Vandegrift vs Westwood: What the Leander ISD vs Round Rock ISD Choice Means for 78726 Buyers
Very few Austin zip codes feed two different school districts, and fewer still feed two high schools that both sit near the top of the state. The 78726 zip code does exactly that. Buy on one side of it and your children are on track for Westwood High School in Round Rock ISD. Buy on the other side and they are headed to Vandegrift High School in Leander ISD. Both are International Baccalaureate World Schools. Both carry a 9 out of 10 GreatSchools rating. Both post graduation rates that sit comfortably above 95 percent. And the boundary that decides which one you get does not follow price, prestige, or the name of the subdivision on the sign. It follows an address.
This is one of the most misunderstood facts in the whole Northwest Austin market. Buyers assume a zip code is a school assignment. In 78726 it is not. This guide walks through how the split actually works, what each high school is known for, and how to think about the choice when you are comparing homes that look nearly identical on paper but funnel into two different districts.
Why one zip code feeds two different high schools
School district boundaries in Texas were drawn long before the subdivisions and zip codes that now sit on top of them. The 78726 zip code straddles the line where Round Rock ISD and Leander ISD meet in far Northwest Austin, out past the intersection of RM 620 and Highway 183 near the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. The zip code is a postal convenience. The district line is a legal boundary that predates it and ignores it.
The practical result is that 78726 contains two established communities that share a mailing address and almost nothing else when it comes to schools. Canyon Creek, the larger master-planned neighborhood, sits in Round Rock ISD. Grandview Hills and the newer development around it sit in Leander ISD. A buyer touring both in the same afternoon, twenty minutes apart, is choosing between two entirely separate school systems without necessarily realizing it.
If you want the full neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown of the zip code, the 78726 Northwest Austin neighborhood guide covers the housing stock, HOAs, and lot types on both sides. This post is specifically about the high school end of the pathway, because for a lot of buyers with kids, that is the decision that drives everything else.
The two feeder pathways, in plain terms
The cleanest way to understand the split is to trace each pathway from elementary all the way to graduation.
The Round Rock ISD pathway: Canyon Creek to Westwood
Children in the Canyon Creek section of 78726 attend Canyon Creek Elementary, feed into Grisham Middle School, and finish at Westwood High School. Westwood is the destination that gives this pathway its reputation. It is a Round Rock ISD campus located over in 78750, and it draws from a wide swath of Northwest Austin, including Canyon Creek at the far western edge of its attendance zone.
The Leander ISD pathway: Grandview Hills to Vandegrift
Children in the Grandview Hills and Leander ISD sections of 78726 attend Grandview Hills Elementary, feed into Four Points Middle School, and finish at Vandegrift High School. Vandegrift sits on McNeil Drive and anchors the Leander ISD side of Northwest and West Austin. If you have read the Four Points Middle School feeder guide, this is the same pathway that River Place and Grandview Hills buyers are on.
Notice that these two pathways do not cross. A Canyon Creek address does not feed Vandegrift, and a Grandview Hills address does not feed Westwood. There is no version of buying in 78726 where you get to pick between the two after closing. The address you choose is the district you get. That is why the comparison matters before you make an offer, not after.
One important caution: Leander ISD in particular has a history of rezoning as new schools open and enrollment shifts. Round Rock ISD boundaries move too, though less dramatically in the established western neighborhoods. Both districts publish current attendance zones, and both can change them. Always verify the assignment for a specific street address in writing with the district before you rely on it, especially in newer sections where a campus may have opened recently.
Vandegrift High School at a glance
Vandegrift is a Leander ISD campus that has become one of the most recognized high schools in the Austin metro. It earned an overall A rating from the Texas Education Agency for the 2024-2025 accountability cycle. Its GreatSchools rating sits at 9 out of 10, and its graduation rate runs around 99 percent, well above the Texas statewide average.
Academically, Vandegrift is an authorized International Baccalaureate World School, which means students can pursue the full IB Diploma Programme alongside a deep Advanced Placement catalog and Project Lead The Way engineering coursework. For families who want their child to have both an IB track and a strong technical or STEM option under one roof, that combination is part of the draw.
What tends to define Vandegrift culturally is a strong, tightly organized athletic and extracurricular program layered on top of the academics. It is a large comprehensive high school with the range of activities that size allows, and it consistently lands on best-high-school lists at the state and national level. The reputation is real and it is reflected in what buyers are willing to pay to be inside the attendance zone.
Westwood High School at a glance
Westwood is a Round Rock ISD campus in 78750, and it is the school most Northwest Austin buyers already have in their heads when they think about top public high schools in the area. It carries a 9 out of 10 GreatSchools rating, a Niche A-plus, and a graduation rate that has run around 99.6 percent in recent classes, materially higher than the district and state averages.
