Strickland is the BEST! We have three sons thriving at Strickland. We have been attending this…read moreschool for six years, and each year is better than the last. Not only do we, as parents, love the biblical and accelerated education they are receiving, our children LOVE this school, as well. They feel safe, seen, loved, cared for, and poured into. The strong moral values and character that Strickland helps build up in our children is one of the greatest blessings. We get complimented on our boys' manners, humble confidence and respect for others often, and we always tell people how much Strickland has impacted them. The sports program is amazing. The academics are advanced. The teachers and staff are loving, kind and communicative. The community feels like family. Strickland is an answered prayer for our family. And we hope it will be the same for you and yours.

Strickland is an absolute answered prayer for our children! We have 3 sons attending and they are…read moreall 2 grades advanced over their peers at other schools. The bible education is exceptional, they have all memorized the name of every book of the bible in chronological order. The Sports program is excellent, after school program is too. If you are looking for an affordable conservative education for your children, do yourself a favor and book a tour, you won't be disappointed. -Daniel

This is a special gem of a place. It's filled with kind, caring compassionate people who teach your…read morekids how they learn. They have a rigorous academic environment while having fun. What a special place to learn and grow.. Truly one of a kind. And the impact on my son and our family has been life changing. The kids learn manners, kindness, friendship, & teamwork on top of the academics.

I wanted to love Magnolia. We carefully chose this program because it presented itself as a place…read morethat understood autistic children and used modern, supportive, ABA-informed practices. Unfortunately, our experience did not match those expectations. During a trial day, a young autistic child became upset after a developmentally typical frustration in a new environment. Instead of observing the calm support, co-regulation, and individualized approach we expected from a program with this stated level of expertise, we experienced a response that felt escalating rather than supportive. There were also concerns with the emotional regulation of the leading staff member, and online records that reinforced concerns related to emotional regulation and safety. The biggest concern was the disconnect between the program's stated philosophy and what we observed in practice. A moment that could have been handled as an opportunity for connection, regulation, and teaching instead left us questioning whether the environment was truly equipped to support autistic children in the way it represents, or any child. Ultimately I did not feel comfortable trusting my daughter to Magnolia. I am grateful we had the opportunity to see this before the school year began, but it was disappointing to have to reconsider so close to the start of school after believing we had found the right fit. Every child deserves a program whose practices match its promises.

We absolutely love Kirby Hall. It has been a great fit for our child, who transferred from a strong…read morepublic school that wasn't able to meet his needs academically. He came in passionate about math, art, and sports and in the time he's been at Kirby, he's grown to love history, Spanish, and drama. He's developed deeper skills as a writer and his passion for reading and discussing diverse books has expanded tremendously. His classmates are academically curious and creative: they have the opportunity to write, perform, and build for the stage each semester. Their grade-level performance yesterday was incredibly funny and sweet, definitely exceeded my expectations! Overall, Kirby Hall is academically rigorous and welcoming, the teachers and staff are kind, accessible, and open, and the athletics are inclusive, positive, competitive, and well-run by the excellent PE teacher. The teachers and staff know each child so well and work hard to bring out the best in each-- and they chat easily with parents in the hall after school. The education has inquiry-based components, and they take multiple field trips each semester. The academic offerings for upper grades are constantly evolving as they are building a thoughtful and unique middle school. Most faculty have advanced degrees. I can't imagine a better education. I'd recommend Kirby Hall to anyone looking for a well-rounded, rigorous, inspiring education for their child.

"Mom, I love Kirby Hall School! Can I go there for 3rd grade? Can I go there all the grades? How…read moremany grades to they have?" This is a direct quote from my son will doing his reading homework recently. This is the type of school experience we as parents were hopeful for, that our son would love school and enjoy his "job" as a child of learning, growing and socializing. I have never seen a school environment where the kids literally run inside in excitement to begin the day at 8:10 I may add, and have such agency and confidence walking inside. It's gratifying to see how staff support and teach kids in ways that I was petrified of or suffered through myself in school. They're on stage in front of the whole school, they make presentations to their class, they have advisory to ask for help, they are learning to read music; I didn't learn a lot of this until after college! Everyone enjoys being there and supporting one another. It's a relaxing and engaging place to be. It's only our first year and we can't believe the difference.

It is after Staar test and we still only have less than 30 minutes of free choice every day. If you…read moresend your child here, you'll regret it. Rarely any free time every day.

