Location: Southeast Austin
Students served: K–3rd grades; all children welcome!
Current enrollment: Maximum class size of 8 with 2 teachers
Model/philosophy: The Ammonite School offers individualized curriculum tailored to each student based on a combination of Montessori Philosophy, Socratic Method, Social Emotional Curriculum, The Five Love Languages, and Multiple Intelligence Theory.
Special features: The Ammonite School is a very small mixed-age classroom that welcomes all types of learners, including neurodiverse and 2E students. All learners are supported in the community; the Ammonite School works in partnership with its families to create the best possible school experience for the students. The school offers a very low student-to-teacher ratio (4:1) and rich math, language, art, science, and nature curricula. The classroom is equipped with beautiful Montessori materials as well as personalized project-driven learning opportunities.
Schedule: Follows AISD calendar; Monday–Thursday 8:45am–2:45pm
Tuition: $1,375 per month
Contact: Susanne Crawford | theammoniteschool@gmail.com | 206-235-4270
Each listing in this alphabetical directory gives you a snapshot of a small, independent, alternative school in the Austin area.
This frequently updated list spans several pages, with navigation buttons at the bottom. Clicking on the name of a school will take you to its own website. 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 in graduate school, 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.
