This school has been a miracle for my teen. My child had gotten so sick from the issues that…read moretroubled them in public school that we were desperate for other options. We wanted to do a private school that would give us a little more control over our child's environment, but we didn't want a stressful academically competitive school or a religious school. ATI ticks all the boxes for us. My child comes home from school EVERY day, excited to share what they are learning. They are allowed the freedom to really get into some subjects and coursework that keeps them completely enthralled with learning more. My child is dyslexic and this school has been wonderful at accomodations for this. Prior to ATI, my child refused to read books unless forced to and now they are asking for books to read for fun, in addition to being ahead of their schedule for their required reading. The teachers and staff really, really care about helping my child be a good and decent human and I never feel that we are just a number or a dollar sign. They have taken the time to learn who my child is and have tailored their education around that to make it fun to learn. It is conveniently centrally located on Airport Blvd and is such a kind and warm community. It's a small school but this means my child gets a ton of personalized teaching and also that it is quiet. Public school, with it's bells, drills, and chaotic passing periods was really stressful for my teen but ATI is so much less sensory overload. I never regret making the change to ATI. It's worth every cent and I honestly feel that it has truly saved the life of my child, who was just so depressed at public school. It's a quality, personalized education that has brought out and enhanced all the lovely beautiful things I love about my kid. It is also SAFE. If I have an issue, the teachers and staff listen and act. We have a relationship and there is excellent communication. I don't worry when I drop them off at school if they will be hurt. That feeling of knowing they are safe is priceless.

I cannot speak highly enough of our experience at ATI! Our middle schooler was slipping through the…read morecracks in public school after the pandemic. ATI provided him with the individual attention to move him from surviving to thriving! It's like seeing a whole new kid, who is engaged and learning in a truly supportive environment. ATI has been a lifesaver for us! K. Landgraf

My teen is in their second year at Griffin and we feel so grateful for this school. The staff is…read moreamazing and have been so supportive. I feel they genuinely care about my child and they are very responsive. It is also really wonderful to have a place where kids are encouraged to be themselves. The education is also top notch - challenging, but not overloading kids with homework and busywork. Class sizes are very small and teachers get to know each child.

You know how sometimes you think it would be fun to try a new hobby but then decide it's equally…read morefun and less trouble to have drinks with friends instead? Art+Wine night provides a solution to this dilemma. Show up with your favorite wine and whatever art skills you do (or don't) possess and Natalya will provide all the supplies and knowledge you need to paint something worthy of displaying in your home. The website shows the project that will be taught on each date so you can pick and choose which nights you want to sign up for. The classes are small which allows Natalya to give everyone individualized instruction. I've been to four Art+Wine nights and I see SO much improvement since my first painting! I had never used oil paint and after taking a 2 session oil class I left with a legit fruit bowl painting. Artists of all skill levels come to Art+Wine night and everyone learns something new or improves their technique. It's a great way to spend a Friday night and accomplish something while drinking!

We were considering Redeemer for our 2 children and thought the school seemed like it had a strong…read morecommunity and curriculum. My wife was raised Lutheran and was looking for a church in Austin to become part of and to teach our kids about her religion (we are an interfaith family, I am Jewish). We did a tour with Beth Knippa and sent our oldest for a shadow day after submitting an application. My child had an OK experience but said "other kids couldn't follow directions" (we were also told by faculty on pick up that my child followed directions and participated better than current students). We later got an e-mail from Beth asking how it went which I responded to positively and a short follow up later saying Redeemer "was not the proper learning environment for them". After the feedback we'd received so far this was surprising so we e-mailed Beth to ask if she could provide more context on their decision. She adamantly refused to provide any additional information (after my child had spent the entire day there and my wife did a follow up meet and greet with my younger child). Overall, it seems like interfaith families are out for the school - of course they couldn't cite that specifically (even if you're actively looking for a church community and 1/2 raised in the faith). Typically I wouldn't post an online review but both my wife and I were appalled by the lack of transparency in their decision which leads us to believe a lack of openness in the community to families from different backgrounds. We're still considering churches/a school that are the best fit for our kids and in hindsight are relieved that Redeemer made their true colors known early. It's certainly not the welcoming Christian community we'd hoped for.

I have been a proud Redeemer parent for 7 years now. Our sons (Pk and 2nd grade) are known, loved,…read morechallenged to grow, allowed to be kids, and are thriving in this great environment. We couldn't be more thankful for each staff member who has poured into our boys over the years!!!

Very friendly staff. Good seats. I am seeing H.M.S Pinnacle. It's a quaint theater.It was cool that…read morethey had a pre Talk. I learned a lot about this show from director and actresses. It is relevant to today. The director directed it 80 times. It's interesting.

Actually the most ass school ever bro They took our hour…read morelong lunch for a useless fucking advisory period and they used to have this lady that would look over stall doors to catch kids vaping as an assistant principal. Half of the teachers hate their job and no one knows why they're still here bc teachers get paid nothing... don't send your kids here

Yummy school food Mean kids…read moreWeird teachers Good memes Wendy near Is this long enough huh yelp?

