Location: Leander
9 East Windemere
Leander, Texas 78641
Students served: Accepting 5th–10th graders for the 2024–2025 school year
Current enrollment: 19 students. Maximum enrollment before waitlisting: 24. For 2024–2025, the school added a 9th and 10th grade and will add a high school grade each year through 12th. Maximum student:teacher ratio of 1:12.
Model/philosophy: The Academic Orchard is an inclusive, Montessori-inspired upper elementary and adolescent environment that seeks to support students in their academic and artistic pursuits. The goal of The Academic Orchard is to trajectory students in the full-time middle and early high school program into an Austin Community College dual enrollment program while they are in high school. The school offers an extensive outdoor program that integrates a large orchard and garden into the daily curriculum in addition to a state-of-the-art Makerspace and Arts program.
Special features: 5-acre private wooded campus with Brushy Creek integrated on campus; large mature permaculture-designed orchard and garden located on campus and integrated into the program; located on the corner of Ronald Reagan and 2243; Montessori adolescent farm school; certified skilled teachers; 4-day school week with 1- or 2-week breaks between units; ACC co-enrollment support for high school program; college preparedness; STEM magnet; students are outdoors frequently for play and sport; includes an integrated Makerspace program with laser cutter, resin art, watercolor and other fine arts, and use of other cutting-edge art and education materials
Schedule: Monday–Thursday 9am–3:30 pm. 2024–2025 school year begins Aug 19, ends May 23, and includes some holidays and 1- and 2-week breaks between units of study, with May 27–29 reserved as potential make-up days.
Tuition: $10,050 per year ($75 per day) with a $75 per unit supply fee (6 units per year)
Contact: Randie Piscitello, Director | 512-576-9625 | randie@academicorchard.org
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 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.
