Faculty & Staff

Rebecca Yacono’s career in education began in 1983 at Porter Junior High, when she taught an eighth-grade classmate how to do vibrato on the viola. When her classmate subsequently beat her out for first chair viola in the All-City Orchestra auditions, Rebecca knew she had found her calling, not as a violist, but as an educator.

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.

Neely Michaelis joined The Girls’ School of Austin as the Director of Admissions in 2020. She received her BA in Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and began working in the private sector during the technology boom. A corporate trainer for several years working primarily with Fortune 500 companies, Neely eventually transitioned into Human Resources where she led internal training for a sales and marketing company. A GSA parent since 2016, Neely strengthened her passion for community building through parent volunteer opportunities and co-facilitated parent diversity workshops. Neely is excited to unite her love for the GSA, her passion for building community, and her commitment to diversity in her role as Director of Admissions.

Veronica Diaz has been a teacher for the past 20 years. She has taught elementary grade levels 1-5 and pre-school.  She has enjoyed the shift into an administrator role.  

Reagan became GSA’s Director of Development and Communications in 2021. She received her BA in World Literature and Cultural Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Reagan has held key development and programmatic roles with national non-profit organizations such as Feeding America and the No Kid Hungry campaign. Most recently, she worked as a contractor with the Girls’ School of Austin before joining the team full-time in her current role.

 Lorna Torrado joined the GSA faculty in 2014.  Dr. Torrado completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Modern Spanish-American Literature at The University of Texas at Austin specializing in race, gender, and cultural discourses and theory.  She received her Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Studies from the University of Puerto Rico and her Master of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in Romance Languages and Literature. She has experience in non-profit management and is involved in a number of projects with non-profits in Austin and she has more than 15  years of teaching experience in the United States and Latin America. Lorna is part of the SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) National Staff and has been leading SEED seminars for GSA faculty, parents and students since 2017.  She has also participated in the Equity Design Lab offered by the National Association of Independent Schools.

Anne Seekatz joined The Girls’ School faculty in 2015 after her first year of teaching sixth and eighth grade science at Georgetown ISD.   She received her Bachelor of Science in Education with a minor in Biology from UT Austin and recently completed a Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Sam Houston State University.  She is an avid volunteer.  Her volunteer experiences include nature interpretation as a Capital Area Master Naturalist and teaching girls the basics of riding and caring for horses in Girl Scouts equestrian program. She also received the Girl Scout’s Gold Award for creating a documentary film about a local nonprofit organization.  Anne has taught in various summer camps such as the Austin Nature and Science Center, Mathnasium of the Woodlands and the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  Anne teaches tae-kwon-do at Impact Martial Arts.  Anne recently completed SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) training and co-lead monthly seminars for GSA faculty.

Ana Rie is a native Spanish speaker from Nicaragua. She received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Universidad Americana in Managua, Nicaragua. Prior to discovering her passion for teaching, she worked in risk management and was a translator for Citibank in Managua.  After moving to the US and she completed an associate degree in Early Childhood Education at Austin Community College.  She has been teaching Spanish at a variety of schools around Austin including Young People’s Workshop, Kiker Elementary, Hill Elementary among others. She also worked at SafePlace where she worked with the children at the shelter and with a parenting program for the mothers.  She is currently completing her Spanish teaching certification from Texas Teachers and has future goals of learning more languages.

 Terry Parks has been teaching since 1994 and for the past 17 years has taught first-grade. Prior to this, she taught second grade and prekindergarten classes. Ms. Parks loves getting to know her students and learning how to best engage and excite them about learning. One of her central goals for each new class is to guide her students in being supportive of one another and appreciative of the gifts and talents that everyone brings to the group.  Ms. Parks received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and has a Texas teaching certification for Early Childhood through sixth grade. 

Michele Rosen comes to GSA with more than 25 years of teaching experience, most recently at Rawson Saunders. She has taught math and social studies and supported teachers with the use of technology in the classrooms. She has implemented Lego robotics and coding, designed BizKidz, and imagined and spearheaded a South Africa service-learning project.

Amy Heaton has had a passion for teaching math since high school. She graduated with a Bachelor’s in Mathematics with Teacher Licensure from Elon University in North Carolina. She then taught middle school math in Maryland for three years before moving to Austin to pursue a master’s degree in STEM Education at UT, where she is currently in her second year. She started teaching at GSA in Spring 2020.

Nancy Hoover has been the Art Director of The Girls’ School since its opening in 2002. A nationally recognized artist and teacher, she has developed and implemented external showcase opportunities for our award winning GSA students including formal gallery exhibits (our annual Self Portrait Show), charitable Austin community events (The Floating Art Gallery Auction, partnered with Aveda Corporation for The Clean Water Project), illustrating for publications (Badgerdog Press) and regional and national competitions with our art. Mrs. Hoover holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors from College of Charleston, SC, and has done graduate studies in art at the University of Central Florida. She has been active in numerous non-profit organizations, including The Hunger Project, The Junior League of Austin and Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Nancy is also a working fine artist and her art can be found in shows and galleries in Austin and the USA.