Most families in Canggu end up with a short run if they choose a villa within a few kilometers of their school, but the area's own traffic can stretch that. Roads like Batu Bolong and the stretch toward Berawa get congested by 7:30am, so a trip that looks like ten minutes on a map can take twenty five or more during the morning rush. Comparing Canggu international schools vs Ubud international schools is worth doing before you sign a lease, since school location should drive where you rent, not the other way around.
Ubud works a little differently. The town center has less car traffic than Canggu, but many family villas sit outside the center in rice field areas, so the run can mean winding roads with motorbikes, trucks, and slow-moving local traffic. Families who choose a villa first and a school second often end up with a 30 to 40 minute run each way, which adds up fast for parents doing two trips a day. This is one of the reasons it helps to sort out housing and schooling together, and finding a long-term family villa rental close to your shortlisted schools solves most of the problem before it starts.
Sanur tends to have the calmest daily run of the three, since its roads are flatter and less congested than Canggu's, and most Sanur families can reach their school in well under half an hour. The real time cost shows up when families try to mix regions, living in Sanur but driving to a Canggu school, or living in Ubud and commuting to Sanur, which can turn into an hour or more each way in bad traffic. Before choosing a base, it's worth reading through Ubud vs Sanur for families to see how daily logistics differ between the two, since the shortest commute usually comes from picking your area and your school together rather than separately.
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