Location: Dripping Springs (on the Hog Heaven property)
24905 Ranch Rd 12
Dripping Springs, TX 78620
Students served: K–8
Current enrollment: 15
Model/philosophy: An Alpha Specialty School in Dripping Springs, where students master academics by noon, then build grit, confidence, and real-world skills through adventure-based learning in the outdoors. “Classrooms don’t build leaders. The wild does.”
Special features: Located on 8 beautiful acres on the Hog Heaven Sporting Club property, Waypoint Academy uses 2-Hour Learning for Academics (using adaptive, personalized learning apps). Afternoon workshops focus on life skills like public speaking, grit, and teamwork through archery, kayaking, fishing, building, and much more!
Tuition: $30,000 per year
Contact: Kim Rodriguez, Dean of Parents | kim.rodriguez@alpha.school
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.
