I dont think the staff is professional. at all. It is not good to volunteer to do anything, not…read moreall but certain staff is petty. There are great teachers but need to have better office stsff. Sorry that I had anything to do with this school. Schools like this make it hard for people to care and want to help. I think that people should do more research about the staff and school. There appears to be no type of back ground checks done so it makes a person wonder.....it has to be done for any other school district.....just things people should think about but the people that try to help and be positive are the ones that have problems all the time. When is it enough..... Dont waste your time like

it teaches you so much about black culture and where i came from im so happy that i went there.read more

My boys have gone to school here since the beginning (before they were in this location)…read more I absolutely love the setup and the attention my boys get. They've been able to excel and had more 1-on-1 help. Class sizes are smaller than regular public school classes. They definitely care about the kids. They want all the kids to succeed and push them to their academic limits. They have helped my guys get to where they are now and have been absolutely wonderful. If you are looking for a more private school setting (ie: uniforms, smaller class sizes, more academic push) check out this school.. (Or the others in the district if you live farther away.. - "Priority Charter Schools" is the name of the school system). Thanks CPCA!

My kids go to this school. I enjoy having my 4th and 8th grader in one school. The teachers are…read morehard working and dedicated, I see a real interest in the child as a whole. There has been changes but I can see they have a clear vision for where the school is going. It's been great getting to know everyone here, I volunteer at least one day a week and my husband's helping set up Watch DOGS we are certain that this is a great place for my children to learn and grow. The size of the school is wonderful, small one on one environment lends itself to close attention and real caring.

St. Mark's is an incredibly special place with long-staying teachers, a beautiful playground, a…read moreloving and close-knit community, a fun and play-based curriculum, outstanding extra-curriculars, and a Christian framework. My son is in kinder now and he is so well-prepared that his teacher asked us eagerly where he went to preschool so she could share it with other parents. My daughter is in the 3yo class this year and she has truly blossomed socially and emotionally during her time there. We've also made some great friends over the years through the St Mark's community of families. If you are looking for a sweet and loving preschool for your child, I highly recommend St. Mark's Episcopal Day School! They offer tours year round and you can get on the wait list anytime!

I highly recommend St. Mark's day school…read more The staff is incredible and we were so blessed to be with such an amazing teacher. They offer lots of after school activities ( enrichment classes ) like Spanish, cooking, piano, sports, art. They have a beautiful location with green belt hiking trails for the children. My child having access to nature is very important and they deliver. They also have a very magical play yard. My son had never attended a school or daycare and the loving and beautiful environment they offer made it a seamless transition. You will not regret sending you child to this school.

I have been at this school as a freshman back in 2024-2025. That school is not good for me because…read moreafter 10 minutes after you have use the restroom or something you have to do like the nurse for example, they can't let you in the freshman cafeteria unless they just open the doors instantly for you. Instead they just let you starve and the worst part about being on campus is that they have the big caged metal doors closed and they can't open them until lunch is over or they just open them 3 minutes after lunch is over. They used to let you have 7 minutes to get to your class, now you only have 5 minutes and if you walk from a class that is far away from your last class and the last bell just rang, they have you get a tardy and if you got 2, you would go to I.S.S.! Because how are you supposed to get to your next class from K Hall to L Hall for example and if you walk your normal speed, they make you get a tardy pass. your 2nd one will be I.S.S.! Also, I need to talk about the buses. The athletic side is okay, but when you leave the main building to get to the buses, they have the little yellow barriers to prevent you from going on the right side of the road when they are on the left side. They are not gonna be on the right side anyways because they never go there except for when they pull over and they have this sign that says "if you go under the barrier, you will get ISS or OSS (out of school suspension). Like it's just a barrier, they don't need to take it so seriously. My bus was the reason why I got home at 6 one day because the bus in the very very front wouldn't move and we had to wait at the school for nearly half an hour on the buses till the first driver moved after those 30 minutes. About the restrooms: The staff says you can't go during the first and the last 15 minutes of class. If it was an emergency, some teachers won't let you go because they have to follow the policy, which is fine, but students need to use the restroom before the 15 minute mark because they can't hold it in for too long, but guess what. They closed off all of the restrooms, even the ones in L Hall. The school's policies are just pretty depressing and unfair to be honest.

This school is not ghetto. People who do dumb actions and are highly immature make this image…read morehappen. This school and education had a great impact on my life to the point where I'm near to pursue my dream of becoming a officer. Thank you for the tips each teacher has given me.

We absolutely love Kirby Hall. It has been a great fit for our child, who transferred from a strong…read morepublic school that wasn't able to meet his needs academically. He came in passionate about math, art, and sports and in the time he's been at Kirby, he's grown to love history, Spanish, and drama. He's developed deeper skills as a writer and his passion for reading and discussing diverse books has expanded tremendously. His classmates are academically curious and creative: they have the opportunity to write, perform, and build for the stage each semester. Their grade-level performance yesterday was incredibly funny and sweet, definitely exceeded my expectations! Overall, Kirby Hall is academically rigorous and welcoming, the teachers and staff are kind, accessible, and open, and the athletics are inclusive, positive, competitive, and well-run by the excellent PE teacher. The teachers and staff know each child so well and work hard to bring out the best in each-- and they chat easily with parents in the hall after school. The education has inquiry-based components, and they take multiple field trips each semester. The academic offerings for upper grades are constantly evolving as they are building a thoughtful and unique middle school. Most faculty have advanced degrees. I can't imagine a better education. I'd recommend Kirby Hall to anyone looking for a well-rounded, rigorous, inspiring education for their child.