I attended this school some years ago, and it was, and still is, a joke. Will you get a better…read moreeducation here than in public schools? Maybe in regards to math. But will your child leave here better off and prepared for the life ahead of them? No chance. The school is a sheltered island that practices borderline cult-esque ideals of religion and tries to indoctrinate students with a perspective of 'how the world should be' but completely fails to prepare them for how the world actually is. For all the heavily religious people out there, consider this. Roughly half of the students I know who attended Hyde Park no longer believe in God and directly point to this school as one of the primary reasons. I've never been religious but if I was that would be a horrifying statistic to me. And for those who are not religious, this isn't because the school promotes open minded thinking but rather is so far down the evangelical black hole that it ruins religion for most. Oh and if you actually care about the education aspect (which most parents at this school do not and are primarily focused on religion), check where their graduates go to college. The majority of them go to small, relatively obscure colleges because the school is not focused on education, but primarily religion. Students who attend a private school and pay for an elite education should not be struggling to get into Texas A&M if they're just outside of the automatic admit percentile. Yikes. Glad I graduated from a different school.

Since Chris Coy has taken over, this school has zero stability. The turnover on principals,…read moreassistant principals, and teachers is out the roof. They cannot keep teachers on board and they are hiring teachers who are providing poor quality instruction. AP passing rates are terrible. They have continuously increased tuition while creating bogus positions at the school and investing nothing in providing high quality teaching and trying to improve AP passing rates. There are minimal dual credit options for the students. Tuition gets increased and there's zero transparency about it; you find out about the increases when you renew your student's spot at the school. By that time, it's too late to switch schools. Everybody is at a director level position. We now have an Athletic Director for the upper school, an AD for the lower school, and two assistant ADs...for a school this small. Wasted tuition funds paid by parents to fund unnecessary positions, many of which are being filled by unqualified people. There has also been a huge turnover with the coaching staff across multiple sports. They've hired on Phil Dawson as the head football coach. His wife and son are also paid hires at the school. His son is a college kid contributing very little, but on the payroll. His wife, Shannon, is unqualified for the position she was given. Her work history is being a backup singer and writing devotionals. She's now being paid to hold the Director of Athletic Advancement role, and they've even given her an assistant, both of whom are basically doing team mom roles but now getting paid for it. Shannon leads a bible study for women at that school, but she is one of the rudest and nastiest women you will ever meet. Her assistant has talked terrible about kids playing on the lacrosse team. Incredibly negative and rude about other people's kids...even a kid who had signed to play D1 sports. The Dawson clan has come on board and they are cleaning house to create what they want at that school. Total chaos, negativity, and selfish motivations. They fired the softball coach for no reason, the girls basketball coach quit with no notice, and the football staff turnover and boys basketball staff turnover is up. They fired one football/conditioning coach for drug possession and sent out a lengthy note to parents about zero tolerance. A few months later, he was walking the halls again, coaching, and teaching a conditioning class for all athletes in all sports. Zero communication by our so-called Head of School to explain how they went from "he's fired, zero tolerance" to he's back on board in a full time position with direct contact with the students. They removed the Athletic Director and put him into a made up role of Culture and Connection and handed over the reigns to Dawson as the new AD. A second director role for Culture and Connection was also created. The CFO was replaced with someone else before she was even told she was being fired. It's just a disgrace. The Christian curriculum is subpar. There is no focus on how to live in the world but not be of the world. They have gotten so caught up in building a business...they accept troubled kids who have filled that school full of drugs. I am all about accepting trouble kids but it has to be within the means of the school being able to manage, but there is no plan on how to guide these kids once they accept them. They bring them in with no oversight or plan on how to get them back on track...it's just about getting that tuition check. The ones who are relatively on the straight and narrow get pulled into the drugs and poor choices. There are a few excellent staff at that school, but that number has dwindled to hardly any over the past few years. I have never seen such a poorly run institution. Poor leadership and decision-making causes such chaos. At this point, it's all about the money. I pray they regain a focus on investing in the souls of their students and families and that their actions begin to reflect the Word of God.

Had to google this to leave my review, that's how bad it is. But glad to see there are others…read more The boys are ok. The girls are exceptional. Meanwhile in this society boys get five stars for existing, while girls get a mediocre applause for being exceptional. I'm so sick of this shit. Why do the choir ladies fawn on the boys so much? It's sick. Every director or other person who is presenting always talks about how the boys are their favorite. They literally say that. To the point that you were BOOed by the audience while praising the boys as your favorite. The audience is done - are you even listening? Can we please stop coddling the boys and finally give the girls the recognition they deserve?

Terrible! I agree with "Lauryn D". The dress code is really stupid and the new assistant principal…read morehas been dress coding people in front of the whole school in a rude way. I do not like the new assistant principal. She is really rude and strict. Also last year there was a teacher who broke a kid's personal device because he was playing in class (he shouldn't have been, but the teacher overreacted). I think the school could be way better. The last thing is on the bus, you have to sit in assigned seats. Our bus driver asked us who we wanted to sit with, then purposely didn't put us with our friends. Also, one time I had my leg in the aisle and she immediately put me all alone in the front of the bus.

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.

This idea school was much more pleasant to sub at then a lot of the other schools. Teachers always…read moreleft instructions. It's a very clean school and the administration was always helpful. Bonus: school starts at 7:30 instead of 7:15 and they behind dismissal at 2:45 instead of 3:30+