Location: South Austin
8601 S 1st St
Austin Texas 78748
Students served: Ages 2-1/2–5
Current enrollment: 12
Model/philosophy: Play-based, Reggio-inspired, relationship-centered teachers strive to understand children better and support the exploration of children's ideas, questions, wonders, and worries. School should be a good-feeling place for everyone, celebrating early childhood.
Special features: Honoring feelings and building friendships, conflict resolution, growth mindset and hands-on learning, a thoughtfully designed environment where open ended materials spark the opportunity for agentive learning through the children's own discoveries, sharing daily stories from the classroom with families, creative expression, outdoor play, sensory and movement friendly, experienced in supporting children with special needs
Schedule: 4 days per week, Monday–Thursday, 9:30am–2:30pm; largely follows AISD calendar; closed in July
Tuition: $1,050 per month for 4 days per week
Contact: Marie Catrett, Founder/Teacher/Director | 737-733-0942 | marie@tigerlilypreschool.com
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.
