Founders Classical Academy-Bastrop

Founders Classical Academy-Bastrop is a small public charter school in Bastrop, TX, serving 226 students from Kindergarten through 11th grade as part of the Texas College Preparatory Academies district, offering a low student-to-teacher ratio of 14.2:1 and a more intimate learning environment than most area schools.

This school stands out for its exceptional performance in humanities, with End-of-Course (EOC) exams showing 90% proficiency in English II Reading and 93.3% in U.S. History—far exceeding state averages of 60% and 70%, respectively. However, it struggles significantly in middle school mathematics, where 6th Grade Math proficiency was just 13% and 8th Grade Math only 7.7% in the 2025-2026 school year, compared to state averages of 39% and 47%. This creates a stark contrast: while the school excels in subjects requiring reading and critical analysis, it fails to build foundational math skills in its middle school cohort. Performance also varies dramatically by grade, such as 6th graders scoring 82.6% in Reading while 7th graders in the same year scored only 38.5%, suggesting inconsistent instruction or cohort composition. An alarming data point is that 0% of 8th graders were proficient in Social Studies in 2025-2026, despite the school’s strength in high school U.S. History, indicating a possible curriculum disconnect.

On a positive note, the school has dramatically improved its dropout rate from 5.1% in 2021-2022 to 0.0% in 2023-2024, showing effective strategies to keep students on track. With only 226 students, these metrics are based on small cohorts, so a single class can significantly sway results. For parents, this school offers a strong humanities focus and low class sizes, but math weaknesses and volatile grade-level performance warrant careful consideration, especially for middle school students.