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    Austin Discovery School

    3.4 (36 reviews)

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    The pasture, just on the other side of the barbed wire fencing.

    School year: 2022-2023 POV: I am writing this review as a teacher myself who has taught for a decade in public schools. I understand both the side of the school and the parent. We sent our child to this school (and not the district I have taught in) because they're active. We were drawn in by the idea that there is supposed to be hands on learning and hiking at this school versus sending them to a public elementary where we were worried they'd be sitting the majority of the day. -------------- THEY DO NOT GO ON A HIKE. They walk down a trail from the school, into a wooded area, where it is LORD OF THE FREAKING FLIES. This property is not owned by ADS, it is the City of Austin's property they're on. One side is a pasture, the other is Travis State Jail. The ratio is about 4 teachers to 50ish kids for lower grades depending on how how many classes go on the "hike" at the same time. The kids are not allowed to break sticks - but they all do, the kids are not allowed to climb anything, including the hanging vines and fallen trees - but they all do. It is all child-led; there is no guidance or structure to any of it. No "if you want to build with sticks, come over here" No "if you want to look for plant life and learn about plant life, come over here". They walk down and stay down in the area for an hour+. Muddy or not. The teachers are not separated monitoring everyone at all times, for the most part, they are congregating. They are yelling at kids from one spot over and over to climb down from trees, to stop using sticks "inappropriately" (they can only build with sticks, that is the rule), stop playing with trash (kids are picking up trash and throwing it, playing with it). FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR! We thought our child was actually hiking, as in walking for a while in nature and getting energy out for an hour every Wednesday. Talking with their classmates and teachers about nature, learning and doing activities throughout the hike with teachers and classmates. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. They walk down the hill. They let the kids run around for an hour or more without any structure. Then they walk back up the hill. The end. They also have minimal to no actual academics at all on Wednesdays as this is "hike day" and early release day (at 1:30 pm) every Wednesday. The day is filled with a morning meeting, hike (total of 1.5-2 hours), essentials (eco, art, music, or p.e.), lunch, and closing meeting. And since a large chunk of this is unstructured, it's essentially just daycare that you're taking your child/children to for the day. All I have to say is CHAOS, pure CHAOS, very minimal structure. *This is not the only reason for the 1 star. Overall this is just a VERY unstructured school environment that is lacking in many ways where the kids end up getting left behind academically, behaviorally, and emotionally. However, they recruit LOTS of families by waving the weekly "hike" in their faces. It is very deceiving. **IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING THIS SCHOOL, REQUEST THAT YOU TOUR ON A WEDNESDAY, DURING A HIKE AND GO ON THE HIKE. Feel how the kids feel, open your eyes to everything that is happening from the unstructured atmosphere to the way they get up and down the hill on "hike" to the piles of carpenter nails laying outside of the buildings to the way the teachers speak to the kids/don't speak to the kids and just everything. The idea of the school sounds so amazing and so appealing, but it's just an idea, there's not enough structure, help, or staff/faculty to actually (currently) hold up to what they are advertising themselves to be. Everything is very unorganized, very little communication (if any at all, it's last minute), very defensive, and everyone expects a lot from the kids, but not putting in that much themselves. So there are lots of behavior issues popping up everywhere, all day long, and not enough people to put out all of the fires or get everyone to reset, get organized, or structured enough to run smoothly and show growth in teaching or learning. ***I have attached photos that have blurred out any children so that you can see where they "hike" for an hour. This review is not some quick jab because of one issue. Our child spent 2 full grades at this school and it was rough from day one, but we were strung along to believe things would change. It never did.

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    Although this school has a small amount of money, it is a great place for stunts k-5 to learn.

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    9 years ago

    We love ADS! Great teachers and staff working hard to create an amazing learning community. My kid is thriving here!

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    Ask the Community - Austin Discovery School

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