A+ rating

4 Austin-area high schools sit at head of the class as Texas' best in 2022

St. Stephen's is the No. 4 best private school in Texas.

Photo courtesy of St. Stephen's Episcopal School

Four campuses in the Austin area are earning extra credit as the best high schools in Texas.

In the latest rankings from education review website Niche, three local schools rank among the state’s best public high schools, while one private institution makes the grade among the state’s best private high schools.

They are:

Austin ISD’s Liberal Arts & Science Academy, No. 2 among public high schools
Eanes ISD’s Westlake High School, No. 6 among public high schools
Round Rock ISD’s Westwood High IB World School, No. 8 among public high schools
St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, No. 4 among private high schools

Separately, Eanes ISD shines as the No. 1 school district in Texas, according to Niche.

“Some of the biggest decisions that parents face have to do with their children’s education,” Luke Skurman, founder and CEO of Niche, says in a news release. “We strive to put as much power in their hands as possible so they can make informed decisions with confidence.”

Niche says that while traditional rankings rely heavily on metrics like test scores and academic performance, its rankings combine ratings from current students, alumni, and parents with data from the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate teachers, resources, facilities, extracurricular activities and more.

Here’s how other Texas schools and school districts fared in this year’s Niche rankings.

Dallas area

Dallas ISD’s School for the Talented, No. 1 among public high schools
Dallas ISD’s School of Science & Engineering, No. 3 among public high schools
Carroll ISD’s Carroll High School, No. 7 among public high schools
St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas, No. 1 among private high schools
Greenhill School in Addison, No. 3 among private high schools
The Hockaday School in Dallas, No. 5 among private high schools
Cistercian Preparatory School in Irving, No. 8 among private high schools
Carrollton ISD in Carrollton, No. 3 among best school districts
Lovejoy ISD in Addison, No. 5 among best school districts
Coppell ISD, No. 6 among best school districts
Frisco ISD, No. 7 among best school districts
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, No 8 among best school districts
Highland Park ISD, No. 9 among best school districts
Prosper ISD, No. 10 among best school districts

Houston area

Houston ISD’s Carnegie Vanguard High School, No. 4 among public high schools
Houston ISD’s Debakey High School for Health Professions, No. 5 among public high schools
Houston ISD’s Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, No. 9 among public high schools
Katy ISD’s Seven Lakes High School, No. 10 among public high schools
The John Cooper School in The Woodlands, No. 6 among private high schools
The Village School in Houston, No. 7 among private high schools
The Kincaid School in Houston, No. 10 among private high schools

San Antonio area

Keystone School in San Antonio, No. 9 among private high schools
BASIS Texas Charter Schools in San Antonio, No. 4 among school districts

Rio Grande Valley

South Texas ISD in Mercedes, No. 2 among school districts

lists rankings education

Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

traffic self-driving cars innovation