A few weeks ago I kept seeing a sign on Hog Heaven’s entry for Waypoint Academy and then later heard several families say they were moving into Dripping Springs specifically for this new private school. That piqued my interest! I was excited to go and tour the campus last week and learn more about this Alpha School branch coming straight to Drip as an alternative to our highly rated public schools.
Check out more info below from the Dean of Parents, Kim Rodriguez.
Can you tell us more about Waypoint Academy?
Waypoint Academy is a K–8 school built around a simple idea: kids learn best when academics and the outdoors both get their due. We sit on an 8-acre campus tucked inside the 120-acre Hog Heaven Sporting Club property. We serve students in grade-bands with four cohorts (K–1, 2–3, 4–5, and 6–8). Each grade band is set up for where kids actually are developmentally.
Mornings (8:45–11:45) start with a focus on growth mindset work and movement, then move into core academics: math, reading, writing, and science, using AI-enhanced tools that meet each student where they are. Afternoons (12:45–3:15) are for two rounds of life skills workshops, wrapping up with a group debrief and a moment of gratitude before the day ends. Underneath all of it is one belief we keep coming back to: nature is the best teacher of life skills.
Where did the idea come from?
It started, as a lot of good ideas do, with a parent thinking about his own kid. Head Guide Bryan Gordon found himself imagining the kind of school he’d want his daughter to attend, one where she could learn and spend real time exploring outside. That idea became Waypoint. He’s described it simply: “What I’m trying to build with Waypoint Academy is like summer camp all year round.”
What is Alpha School?
Waypoint is a specialty school within the Alpha School family, and we share Alpha’s academic model. MacKenzie Price, Alpha’s co-founder, started the school in Austin in 2014, and in the 2026–2027 school year there will be more than 50 Alpha Schools (as well as specialty schools, like Waypoint) in operation across the United States. We make three commitments to families: kids will love school, they’ll learn twice as fast in just two hours a day, and they’ll build real life skills.
Practically, that means each student gets a 1:1 AI tutor that adapts to their pace and level, so they build mastery of concepts without gaps left behind. The adults in the room, we call them guides, aren’t lecturing from the front. They’re there to support motivated kids, encourage a growth mindset, and help them own their own learning. Waypoint takes that same academic foundation and uses the time it frees up for something we love: the outdoors.
Who was this school created for?
Waypoint is for kids who light up outside. If your child would rather be climbing a tree, drawing a bow at an archery target, casting a line, or hiking a trail than sitting still, this might be exactly the fit you’re looking for.
It also tends to resonate with families who’ve started to sense that the lecture-based classroom model isn’t working for their kid, and who want afternoons that are genuinely engaging, not just recess. We measure and report on life skill growth the same way we track academics, so it’s not just fun outdoor time (though it is that, too). It’s real, trackable growth.
What makes the school different?
A few things make Waypoint Academy different:
Academics that adapt to your child. Our mastery-based model is built to catch learning gaps early, so kids build on a genuinely solid foundation rather than moving on before they’re ready.
Life skills that are actually taught, not just hoped for. Our afternoon workshops follow a defined life skills framework: resilience and grit, leadership, teamwork and communication, public speaking, financial literacy and entrepreneurship, and more. These aren’t vague values on a poster. They’re intentionally designed and objectively measured.
Commitments we hold ourselves to: We tell families up front: your child will love school, learn twice as fast in two hours, and build real life skills. We take that seriously.
But if we’re being honest about what matters most, it’s this: we believe kids are capable of far more than we usually give them credit for, and that with high standards and high support, they can do things that surprise everyone, including themselves. Last year, a 7-year-old Waypoint student served as project manager for a bed build, the culminating project of a community workshop. He led a team of 41 adult and kid volunteers and helped build 30 beds in two and a half hours, working alongside our partners at Sleep in Heavenly Peace, an organization that builds beds for kids who’d otherwise be sleeping on the floor. That’s the kind of thing we mean when we say kids are limitless.
Why did you choose Dripping Springs to start this school?
The seed was planted through a relationship, not a spreadsheet. Alpha School’s leadership had a relationship with the Hog Heaven landowners, connected with them, and helped set up outdoor workshops there for Alpha Austin students during the 2024–2025 school year. Bryan Gordon led those workshops and started to see what a full outdoor Alpha style school could look like on that land, and that’s where Waypoint’s vision really took shape.
Dripping Springs itself made the decision easy. It’s known as the Gateway to the Hill Country, a place people move to, specifically for the nature and the small-town feel. Between that and an existing partnership already in place with Hog Heaven, it was the obvious choice.
What is special about being on the Hog Heaven property?
Our partnership gives Waypoint students access to the full 120 acres, not just our 8-acre campus. That means fishing and kayaking on the lake, archery on real targets, and plenty of beautiful, varied land for afternoon workshops.
Beyond the land itself, Hog Heaven is a community that already cares about the outdoors and youth education. It’s a well known, established place in Dripping Springs, not something we had to introduce from scratch. Their youth programming also opens up natural after school options for our students, and family programming, like firearm safety and hunting safety classes, that tends to resonate with Waypoint families too.
What do you love most about Dripping Springs?
The small town feel, honestly. There’s real natural beauty here, wonderful local businesses, and still an easy drive into Austin when you need it. People move to Dripping Springs because they want to get back to nature, and that’s exactly the spirit we’re trying to build a school around.
How can we find out more?
- Website: waypointacademy.school
- Book a tour through the website
- Email: admissions@waypointacademy.school
- Phone: (512) 200-2409
- Instagram: @waypoint.academy
- Address: Hog Heaven, 24905 Ranch Rd 12, Dripping Springs, TX 78620
We’d love to have you come see it for yourself.
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