Headwaters School
Headwaters School is an independent school in Austin, Texas serving students from early childhood through grade 12. Beginning with a Montessori foundation and progressing to the International Baccalaureate® (IB) Diploma Programme, we design vibrant learning environments across our three campuses.
We invite our students, guides, staff, parents, and trustees to be Peacemakers, Advocates, Creators, and Thinkers. Read more on our About page.
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Academics
Our students grow from a Montessori foundation in our Early Childhood and Elementary programs into an International Baccalaureate® Diploma Programme in our high school. -
Student Life
Advisories, cultural dinners, project week, musical performances, open mic poetry, Model UN, chess club, Heroes of the Past, student trips...life at Headwaters is full of unique opportunities to connect and learn! -
Athletics
All Middle & High School students have the opportunity to participate in our after-school sports program. Teams compete in a league with other schools in the Austin Private School Association and other local leagues.
List of 8 items.
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2001
YEAR WE WERE FOUNDEDOur Middle & High School program was founded in 2001, followed closely by our Early Childhood & Elementary program in 2002. -
540
Students on three campuses126 Early Childhood Students, 191 Elementary Students, 97 Middle School Students, and 126 High School Students. -
91
Full-time faculty and staff membersAcross all three of our Austin campuses. -
12.75
Average years of experience903 years of teaching experience combined! -
$25.7
Million in college scholarship offers since 2012Our College Planning program helps juniors and seniors choose the path that is right for them. -
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Athletic Teams in four SportsOur Middle and High School athletics program includes volleyball, flag football, basketball, and soccer. -
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International StudentsFrom China, Germany, Vietnam, France, and Senegal -
$375,000
Given in Financial AidTo 59 families.
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Ted Talks: The Power of Acknowledgment
The Forward, our annual hill country trip in the fall for middle and high schoolers, always concludes with an Acknowledgement Pitso on our last morning (Pitso is a Sesotho word meaning "meeting of the people."). The night before has been spent celebrating each other and student voice at the Performance Pitso and then, before returning to Austin, we acknowledge each other. It's such a simple gesture and a remarkably powerful one.Read More -
The Current- November 2019
Check out the November edition of The Current, Headwaters monthly newsletter.Read More -
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Ted Talks: Let's Try and See What Happens
Since its inception, Headwaters has always been willing to try different approaches to "doing school," especially when our students speak up and speak out. Before it was popular, the school was actively teaching and practicing mindfulness. Intuitively, we knew that students who could self-regulate would be better prepared to learn. Furthermore, we knew that social and emotional learning was important to us and that it was an "inside job," and that emotionally intelligent people could become peacemakers.Read More -
The Current - September 2019
Check out the September edition of The Current, Headwaters monthly newsletter.Read More -
Ted Talks: On Relevance and Youth Leadership
Following the planet-wide and student-led climate change strike on September 20, and following the UN's International Day of Peace focused on climate action as a vehicle for peace, and reflecting on Dr. Maria Montessori's 150th birthday, I am grateful to the teachers and parents who had the courage to start The Khabele School and, soon after, Primavera Montessori School nearly twenty years ago.Read More -
Ted Talks: Why We Begin the Way We Do
Over the past two summers, we have begun what I hope will be a longstanding tradition for Headwaters as we reopen school. Instead of bringing in an inspiring outside speaker to kick off the year or having an administrator give a pep talk, we look inward and invite a guide to inspire us by telling his/her teaching story.Read More -
The Current - July 2019
Check out the July edition of The Current, Headwaters monthly newsletter.Read More -
Ted Talks: Almost Ready, but First a Little More Play Time
With July winding down and as we return from adventure and play, back-to-school preparation is picking up across our three campuses. Before highlighting some of our summer projects, I hope you have enjoyed your summer and that you have gotten to play.Read More -
The Current - May/June 2019
Check out the latest edition of The Current, Headwaters monthly newsletter.Read More -
Ted Talks: An Ending is But Another Beginning
One of the great joys of my job is that I get to participate in the end-of-year ceremonies on each of the campuses, which means that I often get to have unplanned conversations with parents, grandparents, and friends of the students.Read More -
Congrats to Wondemneh Pawlose '15
Congratulations to Headwaters alumnus Wondemneh Pawlose '15, who just graduated with a BA in International Relations, cum laude, from Goucher College.Read More -
Ted Talks: Spring and All
Read MoreTed Talks
By Ted Graf, Head of SchoolSpring and All
(with eternal gratitude to William Carlos Williams for the borrowed title.) -
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Ted Talks: School as a Jazz Band
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"Jazz players look for and notice instability, disorder, novelty, emergence, and self-organization for their innovative potential rather than as something to be avoided, eliminated, or controlled. Indeed, jazz bands are very much human systems living at the edge of chaos. To understand their social complexity requires cultivating an aesthetic that values surrender and wonderment over certainty, appreciation over problem solving, listening and attunement over individual isolation."
--Frank J. Barrett, Yes to the Mess -
October 2018 Student Spotlights
High School Model UN, Hamlet, Visitors from Mexico, and Headwaters Shark Tank!Read More -
Guide Feature: Alli Breznicky
Read MoreAlli Breznicky is the Lead Primary Guide in the Bluebirds Community on the SpringsCampus.
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Headwaters Calendar
List of 5 events.
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Headwaters Triathlon Kids Opening Ceremony
Participants in the Headwaters Triathlon Kids Team are invited to celebrate the start of the season with a treat on the elementary playground. Come learn all about how to log your hours, seek sponsors, win prizes, and finish strong.
Find out more about this fun program and register to participate here <https://app.donorview.com/l3GO 0 by Monday, November 11. Please check out our Parent FAQ( and contact Alex Penry by email at a.penry@headwaters.org if you have any other questions.Creek Campus (Elementary Program) 9607 Brodie Lane, 78748 -
Rising Kinder Family Event, Session I
Rising Headwaters Kinder families can come learn more about the Elementary program. Invite only.Creek Campus -
Rising Kinder Family Event, Session II
Rising Headwaters Kinder families can come learn more about the Elementary program. Invite only.Creek Campus -
Stay and Play Tuesdays
All Springs families are invited to hang out on the playground for some community time!Springs CampusRead More
Come Visit Us
At Headwaters, we value our unique, open-minded, and mutually respectful school culture as much as we value our engaging and challenging academics. We are looking for families who share these values and who are committed to and excited about continual growth and development.
Springs Campus
18 months to Pre-K