Travis Heights Elementary School

I've been involved with school for 4 years as my son attends the school. I volunteer as a math tutor as well. Its a good school, that cares about the kids.Ms. Robertson is a very good as well as caring administrator. The school, has recently become a charter school, giving the community and opportunity to make local choices for our children.
—Submitted by a parent

Travis Heights Elementary School provides the outstanding level of education and careness. This is an excelent school. Love it

Excellent teachers and course works!! I am so proud of having my kids attending at Travis Heights school due to sincerely treating kids, various education programs and very supportive faculties. Especially, I love they have multicultural education programs.
—Submitted by a parent

Last year my son started school here at Travis Heights. I absolutely fell in love with his kindergarten teacher, Ms. Mrowca. She was loving and encouraging as well as structured and firm when needed. She had some very difficult students in her class and worked very hard to both be firm with them and to find things to encourage in them. She was very open to talking with the parents and very understanding when I discovered some visual problems my son was having. She was always enthusiastic about helping to make the classroom a good space for him to learn. Really, all of the kindergarten teachers are great! Now that my son is in first grade, he is in the dual language program. I have enjoyed that Spanish is a challenge to him as most everything else comes very easily to him. Not every single teacher at the school is as amazing as Ms. Mrowca, but I cannot imagine a school where that isn't the case. I have recently spoken with a parent with a child now in the magnet program at Kealing, and she felt like THES prepared her son very well, better, in fact, than some other elementary schools prepared their students. I found this quite encouraging to hear.
—Submitted by a parent

I am thrilled with THES' Dual-Language Program. My daughter's Kinder teachers are both native speakers from Chile. Aside from providing my child with constant exposure to Spanish (she has Science in Spanish daily and Mon and Wed/alternate Fridays are Spanish days), they are remarkable instructors who respond with a great balance of humor, nurturance, and structure. I initially was concerned with the amount of (or lack of) outdoor time (i.e., recess). But being involved in the school community, I see that the children are moving a lot throughout the day (learning with music through stand-up choreographed movements, working on various stations, changing classroom - library, art, p.e., music, Korean class - yes, they are the only school that has a third language!) My daughter loves walking to and from school with the neighbors and I've seen our community strengthen across Socio-Ecoomic lines and individual differences. THES is incredibly unique and flourishing to be one of the most diverse and innovative campus. If you are in doubt, just spend some time visiting the campus. Volunteer in the library - walk the halls. See for yourself. It's very honest and authentic.
—Submitted by a parent

as we enter our fourth year at THES, i look forward to continuing our relationship with the forward thinking staff, administration and educators. the children here are happy. with excellent parental involvement, during school hours and outside of school hours, the students feel the community is on their side. the teachers welcome this involvement and the students benefit greatly. so many teachers spend weekends and after school hours assisting any child who needs that bit extra. knowing that each student continues their education outside of school hours, the parent support specialist as well as teachers and administration offer encouragement and resources to parents so that they may help their reach for more.
—Submitted by a parent

They serve many students below the poverty level and their principal, Lisa Robertson, cares deeply about the success of her students.tr

This is our son's third year at THE and we're honestly beginning to wonder why we even bothered putting him on the transfer list. Coming from a Montessori preschool program, it was an easy transition b/c his Kindergarten teacher was fantastic. That said, his 1st grade teacher was obviously burned out and spent so much of her time either yelling at her students or out sick. This was the first year our son has ever come home from school consistently telling us that he "hates school". This year, he's in the "new" dual language program. He's given a 10 page homework packet to take home and instead of engaging students, his teacher gives the kids busywork packets to do all day. Mediocrity abounds. THE is frankly no different than the rest of the district. No better, no worse.
—Submitted by a parent

My Daughter just started Kindergarten here. I must say she is having a ball and is challenged. I was really worried that as a precocious, spirited child who requires tight, loving boundaries to thrive, wouldn't get them and would be labeled "trouble". Instead we are delighted that her energy, desire to lead and learn is being lovingly directed and challenged with appropriate demands. The diverse environment is exactly the environment we wanted to encourage empathy, open-mindedness, etc that will set her up for smooth success in this ever changing world. Overall, the principle, PTA, and especially the teachers, are committed and skilled enough to provide every student the love, support and challenge they need and deserve. We are a proud "Thunderbird" family!!.
—Submitted by a parent

