Location: South Austin
(Slaughter Lane between Menchaca and South 1st)
Students served: Ages 6–11
Current enrollment: Rolling admissions; 15 students max
Model/philosophy: Villagers Microschool offers a secular, family-supportive environment where elementary-age kids will build a solid academic foundation (including literacy, handwriting, math, and public speaking) along with life skills like meal planning, time management, financial planning, etiquette, property stewardship, entrepreneurial skills, environmental conservation, and social/emotional literacy.
Special features: Hosted in a large, homey location conducive to learning about how to fix things around the house and upkeep the yard; students help prepare daily meals and snacks, included in the tuition; 3- or 5-day schedule options available (or 2-day options for homeschool families who strongly align); regular one-on-one mentoring; parent coworking space onsite; nonviolence and moderation focus; combination of structured and unstructured learning; community and parent-supportive events
Schedule: 9am–3pm; Monday through Friday or Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.; school year runs from late August to late May
Tuition: 5-day option $12,000 per year; 3-day option $8,500 per year; discounts available for siblings and/or lump sum payments; see website for details
Contact: Meredith Orf, Founder | meredith@villagersmicroschool.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.
