones. My son responds so well to him! Also appreciate coach Mailery who seems to know just what our daughter needs to build confidence and keep working on more difficult skills. Good people here! In a fun, super low-pressure environment!

Coach Ally has been amazing with our daughter. Very encouraging. Great at teaching all the skills…read moreto the little kids and building on them to improve their skills!