You already know the drill. Great schools pull up property values, fill parks on Saturday mornings, and generally set the vibe for an entire neighborhood. Pflugerville, tucked just northeast of Austin, leans hard into that truth. Families move here for the lakeside sunsets and stay because their kids run into classrooms that feel alive.
Below you will find a tour of the best schools in and around Pflugerville. We will talk test scores, theater clubs, STEM labs, marching bands, and even the mood in the pick-up lane. By the end, you will have a short list to visit in person before you choose a street to call home.
Why families keep planting roots here
• Pflugerville Independent School District, often called PfISD, spans 95 square miles. It covers pieces of Travis, Williamson, and even a bit of Hays County.
• Student body is roughly 25,000 and rising. Enrollment has climbed every single year for a decade.
• The district funnels serious money into technology. One-to-one Chromebooks in many campuses, interactive flat panels in the younger grades, fiber-optic backbones that do not choke when every eighth grader streams a coding tutorial at the same time.
• Location helps. You are minutes from major Austin employers, so volunteer slots tend to fill with parents who bring professional skills right into the classroom.
The takeaway: Pflugerville is not a sleepy suburb with a single star campus. It is a web of learning options that compete with each other, which keeps everyone on their toes.
Elementary standouts you should probably know by name
Highland Park Elementary
Highland Park sits in the northwest corner of the district and stays near the top of statewide report cards year after year. Teachers here lean into project-based learning. Third graders design tiny houses out of cardboard and calculate square footage on whiteboard tables. Parent involvement is through the roof. Morning drop-off turns into an unofficial coffee social most days.
Numbers matter too. In the latest Texas Education Agency release, Highland Park scored in the top ten percent for reading growth and landed distinction badges in science and closing achievement gaps.
Murchison Elementary
Murchison mixes traditional phonics with a character-building curriculum called Leader in Me. The result is a school where fourth graders hold doors open for visitors without being reminded. Campus gardens line the back fence, and students weigh produce to practice decimals before donating the harvest to a local pantry. State math scores sit well above the district mean, yet the vibe stays relaxed. The librarian greets nearly every child by first name.
Pflugerville Elementary
Oldest school in the city, yet anything but dated. A new makerspace opened last fall that houses laser cutters, vinyl printers, and a few 3-D rigs students actually know how to calibrate. Fine arts shine here. The choir took first place at a regional festival, and the art teacher has a waiting list for her after-school ceramics club. Parents rave about transparent communication. Emails from administration read like quick texts from a friend, not corporate memos.
What does all that mean for you? If you prefer century-old oak trees shading the playground and a staff that has literally taught two or three generations, Pflugerville Elementary is your jam.
Middle grades that hit the sweet spot
Middle school can be the Bermuda Triangle of a child’s confidence. Pflugerville’s options aim to steer kids clear of the rough waters.
Kelly Lane Middle
This campus is a machine when it comes to academics. Honors algebra students regularly max out end-of-course exams, and the symphonic band keeps dragging home sweepstakes trophies. Administration guards a culture of calm. Hallways look busy but never chaotic thanks to staggered class transitions and teachers who stand at their doors giving high fives.
Quick hits:
• Accelerated reader program that logs nearly eight million pages each semester.
• Top five percent in state attendance. Kids actually want to show up.
Park Crest Middle
Park Crest brands itself as the STEM hub of the district. Sixth graders play with CAD software the first week of school. By eighth grade, they are prototyping wind turbines that feed data to Google Sheets in real time. Robotics club meets three afternoons a week and regularly qualifies for VEX state. The gym program is sneaky good too. Volleyball teams made deep playoff runs and the cross-country squad paced top three in the region.
Westview Middle
Westview offers a performing arts magnet strand that pulls talent from across the city. The theater director maintains Broadway energy and somehow never loses her voice. News crews show up twice a year when the production schedule drops because tickets sell out that fast. Academic numbers keep pace. Recent state reports show double-digit growth in both reading and science. Community engagement sits high. PTA meetings fill the library, and local businesses sponsor almost every club.
High schools that launch futures not just diplomas
You care about AP pass rates, college acceptances, and maybe a lights-out football team that gives the town a reason to huddle on Friday nights. Pflugerville delivers.
