Reviews of Magellan International School? (Austin, Round Rock: 2015, home, top schools)

[scrappypeanut]

We are proceeding with a private education. Does anyone have any experience with this school? Any problems? Issues - good or bad? Does your child enjoy the school, etc.

Thanks

[FueledByBlueBell]

Originally Posted by scrappypeanut

We are proceeding with a private education. Does anyone have any experience with this school? Any problems? Issues - good or bad? Does your child enjoy the school, etc.

Thanks

I'm curious to know the others thoughts on this school as well, especially related to similar programs and schools.

[blakely]

I don't have children at Magellan, but have good friends who do. They have been extremely impressed with the education there.

They also have a child enrolled in the Eanes school district and one at St. Stephens, so their benchmarks to compare Magellan to are highly regarded schools. On numerous occasions, they have shared with me how impressive the curriculum and teaching is at Magellan. The rigor of the coursework and amount of homework is more (at the elementary level) than Eanes, according to them. It would probably not be a good place for a child who is not academically inclined.

FYI, if you're wondering why the other two kids are at different schools, they are older and weren't young enough to enroll at Magellan when the school started. I understand the school adds a grade level per year, so soon it will accommodate kids of many ages, but when it started, it only offered the younger elementary years. My friends have said they wished their older two kids could have attended Magellan for elementary school.

[austinparents]

We've got a first grader at Magellan - this is his second year at the school. Couldn't be happier. We especially appreciate the IB curriculum (Magellan is an IB world school), the wonderful teachers who bring alot of excellence and energy everyday, and the Spanish immersion. Definitely worth a look!

[kpaigethomas]

any updated thoughts on this school for a person who is blue collar, single mom?

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by kpaigethomas

any updated thoughts on this school for a person who is blue collar, single mom?

It is one of the very priciest elementary programs in Austin. I think there are other private schools in Austin that are a much better value. Look at charter schools like NYOS too.

[eirenecat]

St Francis School is also an excellent private education for a much lower price tag than Magellan. Not Spanish immersion, but still excellent.

[kpaigethomas]

my daughter has been in immersion since preschool and id love for her to continue that tract. any thoughts on immersion schools that are NOT the usual 50:50 fare offered up by Gomez y Gomez…..

[scrappypeanut]

Hello!

I am the original poster and after touring many of the private schools in Austin, we chose and were accepted into Magellan. We could not be more thrilled with out choice.

While our daughter was not in any type of Immersion before Magellan, we did know that the knowledge of both Spanish and Mandarin was important and will open up a multitude of doors for her in her future that would otherwise be closed.

I am afraid that the immersion programs in the Austin area that are not the Gomez y Gomez approach you are wishing to avoid are limited and almost non existent beyond the elementary level. In fact, besides Magellan there are none (at least none that offer what I define as immersion) after 5th grade.

We have nothing but praise for Magellan, the staff and love our school.

We have met many wonderful people and we reference our close friends from Magellan as our Magellan Family.

The academics are excellent (we have friends in Round Rocks IB exemplary elementary school) and what our daughter has learned is head and shoulders above. Magellan is true IB. They follow the IB curriculum and philosophy to the letter. Our daughter is gifted and talented, beyond what could be offered with differentiation in the classroom and Magellan has developed programs to accommodate this (there are other students in various other grades as well). They also have programs for those who may be struggling. They are incredibly responsive to the parents and the staff are dedicated to the school and it's advancement.

While we are extremely happy with our choice, I will agree it does fall as number 2 for the most expensive in the city (at least with the data I collected in 2012) and I did not price out schools south of the river due to the commute time. This school is not cheap and will not be getting cheaper. Is it unreasonable? No, but that also depends on your other lifestyle choices as well. We have no problem fitting Magellan into our budget and we are by no means Austin's wealthy. Not even close :-).

They do have scholarship options and financial aid but these options are long finished for the 2014-2015 school year.

You may wish to consider the public school options (which won't solve your immersion desire after 5th grade) and pay for supplementation with Olos. They are in the same location as Chinese with Meggie. Many AISD students in the AISD immersion programs use these 2 programs. We attend Chinese with Meggie and our daughter loves it and have heard great things about Olos.

Bottom line we are thrilled with our choice of Magellan. I wrestled with selling our home and moving into Round Rocks top schools or staying put and paying for Private School. I have no regrets about my choice of Magellan and private education. The benefits our daughter will receive in her future from this education would probably outweigh any negatives.

Good luck with your decision.

[scrappypeanut]

I will also add that I agree with the poster who discussed the rigor of the academics. While the school is not for those who are solely gifted and talented (Magellan has a great support programs), those students who do not wish to try their best and are not interested in academics may not be as happy.