Westwood houses a district-level International Baccalaureate magnet program in addition to its honors and Advanced Placement offerings. That magnet distinction matters. Westwood is not just IB-authorized; it is the campus that Round Rock ISD built its IB magnet around, which is part of why it draws applications and attention from across the district. The school has a long track record of producing National Merit Semifinalists and sending graduates to selective universities, and its academic competition teams in science, math, and debate have been nationally ranked.
Enrollment sits near 2,900 students, which makes Westwood a large campus with the depth of course offerings and activities that come with that scale. For the Canyon Creek buyer, the appeal is straightforward: you are on the western edge of the attendance zone for one of the most academically decorated public high schools in the region.
How the two actually compare
Here is the honest answer that a lot of buyers do not want to hear because it does not simplify their decision: academically, these are two excellent high schools, and the daylight between them is narrow. Both are IB World Schools. Both carry a 9 out of 10 GreatSchools rating. Both graduate essentially everyone who enrolls. If your entire decision rests on which school is objectively better on paper, you are going to spend a lot of energy splitting a very fine hair.
The more useful comparison is about character and fit, not ranking.
Westwood is the more established academic-magnet name. Its IB magnet, its National Merit output, and its nationally ranked competition teams give it a reputation built specifically around high-achieving, academically intense students. If you are relocating from California or the Pacific Northwest and your frame of reference is a competitive suburban public school with a strong AP and academic-team culture, Westwood will feel familiar.
Vandegrift is the strong, well-rounded comprehensive campus with a full IB diploma track, a robust STEM pathway through Project Lead The Way, and a large, organized athletic and activities program. Families who want top academics but do not want the whole household organized around an academic-magnet intensity often gravitate here. It is a top-rated school with a broader center of gravity.
Neither of those descriptions is a criticism. They are two roads to a similar outcome. The question is which environment your specific child will do better in, and that is a judgment only you can make. Tour both if you can. Talk to parents on both sides. The GreatSchools number will not tell you the thing that actually matters, which is where your kid will thrive.
What the district choice means for your home search
Now the part that connects schools back to real estate, which is where I live.
The first thing to understand is that in 78726, the district assignment is baked into the address and you cannot buy your way across it within the zip code. A more expensive home in Canyon Creek does not get you Vandegrift, and a more expensive home in Grandview Hills does not get you Westwood. So if you have a strong preference for one high school, that preference narrows which neighborhood you are shopping in from the very first search. It is a filter you apply before you look at a single listing, not a tiebreaker at the end.
The second thing is that the two neighborhoods that anchor these pathways are genuinely different places to live, independent of schools. Canyon Creek is a larger, single-HOA master-planned community with a pool, tennis and pickleball courts, and trails, on the Round Rock ISD side. The Grandview Hills area is Leander ISD, with a different mix of sections, HOAs, and dues. I compared the two directly in Canyon Creek vs Grandview Hills, which is the companion piece to this post and worth reading if you are weighing the neighborhoods and not just the high schools.
The third thing is pricing, and here I am going to be careful. Both attendance zones command a premium because both high schools are strong, and the day-to-day movement of prices in these neighborhoods shifts with inventory and season. Rather than quote a figure that may be stale by the time you read this, I will tell you the durable truth: in Northwest Austin, a top-rated high school assignment is one of the most reliable supports under a home's value, and both of these pathways qualify. When you are ready to compare current numbers on specific streets on each side of the line, that is a conversation to have with live data in front of us.
The logistics that actually differ between the districts
Beyond the high school itself, choosing Leander ISD versus Round Rock ISD carries a few practical differences that are easy to overlook during a home search but matter once you are living it.
Transfer policies. Both districts run intra-district and inter-district transfer processes, but the rules, timing, and space availability differ and change year to year. If you are counting on a transfer to a campus other than your assigned one, do not assume it. Confirm the current policy with the district directly before you make a home purchase contingent on it.
Rezoning risk. Leander ISD has grown rapidly and has a track record of opening new schools and shifting boundaries to balance enrollment. That is not a knock on the district, it is a consequence of growth, but it does mean a Leander ISD assignment can be somewhat more subject to change over a long ownership horizon than a Round Rock ISD assignment in an already built-out western neighborhood. If long-term certainty of a specific campus assignment is important to you, ask each district how stable the zone for your target address has been.
Calendars, programs, and start times. The two districts run their own calendars, their own middle school program structures, and their own bus routing. None of this is a dealbreaker, but if you have a child mid-way through a specific program in one district, understand that moving across the 78726 line means moving districts entirely, not just changing campuses.
Property tax jurisdiction. The district you land in is also the school district portion of your property tax bill, and the two districts set their own rates. School taxes are usually the largest single line on a Central Texas tax bill. The difference between the two is generally modest relative to the price of the home, but it is real, and it is worth pulling the current rate for the specific parcel. For how district and county lines drive the overall tax picture in this part of town, the Westwood vs Anderson breakdown walks through the same kind of district-choice math on the Round Rock ISD versus Austin ISD side.
