Location: West + Downtown/Central Austin
PreK–5th Grade
1201 Spyglass Dr
Austin, TX 78746
6th–8th Grade (colocated with Alpha High School)
201 Colorado St
Austin, TX 78701
Students served: PreK–8
Current enrollment: 160+; rolling admissions for the current school year, with small class sizes for personalized attention
Model/philosophy: Alpha School Austin is a mastery-based, self-paced private program that use adaptive/AI-powered learning for core academics. Students typically complete rigorous coursework in about 2–3 hours per day, then spend afternoons in guide-led workshops and project work that emphasize practical life skills and goal-setting.
Special features: Guide mentoring and motivation models; life-skills workshops (e.g., public speaking/storytelling, personal finance, entrepreneurship). Alpha School Austin also builds significant outdoor time into the day (weather permitting).
Schedule: 8:15am–4pm, Monday–Friday (drop-off 8:15–8:30am; pickup 3:30–4pm). Morning academics are designed to be completed efficiently, followed by afternoon workshops/projects. General term calendar: August–June.
Tuition: $40,000 per year; $1,000 non-refundable deposit; 5% sibling discount (second child and beyond); 10 equal monthly payments (Aug–Jun) option.
Contact: admissions.austin@alpha.school | (512) 595-0801
Each listing in this alphabetical directory gives you a snapshot of a small, secular, independent, alternative school in the Austin area.
Hover over and click on a school’s name at the top of its listing to open the school’s website in a new tab. This frequently updated list spans several pages, with navigation buttons at the bottom. 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 an adult, 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.
