Our Story

In March of 2004, these moms decided to visit the pioneering University-Model^® Schools in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The ladies were immediately impressed with the administrators of these schools and with the results they had obtained. They were also impressed and inspired by their meeting with the Executive Director of the National Association of University-Model Schools, Barbara Freeman of Arlington.

Their drive back to Austin was a wonderfully exciting time as they prayed, shared, and reflected on all that they had experienced that day. In doing so, they became overwhelmed with the sense that God was asking them to do more than just seek out an educational alternative like this for their own children, but to perhaps be instrumental in starting such a school for their community! Now the challenging part . . . convincing their husbands!

The initial reactions from the men ranged from “Hmmm, interesting” to “What?! . . . are you crazy?” But one week later—on April Fools day, no less—three wives and three husbands met together for the first time to explore just how crazy this idea was. Much talk and more prayer convinced them to move forward.

Soon thereafter, they visited another University-Model school in the Texas Hill Country and were again amazed at the strength of this type of school. God was clearly at work in the midst of this school and directing the paths of its leaders. Parents were actively involved and students were flourishing. Now, after seeing it with their own eyes, the men in the group became as enthusiastic as the women!

During those trips and weekly meetings, they began to recognize God’s manifest blessing on their time together, bringing them closer as a group, and slowly but surely revealing His plan. By May, God had added a fourth family to the group, and a Board of Trustees was born.

Together, they committed themselves to bringing a Christian school to Austin that would promote academic excellence and character development within a schedule that promoted family togetherness and spiritual growth.

After a year and a half of weekly board meetings, purposeful planning, diligent training, and an abundance of passionate prayer, Veritas Academy opened its doors on the campus of Austin Oaks Church in southwest Austin in August of 2005. Offering grades K-5 in that inaugural year, 131 students arrived for the first day—over twice what was hoped for. By the next year, Veritas served 200 students from 130 families in Austin and eleven surrounding towns and has grown in each and every year of its existence. With an August 2023 enrollment of 676, Veritas is one of the largest, historically fastest-growing collaborative/University-Model schools in the nation, and—as a resource school—has helped scores of similar schools open throughout the country.