Are the Schools Good in Austin?

In this article, we at Austin Texas Homes have covered the following:

• Public Schools

• Private Schools

• Homeschooling

Public Schools

The public schools in the Austin area vary in their ratings. The Texas Education Agency, or TEA, rates Texas schools using a four-level system. The levels are, from best to worst:

1. Exemplary

2. Recognized

3. Academically Acceptable

4. Academically Unacceptable

The following table shows the number of schools in each district that received each rating in the year 2006:

District Name	Location	Number Exemplary	Number Recognized	Number Acceptable	Number Unaccept-able
Austin	Central Austin, North Austin, South Austin, and Southwest Austin	6	23	67	6
Del Valle	Far south and southeast Austin	0	2	7	0
Dripping Springs	Far Southwest of Austin	1	3	0	0
Eanes	Westlake Hills area, and to the west of Westlake Hills	8	1	0	0
Georgetown	Georgetown, north of Round Rock, far north of Austin	1	8	5	0
Hutto	North of Pflugerville, far northeast of Austin	0	0	4	0
Lago Vista	North of Lake Travis, far northwest of Austin	0	3	0	0
Lake Travis	South of Lake Travis, far west of Austin	3	2	2	0
Leander	Northwest of Austin	3	13	7	0
Liberty Hill	North of Leander, far northwest of Austin	0	3	1	0
Manor	East Austin	0	0	2	3
McDade	East Austin	0	0	1	0
Pflugerville	Pflugerville, northeast of Austin	1	8	13	0
Round Rock	Round Rock, north and slightly northwest of Austin	8	20	12	0
Taylor	North of Pflugerville, far northeast of Austin	0	0	4	0

To make sense of these numbers, we tried to find the "average" rating for schools in each district. To do that, we at Austin Texas Homes have used the following formula:

(Number of exemplary schools x 4) +

(Number of recognized schools x 3) +

(Number of acceptable schools x 2) +

(Number of unacceptable schools) = Number of rating points

Then, we divided the number of rating points by the number of schools. So, for example, the rating for Austin Independent School District looked like this:

(6 * 4) + (23 * 3) + (67 * 2) + 6 = 233

233 / 102 = 2.3

So, Austin ISD's average rating is between the Academically Acceptable and Recognized ratings. Using this system, the school districts can be ranked as follows:

School District	Rating
Eanes	3.9
Dripping Springs	3.3
Lake Travis	3.1
Lago Vista	3
Round Rock	2.9
Leander	2.8
Liberty Hill	2.8
Georgetown	2.7
Pflugerville	2.5
Austin	2.3
Del Valle	2.2
Hutto	2
McDade	2
Taylor	2
Manor	1.4

Using this system, 3-4 points is between Exemplary and Recognized, 2-3 points is between Recognized and Academically Acceptable, and 1-2 points is between Academically Acceptable and Academically Unacceptable.

For reviews of local schools in Austin, check out www.greatschools.net.

Private Schools

The website www.ceoaustin.org has information on many Austin private schools, as does austinprivateschools.com.

Homeschooling

Austin is home to many homeschoolers, and has an active homeschooling community, with many homeschooling groups of religious and secular nature. In fact, my wife and I homeschool our three children.

If you homeschool, or are interested in homeschooling in Austin, the following resources can help you get "plugged into" Austin's homeschooling community:

Arbor Homeschool Group

A Yahoo group for homeschoolers in the Arboretum area of Austin.

Austin Area Homeschoolers Yahoo Group

A large, inclusive group with park days and many other activities.

Austin Area Homeschoolers Website

This website for AAH has information on the group, and also a free guide for those new to homeschooling in Austin.

Austin Home Base

A part-time school for homeschoolers who want a balance between private school and homeschooling.

CHEACT

A Christian homeschooling group, affiliated with CHEA, a national Christian homeschooling organization.

C.S. Lewis Hall

A Christian, part-time school for the homeschooled. A university model school in east central Austin.

Holy Family Homeschoolers

A homeschooling group for those of the Catholic faith, but also inviting anyone else who wishes to be included.

The Homeschool Source

A local library just for homeschoolers! Austin-owned and operated.

Learning without Limits

An inclusive group of homeschoolers mainly in the Williamson County area.

Round Rock H.O.M.E.

A group for Christian homeschoolers in the Round Rock area.

Smoothing the Way

A group that attempts to help new homeschoolers get started. Answers questions, leads you to resources, and introduces you to other homeschoolers.

Veritas Academy

Another Christian university model school in southwest Austin.

Source for Statistics

All statistics come from the Texas Education Agency's website, http://www.tea.state.tx.us/