Hendrickson High
AP menu is stacked. Physics, Statistics, US History, Computer Science, and even the elusive AP Seminar course. Students sat for more than 1,100 AP tests last year and cleared a pass rate near 70 percent. Athletics live up to the hawk mascot. Softball, soccer, and football all pushed deep into playoffs. If you walk the halls you will also notice walls covered in college pennants signed by seniors. Four-year enrollment sits around 84 percent, well above the state figure.
Pflugerville High
Old school pride blends with updated facilities. A multi-million fine arts wing opened recently housing practice studios, a black-box theater, and a digital recording suite. The marching band owns more first division ratings than you can count, and the visual arts department partners with local galleries to showcase student work downtown. On the academic side, dual credit partnerships with Austin Community College let motivated juniors graduate having knocked out 24 college hours.
Weiss High
Youngest high school in town and already shaking things up. The engineering pathway runs from ninth grade through capstone internships with Tesla and Samsung. Core classrooms use flexible seating and movable walls so group projects happen without dragging desks. Graduation rate sits at 97 percent, and roughly one third of seniors declare a STEM major. Athletics are coming along quickly. The Wolves posted winning records across most sports despite being the new kid on the block.
Want private or charter? Plenty of flavor
Public schools dominate the conversation, yet Pflugerville families also eye niche campuses that hit very specific goals.
Harmony Science Academy – North Austin
Technically a charter but pulls a healthy slice of Pflugerville residents. Curriculum screams science and math. Middle schoolers build water-quality sensors, and high schoolers jump into college credit calculus by sophomore year. Weekly advisory meetings hold students accountable for grades before things spiral.
Idea Rundberg College Prep
This K-12 charter reports nearly every senior accepted to at least one four-year institution. Teachers review exit tickets in real time then re-teach in workshops the very next day. Families sign a commitment contract outlining steps both school and home will take. Attendance proves the system works, sitting at 98 percent.
St. Dominic Savio Catholic High
Private, faith-based, and unapologetically college prep. Students tackle theology courses alongside AP Biology, and service hours are woven right into the transcript. Average SAT scores float north of 1250. Athletics run in the TAPPS league and bring home state titles on the regular. Tuition aid does exist. Nearly 40 percent of students receive some form of financial assistance, so do not count yourself out too quickly.
The vibe on community reputation
Stats matter but whispers in the grocery aisle sometimes speak louder. Pflugerville scores high here as well.
• Teachers live where they work, so you will bump into them at the farmers market. That kind of overlap keeps campuses honest.
• College recruiters from Texas A&M and UT Austin set up annual fairs in the district because they know the talent pipeline is real.
• Neighborhood Facebook groups swap photos of marching bands and robotics trophies more often than yard sale ads. Speaks volumes.
How do Pflugerville scores compare statewide?
You deserve a quick data blast.
• PfISD four-year graduation rate: 95 percent. Texas hovers around 90.
• Average SAT composite in the district: 1082. State average sits near 1000.
• Percentage of campuses earning at least one TEA distinction: 82 percent. The state figure is roughly 68.
Bottom line, Pflugerville runs ahead of the pack in the metrics that translate into scholarship dollars later.
Quick checklist before you schedule tours
1. Map commute time. Even the best campus feels tough if you sit on FM 685 for an hour each way.
2. Peek at boundary maps. Attendance zones flex when new housing pops up.
3. Ask for the school’s latest campus improvement plan. It reveals future budget priorities.
4. Walk the halls during passing periods. Nothing hides chaos like an empty building.
5. Talk to students outside dismissal. Honest feedback flows from sixteen-year-olds with car keys jingling.
Take notes. Circle back for evening events if possible. Decisions feel clearer when you see both daytime academics and after-hours culture on the same campus.
Ready to take the next step?
You now have a street-level view of the best schools in and around Pflugerville. The next move is simple. Pick two or three campuses that lit you up, reach out to their front offices, and lock in a tour. Wander the hallways, picture your child laughing with new friends, and notice how teachers greet each other.
School choice shapes home choice. Once you fall for a campus, I can help you zero in on the neighborhoods that feed right into it. Drop a quick message, and let us start matching addresses to your favorite classrooms. Your kids get the education they deserve, and you get the keys to a home that grows right along with them.
