Location: near SH 130 & Cameron Road
5530 Killingsworth Lane
Pflugerville, TX 78660
(transportation provided from North Central Austin)
Students served: K through 6th grade
Current enrollment: 36
Model/philosophy: Educating for Human Greatness and Nature-Based Integrated Thematic Instruction
Special features: Democratic approach; relevant, place-based, independent and collaborative study projects that help students learn how to think rather than what to think; reading, writing, and math taught as tools of inquiry; community stewardship; focus on connecting to the natural world; 7.28-acre campus with a natural running creek, gardening, and farm animals. This year the integrated theme is “Come Together.”
Schedule: Monday–Friday 8:30am–3:30pm (drop-off begins at 8am, pick-up ends at 3:45pm); September–May
Tuition: $9,000 per year plus enrollment fee
Contact: Cristine East, Director of Admissions | cristine@insideoutsideschool.org | www.insideoutsideschool.org/contact-us.html
Each listing in this alphabetical directory gives you a snapshot of a small, independent, alternative school in the Austin area.
This frequently updated list spans several pages, with navigation buttons at the bottom. Clicking on the name of a school will take you to its own website. To easily find schools by geographical area, see our Alt Ed Maps page. If you know of a school that’s missing from this directory, please drop a note here, and see Alt Ed Austin’s criteria for “alternative” and “school.” You may also be interested in our directories of other recommended schools (which are mostly larger or more specialized or religiously oriented), as well as special programs for children and adults.
Full disclosure: Alt Ed Austin founder Teri Sperry has ties with several of the schools listed on this site. Her child, now in graduate school, attended two of them years ago. She has friends who direct, teach at, or are otherwise involved in others. Some programs choose to advertise from time to time on Alt Ed Austin as Sponsoring Partners. She firmly believes that all of the schools featured on this site (including the ones to which she has no personal connection and those from which she receives no advertising fees) are good choices for some kids, each for different reasons.