Fit check: which pathway is right for you
Here is how I would sort it if you were sitting across from me.
Lean Westwood and Canyon Creek if: you want the established academic-magnet name, an IB magnet program specifically, a school culture organized around high-achieving students and nationally ranked academic teams, and you like the idea of a single large master-planned neighborhood with a full amenity package. Relocating tech families who want a competitive, academics-forward environment often land here.
Lean Vandegrift and Grandview Hills if: you want a top-rated, A-rated comprehensive high school with a full IB diploma track plus a strong STEM and engineering pathway, a big and well-organized athletics and activities program, and you are comfortable being in a faster-growing district. Families who want elite academics without organizing the whole household around magnet intensity often prefer this side.
Do not overthink it if: your child is young, your priorities are the house and the commute, and either high school would be a fine outcome. Both of these are schools that families move across the country to get into. If the right home shows up on either side of the line and the district is a fine fit, that is a good problem to have. You are not choosing between a strong school and a weak one. You are choosing between two strong ones with different personalities.
The mistake I see buyers make is treating this as a ranking exercise, obsessing over a fraction of a point in a rating, and letting that paralysis cost them the right house. These are both destination high schools. Get the fit right, get the house right, and trust that either pathway lands your kid in a good place.
Frequently asked questions
Is 78726 in Round Rock ISD or Leander ISD?
Both. The 78726 zip code straddles the boundary between the two districts. Canyon Creek and its surrounding sections are in Round Rock ISD and feed Westwood High School. Grandview Hills and its surrounding sections are in Leander ISD and feed Vandegrift High School. The zip code alone does not tell you the district. You have to check the specific address.
Does Canyon Creek feed Westwood or Vandegrift?
Canyon Creek is in Round Rock ISD. Children there attend Canyon Creek Elementary, feed into Grisham Middle School, and finish at Westwood High School, not Vandegrift. Always confirm the assignment for the exact address, but the established Canyon Creek pathway is a Round Rock ISD and Westwood pathway.
Does Grandview Hills feed Vandegrift?
Yes. Grandview Hills is in Leander ISD. Children there attend Grandview Hills Elementary, feed into Four Points Middle School, and finish at Vandegrift High School. This is a separate district and a separate high school from the Canyon Creek and Westwood pathway on the other side of the zip code.
Which is better, Vandegrift or Westwood?
Both are excellent and the gap between them is narrow. Both are International Baccalaureate World Schools with a 9 out of 10 GreatSchools rating and graduation rates near or above 99 percent. Vandegrift carries an overall A rating from the Texas Education Agency for 2024-2025. Westwood is known for its IB magnet, National Merit output, and nationally ranked academic teams. The better choice is about fit for your specific child, not a ranking.
Can I choose which high school my child attends in 78726?
Not by default. Your address determines your district and your assigned high school. A Canyon Creek address feeds Westwood and a Grandview Hills address feeds Vandegrift, and you cannot switch between them by spending more within the zip code. Both districts have transfer processes, but transfers are not guaranteed, so do not buy a home assuming you can transfer to the other district's school.
Does the school district change my property taxes in 78726?
Yes, to a degree. The school district you are assigned to sets the school portion of your property tax bill, which is usually the largest single component. Round Rock ISD and Leander ISD set their own rates, so the two sides of 78726 can carry slightly different school tax rates. Pull the current rate for the specific parcel to see the exact difference, and consult a tax professional for how it affects your situation.
Is the school boundary in 78726 likely to change?
It can. Leander ISD has grown quickly and has a history of opening new campuses and adjusting attendance zones. Round Rock ISD boundaries are generally more stable in the already built-out western neighborhoods but can still change. If a specific campus assignment is critical to your decision, ask the district how stable the zone for your target address has been and verify the current assignment in writing.
Are Canyon Creek and Grandview Hills otherwise similar neighborhoods?
They share a zip code and a general area but differ in housing stock, HOA structure, and amenities. Canyon Creek is a larger single-HOA master-planned community, while the Grandview Hills area has a different mix of sections and dues. The full side-by-side is in the Canyon Creek vs Grandview Hills comparison, which pairs directly with this schools guide.
The bottom line for 78726 buyers: you are not choosing between a good school and a bad one. You are choosing between two of the strongest public high schools in the Austin metro, and the choice is made the moment you pick an address. Get clear on which pathway fits your family before you start touring, because in this zip code the district is not a feature you negotiate. It is the first filter on your search. When you want to compare specific homes on each side of the line with current numbers, that is exactly the kind of thing I help Northwest Austin buyers sort out.
