Growing the next generation of humans who can make a positive difference.
Villagers is a brand new microschool in Austin, Texas, serving students in grades 1st-5th, to bring together academic growth, life skills, and community.
Families will find a supportive environment designed to help children build confidence, responsibility, and real-world capability.
We are here to support parents trying to raise kids who are both capable and kind, whether you've already tried public or private school, are already homeschooling, or would homeschool if circumstances allowed for it.
If you are looking for a learning environment that teaches both mastery-paced academics and practical life skills, cultivates values and character in a secular and pluralistic community, and balances compassionate and nonviolent philosophy with critical thinking and ideological moderation, you're in the right place.
Our Mission
Strong Academic Foundations
Students build skills in reading, writing, speaking, and math, with connections across science, history, social studies, geography, and civics, paced according to individual mastery.
Life Skills & Real-World Learning
The program includes hands-on learning like meal planning, time management, communication, and critical thinking to help students grow into capable individuals.
Flexible Enrollment Options
Families can choose between a full-time 5-day schedule or a 3-day option, supporting both working families and those engaged in other programs.
Meet Our Founder
Meredith Orf is a native Austinite; she was homeschooled in the expansive and eclectic Austin Area Homeschoolers group from second grade until college, and graduated summa cum laude from Southwestern University with a BA in Music/English back when universities were still hesitant to admit homeschoolers. She became passionate about helping to reform the world of education after learning about educational inequality in the mainstream school system, and about innovative school models that were already capable of creating better outcomes. Her experience includes academic tutoring, volunteer mentoring, a brief but informative foray into Teach For America and the world of public school teaching, and running her own private piano studio.
Now that she has two children of her own, her long-time dream of opening her own innovative school has taken on new urgency; creating an environment that supports parents and helps children to grow into and cultivate their best selves is both a personal and professional goal. As an entrepreneur who works as a residential REALTOR and still teaches a few piano students on the side, she understands the challenges faced by working parents who are looking for a school environment that complements and strengthens the values they are trying to impart to their kids at home, especially in the secular context many of us are seeking.
When she's not working in one of her businesses, she enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and nerdy pastimes like video games and cross-stitch.
Enrollment options
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$12,000 annually — full-time schedule running five days per week during the school year.
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$8500 annually — part-time option available Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
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Sibling enrollment enables a 5% discount for each child.