STEM school with a great history of taking care of kids. Peaceful atmosphere and nice teachers. We…read moreare really happy to part of this family.

Notice that some of these reviews (the bad ones) are coming from people in California. That's not…read morethe school that's being listed here - this one is in Austin, Texas. The two are not affiliated. My child attended Cedars NGIHS in Austin. He enjoyed his time there, and I liked how the teachers and administration communicated with parents. I also like that their teaching staff is much more stable than those of other charter schools in the area. My child is currently thriving in his senior year of college. Cedars prepared him very well for being inquisitive, resilient, responsible, and adaptable.

Is a great place to learn, good security guard for protection, they do PBL (Project Place Learning)…read morefor future jobs and different skills for their minds. The teachers are nice with the kids and the adults also the principal. The ladies front entrance office they nice the help with some problems but great job and they have great events for the teenager and parents

Around the time you (or your child) enters their second year of high school, the deluge of college…read moreadvertisements (and corresponding pressure) will begin. Despite the litany of standardized tests (TAKS, STAAR, or whatever child torture methods the Legislature cooks up), most students will find themselves in need of some type of tutoring to do their best on the SAT or ACT tests. Yes, this is strange, given all the emphasis on testing in the State of Texas. Yes, this is also true. Because it's a completely different test. Plenty of places offer free practice tests and evaluations to hook you in to their program, and some will come to your school to do it. After talking with our school counselors to see who they'd recommend, we decided on More Than a Teacher for their SAT prep classes. Some of the benefits: * They offer after-school prep classes at our local high school (and probably at yours, too), and give a $100 discount for students; * Along with the prep class, you can take as many practice tests as you want at one of their centers (Sat & Sun), have them scored, and if you're up for it, stick around for private tutoring afterward; * Once you've taken the course and the exam, you can take the course again for free before you retake the exam; * It's a local company run by teachers, and when you call, they know what they're talking about; * You don't have to go to the Westlake location for practice tests. They also have a north location near Oak Knoll on 183. As I always say, tests suck (especially standardized ones). But I would never try to take one without studying first.

My son did all the homework and attended all the classes. His score went down by 70 points. They…read moreare refusing to give a refund. Do NOT use this company.

I believe that when students feel loved, respected and appreciated they learn how to provide those…read moreexperiences for others later in life. My kids spent four years at WBLA/ATHLOS. They made good grades and learned many skills that will help them continue to be motivated learners and good human beings. Since we opened our doors I have been a founder, a parent, a volunteer, a donor and now an employee of the school. I've learned that growing and improving year-by-year is what we do. Many changes have taken place over the years but they all are part of growing a charter school community to be the best that it can be. I invite you to read about Jubilee academic centers San Antonio and come be a part of the AUSTIN campuses.

WBLA is going through a lot of change right now. I think in a few years the school can be great but…read moreright now they seem to be working out the kinks. The class size is not small and meets the standard maximum size. My son is currently attending WBLA and his class has the standard max size of 22 students (according to TEA). If you have a child with special requirements I would highly suggest looking elsewhere. I wanted my son to be tested for dyslexia and all I received was push back. A lot of things got ignored. I spoke with the local public school and had zero issues. For this reason I am pulling my son out of WBLA and into a Round Rock Public ISD school. We also had a lot of issues with bully's but the school handled the situation. They moved my son to a different classroom because there was a child in his current class with high auditory behavior issues. They felt it would be easier to move my child to a brand new classroom during the middle of school year cause my son would adjust better they said. Not even a month later they ended up expelling the child that was having problems. Go figure. Overall it is an ok school if your child doesn't require anything special such as gifted program, dyslexia, etc etc Update: I have since moved my child to Round Rock ISD and wow what a difference. I feel Athos standards were too harsh for young children. My son was coming home with massive amounts of homework in kindergarten. He was beginning to hate education. He dreaded going to school. They kept telling me my son was a tier 3 but refused to test him for dyslexia. Also, they were suppose to assign him a tutor but that wasn't consistent at the school so I had to hire my own private tutor. Now compare that to Round Rock ISD. My son loves going to school. Bully situations are properly handled. Within first month of school I am getting specialized testing. And my son WANTS to read. He loves school again and he isn't bombarded with homework. He wakes up excited. I hope my experience will help you along your educational path for your child. For us, going back to Public was better.

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.

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.