Location: Southeast Austin
Students served: K–5th grade
Current enrollment: 10 students in 2 classrooms: Lower Elementary (K–2nd grade) and Upper Elementary (3rd–5th grades). Maximum class size is 6; student-teacher ratio is 3.3 to 1. Currently, there are 3 Lower Elementary openings.
Model/philosophy: The Ammonite School incorporates a combination of Montessori Philosophy, Socratic Method, Multiple Intelligence Theory, Social Emotional Curriculum, Occupational Therapy Techniques, The Five Love Languages, and Individualized Learning.
Special features: The Ammonite School welcomes and celebrates all learners. It custom-tailors curriculum to each student based on their unique interests, learning styles, and needs while providing academic excellence and creative exploration. It is a microschool with a lovely homelike atmosphere in the classrooms and a natural, playground-style outdoor classroom. The Ammonite School also has a private greenbelt area for hikes and fishing just outside its back gate.
Schedule: 8:45am–2:45pm Monday–Thursday; follows the Austin ISD calendar
Tuition: $1,650 monthly July–April for Lower Elementary; $1,700 monthly July–April for Upper Elementary; annual enrollment fee of $500 and materials fee of $350 due at enrollment/re-enrollment
Contact: Susanne Crawford | 206-235-4270 (text or call)
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.
