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!

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

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.

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.

Absolutely disorganized and not accountable at all. Was sick the first week of school but ended up…read moregoing Friday, went to every single class and the office during that day. By monday, my entire school id and and email was deleted. Every teacher and class that I had gone to and seen that day counted me absent after having conversation with them all. They said i was unenrolled for not showing up or leaving a note, but we I had showed up Friday and Left a doctors note for the week prior on Monday. Office staff had a very rude tone on phone and didnt help with anything in any sort of way.

I'm only rating the track at the school, not the school itself!…read more The track is great and already almost full stars for just being open to the public. There is an amazing view of the downtown skyline from the track and it's right next to the river. What a neat place for a high school. The track is standard and enough surrounding light at night that you can see where you're going. Ample parking along the street and parking lot so it's all very convenient.

Really great track and tennis courts available to the public after 5pm on weekdays dueing the…read moreschool year (and open all day during the summer and winter breaks). The tennis courts are all in great condition and include a nice wall area with half courts behind it for individual practice. The courts are popular after work hours, but there is an hour limit on play if there is a line of other players waiting. They can also be reserved in advance for private events or tournaments. My one complaint about the track and courts is that there aren't waterfountains or restrooms that are easily accessible. The johnson creek restrooms under the mopac bridge are close but still a bit of a walk. Be sure to bring plenty of your own water during the summer.

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.

We love the Huntington-Surrey School. It is what school should be! The teachers at HS love teaching…read morethere because they can enjoy their profession, without worrying about huge class sizes or standardized testing. Very small class sizes ensure that nobody gets left behind. This is a quality not quantity place. The school has a wonderful, caring environment and we are thrilled that we discovered it.

Huntington Surrey has provided an excellent education to my daughter during her four years of…read moreattendance. The most striking feature of the school is the very small class size and the extraordinary personal attention that each child receives from the school's devoted staff. Nearly all of the teachers have taught at the school for a long period of time. Dr. German has operated the school since the 70's, and has a masterful knowledge of how to work with high school students. Without fail, I found each teacher and advisor to be fully committed to my daughter's education, and meticulous in their assessment of strenghs and weaknesses. More importantly, these teacher had the time to dovetail the curriculum to the needs so carefully determined. I have no doubt that my daughter's success relied upon this very unique approach to education. This small, nurturing environment has afforded my daughter a very enriching high school experience. She blossomed at Huntington Surrey. She leaves well prepared for college, and with happy memories of her high school years. For this, I am very grateful to the school, and to its remarkably-devoted faculty.

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

My ASD son has never been as happy as he is in this school....we did the public school, Catholic…read moreschool, French school. We did everything and then we found....THIS AWESOME SCHOOL . He is happy and engaged. He is growing as a person and as a productive member of society. All good.

Education is important to me. I have degrees in pure math and computer science. I have taught math…read moreat private, public, and charter schools, at universities, and in a prison. I waited three years on the wait list for my first child to attend the UT Lab School or Priscilla Pond Flawn Child and Family Research Laboratory. She thrived there. Once she was too old to attend the lab school, she enrolled in a public elementary school. She spent a month there as I watched her spirit dim. I was afraid to try something as radical as Clearview Sudbury, but it seems radical was necessary. My daughter is becoming a real person who can think her own thoughts. She decides what values are important to her. She learns about herself. She learns from other students and staff of all ages, and they learn from her. The staff at the school treat her with respect. They are able to give her their attention and to truly see her because they are not distracted and kept busy by an endless check list. She asks me how to use correct grammar, and I show her. She asks staff how to calculate taxes, and they show her. She asks me how multiplication works, and I show her. She asks staff if her friend's sketchy story about giant caterpillars is true, and they learn about caterpillars together. The girl knows more about life cycles of different species than I ever knew. I am no longer worried that she will be at a disadvantage. It is clear to me that she is on the best path I can provide her. In addition to this, I have immense trust in the staff at Clearview. I trust them with my daughter's psyche, emotions, and abilities to communicate and use logic.