I absolutely love Travis Heights and it's teachers. I would really like to live closer to work, but because I want to keep the kiddo in this school, we will be remaining in this part of Austin until he has completed the 5th grade. My son was in their PPCD program and has transitioned to 'regular' ed. The entire way, his teachers from both PPCD and Kinder have been phenomenal. His resource teacher (helps him with reading, math, and writing) goes above and beyond the call of duty to help my kiddo. She has accomplished things with him that I didn't think he was capable of or that he would even be capable of anytime soon. The administrative staff is wonderful and supportive. I've had nothing but great experiences with Travis Heights and I just feel so lucky that we found a great school on the first try.
—Submitted by a parent

I think this school is awesome it is my daughters 1st year and we were going through alot with the economy they made my daughter and myself so very comfortable they take pride in there students and there ability to learn I am greatful they r the school I chose for my daughter her teacher mrs.chavez is amazing... the entire staff..
—Submitted by a parent

Great shcool, teachers and administration!!!

we transferred in from far south austin. i am sooo pleased with the experience my child is getting. the small school, the intimate environment, the strong involvement of parents, and the willingness of the teaching staff and administrators to incorporate their assistance has made me feel 100% sure of the decision i made to send my child here.
—Submitted by a parent

We are finishing our first year here and it's been a mixed experience. The year started out good, but it's been an eye opener these past months. If you go here and want your kids to have a good experience you're going to have to work for it. It's a big school. Twice is demanded of every parent with a child at THE and that's still not enough. I don't appreciate the looks from parents when I can't be there everyday or the air of entitlement because some are there more than others. Some people at the school forget that some of us have to work and still earn a living and they take their frustration out in negative ways that don't help the kids.
—Submitted by a parent

Travis Heights has so many qualities that make it one of the top schools in the city as far as I'm concerned. This school is located in the heart of Austin near Congress Avenue. The student body reflects the city's population with a mixture of culture and economic backgrounds. The energy within the school is so positive. The teachers and staff are vested and take pride in their students. Because of the diverse population, teachers are challenged with keeping curriculum engaging. It's not a school where regurgitaing information from a text book is the norm. If you haven't visited the school, try a Friday morning assembly where the 'Thunderbird' band cranks up and rocks the students with the school song. It's truly an experience!
—Submitted by a parent

I have two children. I have a child currently attending THE and am very satisfied with her educational progress. One now in middle school is very successful academically, partly because her early foundation at THE. This school is quite diverse and is very accepting, but is not for everyone. One of the benefits of this school is the awesome community that has formed around relationships developed at the school, for both children and parents. I suppose someone living in our neighborhood with children in school elsewhere may feel left out. We all make choices about how we live our lives and those choices do have consequences. Academically my children do at least as well as their friends from elsewhere in the city. Is it perfect? No. THE has challenges to be overcome. However, I do know my children are happy and thriving, learning new things and conquering new challenges.
—Submitted by a parent

I have chosen to send my children to THES and have never regretted it. I love the school, the community, the administration. I have been there four years and will be there for another ten years. As a parent that is continually involved with all the people at the school, I do not see anything wrong with recruiting parents to help their own children as well as their classmates excel in their education. THES is a unique community and I am impressed with the level of dedication the teachers and parents have to their children.
—Submitted by a parent

I have chosen to send my children to other schools and have never regretted it. Children get one shot at an education and I don't want my kids to be a turn-around experiment. I also did not like the parent peer pressure associated with recruiting. They need to tone that down and be more inclusive to all in the community.

This is my 3rd year with a child at THES and the 5th my family has volunteered at THES to make it even better. We've had a few struggles, many excellent experiences, but most importantly my children are thriving. The enrichment/GT programming at the school is fantastic in many of the grades, including my child's, although GT is not as evident as early as Sept. 11th (the last post) b/c of all the state mandated testing for public schools . I care about the testing because it indicates a small number of the children are not getting what they need in the area of science, but in reality 3rd-5th graders were acceptable or above in reading, writing, and math. Yes, the ball was dropped in science, but a state-mandated Bush policy is not how I measure how awesome this or any school is.
—Submitted by a parent

We enrolled in THES on strong recommendation of neighbors. We did not research other schools that much and wrongly thought THES was comparable. Though a decent school on the whole, we have since found that the enrichment programs are vastly inferior to other schools in the district. We are looking into options to transfer to Barton Hills, Lee, Casis, or Bryker next year. Do your homework is my advice. Our child has lost a year and will have to start over again somewhere else because we were too lax.
—Submitted by a parent