"Mom, I love Kirby Hall School! Can I go there for 3rd grade? Can I go there all the grades? How…read moremany grades to they have?" This is a direct quote from my son will doing his reading homework recently. This is the type of school experience we as parents were hopeful for, that our son would love school and enjoy his "job" as a child of learning, growing and socializing. I have never seen a school environment where the kids literally run inside in excitement to begin the day at 8:10 I may add, and have such agency and confidence walking inside. It's gratifying to see how staff support and teach kids in ways that I was petrified of or suffered through myself in school. They're on stage in front of the whole school, they make presentations to their class, they have advisory to ask for help, they are learning to read music; I didn't learn a lot of this until after college! Everyone enjoys being there and supporting one another. It's a relaxing and engaging place to be. It's only our first year and we can't believe the difference.

Our family loves St. Francis School (SFS, a pre-K through 8th-grade private nonprofit…read moreinterdenominational school operating for 30+ years near the ACC Highland campus in north-central Austin). After a mixed but ultimately disappointing experience in 1st - 3rd grades at a crowded, overpriced, chaotic start-up foreign language immersion school, our family needed a fresh start. Our once confident and joyful learner of a child had been reduced to an overstressed student who loathed school and struggled through hours of tedious homework each night. St. Francis provided the small, truly diverse and welcoming community environment we wanted for our child, with a balance of challenging academics, ethics reinforcement, and attention to the nurturing & development of the whole child by experienced educators who really know how to differentiate instruction to many types of learners. This approach has totally turned around our child's experience of school and his learning & achievement have skyrocketed over the past 2 years. His school grades are now more in line with his always high standardized testing results, and homework no longer comes to tears! Another parent reviewer said it well when she described the diverse and "unpretentious atmosphere" at SFS. Every imaginable demographic is represented in both the student body and faculty. People are kind and friendly and welcoming, and individual differences are celebrated. Every time I'm on campus, I just feel inspired and hopeful. Because SFS keeps class size (max of 15) and total enrollment (around 400) in check and teachers love the place so much they stay for decades, the small, cohesive "neighborhood school" feel is maintained. Huge props go to the incomparable founding head of school, Barbara Porter, who has since 1985 guided SFS on its core mission of "excellence without exclusivity." SFS backs that sentiment up by supporting 25% of the student body with scholarships and charging one of the lowest private school tuition rates in the Austin area, while consistently graduating their students into the most competitive public school magnet programs and private high schools. Another wonderfully unique feature among area private schools is the SFS Learning Center, where students with special needs can receive tutoring and additional services to support their success in school. Kids with learning differences are fully integrated into SFS classrooms and are able to thrive as part of a truly diverse school community. At the same time, a large proportion of the student body would be described as "gifted & talented," demonstrating highest performance in academics, the arts, and sports. Each Friday morning, an optional hour of "chapel" is held in which the entire student body and faculty, as well as any parents & family members who wish to attend, gather together in the gym to share an uplifting community-building and/or character-building assembly or pep rally to celebrate that month's achievements. It's not actually religious (although some religious content is shared from time-to-time; the school is named for St. Francis of Assisi, after all). The 8th-grade year culminates in a transformative Spring Break trip to Italy to visit the hometown of St. Francis (among other sites), and the kids raise all of the money for the trip themselves over the course of their years at SFS. I could say much more about all the reasons we love SFS, but if you are considering private school or are just looking for a better school for your unique learner, I encourage you to take a tour and see for yourself. Curriculum and other details are available on the school website at http://www.stfrancis-school.org.

Well run institution with a great culture…read more Pro: - Long Term: with over 35 years in operation, they've had time to build a strong program that will last through economic downturns. - Culture: teachers, students and parents are fully bought-in to the schools values (see school site for details). - Student attention: lower than average student/teacher ratios plus a dedicated, free-standing tutoring building adjacent to the school. Con: - Playground: nice but not inline with the quality of the rest of the institution. - Admissions: it's a centrally located, high quality private school in a growing city, meaning demand is high Personal lessons from our school search: After spending 12 months searching for the 'best school', we realized the importance of finding the 'best school for our child'. Initially, I was too tied up in rankings to spend the time to understand what was important for our family and how that lined up with each program. In the end, we loved the goals at St. Francis of (1) excellence without exclusivity, (2) a meaningful commitment to diversity and (3) attention to the needs of every student. Covid-19 update: School is really stepping up to deliver for students in a difficult time. The teachers are really going above-and-beyond.

We moved away from Austin to get a good education. The RRISD is top notch and McNeil High School is…read morea quality school with great teachers. Our twins have made good friends. I believe they will be prepared for college in the future.

There is an admin on the team that is quite rude. I never caught her name but she's early 30s with…read moredark hair and fair skin. I was new to subbing last semester and she has this nasty attitude and had the expectations that I would know the guest educator system. Each school runs a little differently, surprise. I saw her today to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she was just as rude as I remember. I hope she has the days she deserves coming for her. Fix your attitude or find another place to work cause it's unprofessional. I will not be subbing at this location from here on out.

Notice that some of these reviews (the bad ones) are coming from people in California. That's not…read morethe school that's being listed here - this one is in Austin, Texas. The two are not affiliated. My child attended Cedars NGIHS in Austin. He enjoyed his time there, and I liked how the teachers and administration communicated with parents. I also like that their teaching staff is much more stable than those of other charter schools in the area. My child is currently thriving in his senior year of college. Cedars prepared him very well for being inquisitive, resilient, responsible, and adaptable.

Is a great place to learn, good security guard for protection, they do PBL (Project Place Learning)…read morefor future jobs and different skills for their minds. The teachers are nice with the kids and the adults also the principal. The ladies front entrance office they nice the help with some problems but great job and they have great events for the teenager and parents