Faculty & Staff

As an undergraduate in the Plan II Honors program at the University of Texas at Austin, Rebecca researched community-based learning programs for her senior thesis. She went on to earn her Master of Arts in Teaching at Boston University. Throughout her undergraduate and graduate education and in the early years of her career, Rebecca spent ten summers working at Girl Scout Camps in New England and the Adirondacks. It was in those settings – as well as in her five summers as a Girl Scout Camper in Texas – that Rebecca saw how girls thrive, collaborate, grow, and lead in extraordinary ways in all-girl settings.

Rebecca’s first formal teaching position was teaching integrated Humanities at Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, MA, which reinforced her belief in student-centered, project-based learning. She took that philosophy back to Texas with her, where she taught Humanities and U.S. History in the Austin Independent School District and at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. Rebecca went on to establish the position of Director of Diversity and Multicultural Development at St. Andrew’s, which is also where she met her wife, Robyn Mabry. In 2011, Rebecca returned to New England to teach at The Shady Hill School in Cambridge, MA,  and she became the Head of the Middle School at Worcester Academy in 2017.

In her time at Worcester Academy, Rebecca helped craft the strategic plan, instituted initiatives for social-emotional learning, elevated institutional commitments to equity and inclusion, and alongside the faculty, strengthened the culture of the middle school to address the unique needs of early adolescent learners.  In addition, she was an integral member of the team that shepherded the school through the COVID-19 pandemic by prioritizing health and safety while maintaining a robust academic program and strong sense of community.

Malia Wagner, LMSW, is joining the GSA after four years with Communities in Schools in AISD. She lives in Austin with her wife and daughter, Eleanor. As an alum of an all-girls school in Portland, OR, she is excited to return to a campus of young leaders and a close-knit learning community.