Kocurek Elementary School

9800 Curlew Drive

School District

Austin Independent
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:14
Type

public

School Map for Austin Independent School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on September 04, 2024

Kocurek is such an important part of the community. It really is a gem, and our entire extended family is grateful to be part of this community over the past 10 years and counting. Teachers and staff care about the kids and the community, and it shows through their actions. They take pride in their work, and in turn, the students take pride in theirs.
Submitted by parent on September 04, 2024

My daughter loves attending Kocurek Elementary! She’s been a student since kindergarten, and now she’s in 5th grade. We highly recommend Kocurek—the staff and administration consistently go above and beyond to ensure every student feels welcomed and supported.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2023

it is ok i guess but i would not recommend
Submitted by parent on February 16, 2022

Unfortunately, I don't feel comfortable sending my kids to this school at all. There is not a day going by where my kids don't miss something - socks, hair clip, lunch container, jacket, water bottle, masks etc. My little ones are coming home all soiled because they didn't clean them. The teacher is unable to take proper care of the kids. Seriously considering taking them out. Also, the playground for the PREK3 kids is very sad!
Submitted by parent on April 30, 2016

Kocurek is community and family oriented. It is inspirational and motivating to see families and teachers coming together all year long to provide social and educational activities for the kids in our community. My son is learning so much every day, and it's wonderful to feel so confident in his school.
Submitted by parent on February 28, 2016

I love all the changes this school has made amazing teachers who go beyond to help there students. Open door policy if you need to speak to the principal. Tons of after enrichment programs from cheer to math pentathlon great teachers great staff great school! South Austins best secret.
Submitted by other on February 09, 2016

We chose to buy our house where we did because we like Kocurek Elementary and Akins High School. When we took the tour of the school we really enjoyed the faculty and staff. They are very Austin, super smart and down to Earth. The community of this school feels like Austin in a microcosm, a good representation of our community, with socioeconomic diversity. There is a guy down our block who drives a Tesla and another guy with an old chevy. It's definitely south Austin, and we like having our child in the mix with people from such a diversity of backgrounds. We are really world citizens and so it is comforting to us to know about the families in our school community from Russia and Vietnam and Mexico right beside our fourth generation Austinite daughter. My Dad remembers when Willie Kocurek used to be on the commercials saying,"You don't need a lot, just a little bit every month." There are a couple of events every year that bring together several hundred members of the Kocurek community, including the parents, grandparents, kids, staff, etc. These experiences are great and give you a chance to really feel like you are part of something beautiful and important in your child's life. It's a great community, a very Austin kind of experience. We love Kocurek!
Submitted by other on February 01, 2016

Our son has attended Kocurek for the past two years, and we have been very happy with all aspects of the school thus far. We researched several schools in the area including private, and christian schools, and decided to see how things went at Kocurek. I believe some of the other outdated reviews do not reflect the current staff or necessarily the campus today. Parental involvement, being a member of the PTA, and volunteering at the school is very important, regardless of where the child goes to school - don't rely solely on the teachers, staff, counselor, and principal to do the job of a parent. Again, we highly recommend this school, and feel comfortable approaching anyone at the school with any concerns we have.
Submitted by parent on January 31, 2016

I love this school! My son started here in kindergarten and now he is in 4th grade and I am always welcomed there whenever I show up. I really enjoy volunteering and going on field trips.
Submitted by other on January 31, 2016

This school is a hidden gem. The teachers are great and our experience has been very good. Our son is making great strides in core subjects, but also enjoys music, art, the library, and PE. We looked at several different schools before deciding to send him to our neighborhood school and we have no regrets. The leadership of the school does a lot to promote a sense of community at the school and since it is a smaller school, there are a lot of opportunities for parents to be involved.
Submitted by parent on December 14, 2014

This school has gone down hill! My daughter has been attending here for 3 years now and every yeartheres always something going on. From not even having a set principal or lack of communication and also more than anything lack in learning. They have so many kids in one class that they do not get the proper one on one time kids need. Every child learns differently.
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2013

Unfortunately, this is more of a rant than a rave! Both principals and counselor are awesome, but the office staff, cafeteria staff and Teachers seem to be very unhappy. I wish my child would receive a warm welcome by positive, up beat, smiling teachers and staff. Instead we see grumpy faces and boot camp drill sergeants in the hall ways and around the school. I think teachers forget that elementary age children still need a lot of social/emotional guidance and considering they are in school all day the only adult roles models they have are the teachers. It's no wonder students have behavior issues. If this school wants to be a "No Place for Hate" then their teachers and office staff should be required to take classes on compassion or at least learn to smile to make parents and students feel welcome. With good reason there is low parent participation at this school, if parents don't see happy teachers put a little extra effort why would we? I have seen an improvement with the school's PTA over the last 2 years or so and it seems like they're really trying, but even that is pretty disorganized. Flyers are sent home with little notice or after the event has already passed.