The Girls School of Austin Mail - [TEST] On the Horizon

Highlights and Heads Up

Welcome Back! - Orientation & First Day of School

Theme of the Year

New Faces and Roles on Campus

Traffic Updates and Requirements

Lunch Provider Updates and Info

Communication Clarity

Aftercare and After-School Programs

Back-to-School Nights

Welcome Back, Firebirds!

Campus has been so quiet, and we can’t wait to have our students back next week! We hope you have all had a wonderful summer; we have been hard at work preparing for another great year!

Here's what to expect over the next few days:

Listening Conferences for Grades 1-8: Look out for an email from your teachers to sign up.

Monday, August 17th

New Parent K-8 Welcome in MUB: 9 AM-9:30 AM
Kinder Orientation: 9:30 AM-10:30 AM

On Monday morning, all new K-8th-grade parents will meet in the MUB to kick off Orientation. Kinder students will go with our 8th-grade students for some fun activities until 10:30.

At 9:30, Kindergarten Parents will head to the Kinder room for their continued Orientation.

New/Returning Parents are welcome to hang out in the MUB where there will be tables with information, forms, and samples from our new lunch catering company!

Wednesday, August 19th: First Day of Classes!

7:30am - Arrival begins
7:55am - First Bell
8:00am - Classes start (all grades)
Lunch and Recess (except Kindergarten, which is dismissed at 11:30):11:35 - 12:20

Dismissal (staggered by grade):
11:30am – Kindergarten
2:00pm - 1st Grade
2:15pm - 2nd Grade
2:30pm - 3rd Grade
2:45pm - 4th Grade
3:00pm - Middle School (5th-8th)

**For the first day of school only, siblings must be picked up at their assigned departure time and not together. For example, a 1st Grader must be picked up at 2:00 PM, and a 4th-grade sibling must be picked up at 2:45 PM.

This Year's Theme: Rooted to Ride

Our students stand on solid ground. With deep roots in creativity and critical thinking, they gain the confidence to express who they are and reach for their dreams. Rooted in 24 years of excellence and curiosity, GSA continues to elevate our research-based curriculum and student spaces as we soar towards next year’s 25th anniversary!

New Faces on Campus

Sheni Washington - Sheni Washington has been on our campus for a few years as Chef Sheni with after-school programs and more recently as a campus sub. We are delighted to have her here full-time with us, as she has taken over for Jess Workman as Operations Assistant and Full-Time Campus Sub.

Gabrielle Levy-Thiebaut is joining Neveah Sturrup on the After Care team; Gabrielle graduated from UT Austin this August with a degree in International Relations and Global Studies. She has tutored elementary and high-school-level French and reading, and she is involved with Teach For America to teach in their corps next school year (2027-2028).

Our community is so lucky to have these women on board!

New Roles at GSA

We’re also pleased to share that some of our fantastic staff members have stepped into new roles—part of our ongoing commitment to improving the experience for everyone in the GSA community.

Jess Workman has been at the GSA in many roles over the past 5 years and has moved into the Advancement Office as Communications and Digital Marketing Manager. She is excited to bring her experience in this area to the GSA and to the Advancement team.

Bernadette Castillo will be moving into a full teacher support role for our Lower School! We are so happy to have her as a part of our fantastic Lower School staff in an even larger capacity.

Emma Bowmer will be the sole middle school math teacher, just like our science and Spanish teachers. She will be addressing the needs of each class level and spent time over the summer creating a robust plan for how to do so.

Traffic Updates & Requirements

As we head into the school year, we want all GSA drivers - staff, parents, grandparents, babysitters, etc. - to continue being safe and courteous drivers.

During peak drop-off/dismissal times:

Coming from Windsor Road? Turn on Vista Road or Sharon Lane to Griswold Street — not Bremen to Horn.

All GSA traffic should turn right into the driveway off McCall Road.

As always, we are grateful for your continued patience and support as we work through this process. We are grateful for a community that engages not only respectfully, but also constructively, with the City, with our neighbors, and with one another.

The neighbors' appeal to our CUP application has postponed our hearing to Sep 10th.

The way that you can support this is to adhere to the traffic guidelines and the parent-teacher handbook.

Meet the New Lunch Provider

Barnison Catering is our new lunch provider, and we are excited to have them supporting our girls with nutritious and vibrant food!

They will be offering a week of free food for students 8.24-8.28. Register through the platform to complete your free orders.

Learn more about Free Lunch Week.

Welcome Letter to Parents

Registration Instructions

View the menu for August

Communication Clarity

We are always working to help streamline your inbox and make sure you never miss the important stuff.

Here’s a quick breakdown of where and how we’ll be communicating this year:

Grade-Level Info

Every Friday, your grade-level teacher will send a weekly email with key updates, reminders, and classroom happenings specific to your student’s grade.

Snapshots & Real-Time Updates on ClassDojo

Teachers will continue to share photos and videos on ClassDojo, giving you a quick, joyful window into daily classroom life; a little like a social media story just for your child’s class.

We’ll also use ClassDojo to post real-time reminders and quick announcements throughout the week. Whether it’s a field trip heads-up or a last-minute update, you’ll be able to stay in the loop at a glance.

On the Horizon (OTH) – Monthly School-Wide Newsletter

Our school newsletter, On the Horizon, will arrive in your inbox monthly with big-picture updates: upcoming events, school-wide news, and celebrations that matter to the whole community.

Strategic Updates from Ms. Yacono

This year, you’ll also hear directly from Rebecca Yacono on important initiatives, updates, and moments of strategic impact. These messages will be clearly marked and timely.

Critical & Emergency Updates

You will be receiving these updates via OneCall. As long as you have already given the school your phone number, there is no action needed on your part!

We’re committed to keeping communication clear, relevant, and respectful of your time!

Aftercare & Afterschool Programs

Afterschool Programs and Aftercare start on August 24th!

Sign-ups are still live, and there are many more spots left.

Back-to-School Nights

Please join us for our Back-to-School Nights, where our teachers will be sharing important information about the year. We look forward to seeing you there!

Lower School (K-4th): August 21
Happy Hour: 5:00 PM
Presentations: 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

Middle School (5th-8th): August 28
Happy Hour: 5:00 PM
Presentations: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM