Education system in US is very different when compared to India. In India you can send your kids to any school that you want. But in the US, depending on the community that you live in, schools are assigned to you.

The idea is to assign students to schools such that all of the kids from a community goes to the same school. Also a part of the property tax that you pay goes towards the development of the school that is assigned to your community.

So houses in a community with best assigned schools are always in demand. Always check the assigned schools before you buy a house in any community. Mostly for Indians, education is very important. We always want to give “the best education” to our kids.

So the first step towards that is to find a very good elementary school where the kids study from 1st grade to 5th grade. In this article I will go over top 10 elementary schools in Austin based on various aspects like ranking, programs they offer, community from where the students come in etc.,

Let me go over some of the programs in elementary schools that add to the regular curriculum. For some parents, how well a school supports these programs could add to the attractiveness of the school. The main aim of all these programs is to make kids enjoy and work the mind at the same time learn to collaborate with other kids and build social skills. Some of these programs are

Destination Imagination: DI is a US-based, international program to promote creativity, problem-solving skills, and team work within children. It is based on the concept of making kids think that there is more than one way to solve a problem. Each team consists of seven students with a volunteering parent to make sure they stay on track but don’t help them directly to solve the DI challenge. Until 2nd grade this is a noncompetitive challenge and then it progresses to State and Global level competition.

Math Pentathlon: Math Pentathlon is cooperative, volunteer based clubs where kids engage in interactive math games that help develop problem solving skills along with math fluency, spatial concepts, computational concepts, and logical reasoning. Your child will learn to compete and build confidence alongside their peers in a fun environment while also reinforcing good sportsmanship. This requires parent involvement to make sure that kids stay on track.

Camp read: This enables children to read better, it is a volunteer program that strives to increase the reading confidence in students.

There are several others like robotics, expression, cooking programs, web designing programs, gaming programs etc. Check your elementary school website to see what all they offer. One thing to bear in mind is all these require parent’s involvement. Each school has their own set of programs and that is what makes it a better school than others.

Now let us start looking into the top 10 Elementary schools for Indian kids in Austin based on 2014 ranking and why they are really good:

Canyon Creek El: This school is rated as exemplary and is part of Round Rock ISD. Apart from the curriculum, they offer a lot of enrichment programs. Most of these programs target 4th and 5th grade students and they help them be an all-rounder. They also have a multi-cultural fair that helps students to understand about others culture. All houses in Canyon Creek community feeds into this school. Whites and Asians form the major population in this school. Parents who send their kids to this school have nothing but good things to say about it. To know more about this school check out their website here – Canyon Creek Elementary.

Laurel Mountain El: This school is also under Round Rock ISD. A part of Great Hills community feed into this school. Parents praise this school so much and they say that kids never complained to go to school. The community that feeds into this school is very good and I know some people personally who live in this community. This school has predominantly Asians and Whites. This school offers enrichment programs and calls them clusters. To know more about the school, check out their website Laurel Mountain Elementary

Spicewood El: Many people love this school. Spice wood community houses feed into this school. This elementary school is rated very well and they offer a variety of programs. This is also a part of Round Rock ISD. This school has predominantly Asians and Whites. They have something called IB program, this helps in all round development of the kids. They also have Robotics, hour of code, etc. To know more about the school check this website Spicewood elementary

Lake way El: This school is under Lake Travis ISD. Falcon Head west, Bella Colinas and other communities on 71W feed into this school. The school has a bilingual program and also bully prevention program. They have a very well designed site which explains about the extended day programs as well. Check this website to know more Lake Travis Elementary

Elsa England El: This is a fairly new school (started 2012 school year) also under Round Rock ISD. They have established a reputation for good school within a short time frame. Houses from a part of Avery Ranch community feeds into this school. An exemplary school and they have a lot of clubs and enrichment program. Whites and Asians form the major population in this school. They also have channa masala in their café menu ? To know more about this school check here Elsa England Elementary

Clayton El: This is part of the Austin ISD schools. This is one of the best elementary school in south Austin. They have very good programs to offer. I live in South Austin and have heard a lot of positive reviews about this school. Circle C community feeds into this school. It has predominantly White population with a good number of Asians as well. Check out this website for more information Clayton elementary

Patsy Sommer El: An exemplary school under Round rock ISD. A part of Avery Ranch community and Ranch and Brushy creek community feeds into this school. The major population of this school is also Whites and Asians. There are several clubs in this school check the list here to promote extra-curricular and leadership skills. To know more about this school check here Patsy Sommer Elementary

Baldwin El: This school is a part of the Austin ISD. Circle C community and Ridgeview community feeds into this school. This is relatively a newer school. They have a program called ”Reflections” where the students from preschool to 5th grade can submit their artistic works on any of these categories dance, choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts on a specific theme. This program is sure to bring out the creative side of the kids. To know more about this school check their website Baldwin Elementary

Kathy Caraway: This is part of the Round Rock ISD. They offer an “Online reading intervention Program” for kids from 3rd to 5th grade and they call it “I Station” which I think is a pretty good program. They provide a lot of support for students struggling in Math through the program “Think through Math”. A part of Great Hills community in Austin feeds into this school. The principal Katrina Bailey is amazing and is loved by all. Mostly White and Asian population seen in this school. To know more about this school check their website Kathy Caraway Elementary

Barton Creek El: Barton Creek El: Eanes ISD has the top ranked schools in Austin. This school is a part of Eanes ISD. Houses in Westlake Hills, Senna Hills feed into this community. They have very interesting programs like Math superstars, Science Fair programs, typing club etc. Usually all houses around this community are more expensive than average Austin home price and pretty rich kids could come here to study. They have no home work Wednesday and late start Thursdays which many people like. To know more about this school click here Barton Creek Elementary

Hope this list gave you a good starting point in your search for a great school.