Come out and support your LASA Raptors baseball team on Thursday, April 2nd. The first five teachers who arrive will get a Raptors baseball hat. Teachers will also be entered in a gift card raffle and provided with treats. We hope to see you there!
Can you believe it’s almost April?!? Time to help your kiddos get their volunteer hours in! We need at least 4 adults and 8 students for our spring Love Your Neighbor Walk THIS SATURDAY shortly after the incoming freshman choice sheet event. (Hey-if you’ll be there with your 8th grader, model Raptor spirit and bring them along!) We do these “goodwill walks” a couple of times a year to keep in touch with our neighbors and let them know they’re appreciated. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the fall walk!
The event will be based out of the PTSA/PFLASA portable on Arthur Stiles (near the tennis courts). We’re still nailing down the timing, but the event is TENTATIVELY set for 12:30-2:30 pm. We’ll update the signup ASAP with the exact time. Thank you!
LASA Students Shine During the 2025-2026 Reflections Program!
Texas PTA proudly celebrates the incredible creativity of students across the state! This year, more than 870 student entries advanced for state-level judging, showcasing remarkable talent, imagination, and artistic expression inspired by this year’s theme. We are thrilled to recognize over 600 student artists with state-level awards. Five LASA Students have been recognized by the LASA PTSA, the Austin Council PTA, the Texas PTA this year with one student making it to the National PTA Competition (results will be announced the first of May, 2026).
These incredible student artists are: Ananth Pakanati for Literature Grant Ratcliffgardy for Music Composition Piper Meley for Photography Sadie Sarrat for Dance Choreography Zixuan (Camille) Mei for Visual Arts
Camille has achieved the “Overall Award of Excellence,” which elevates her to the National PTA Reflections competition level. Congratulations, Camille!!!!!!!
In this interactive workshop, participants will learn why supplemental essays matter to college admissions committees, how to successfully approach different types of supplemental essays, and start brainstorming about their own supplemental essays.
After growing up in the Midwest and attending college in the West and graduate school on the East Coast, Kelly moved to Austin, Texas to get a Ph.D. at UT. She wound up staying to raise her two children (one of her daughters is a LASA and Johns Hopkins grad!) and to teach writing at a local liberal arts college. In 2020, Kelly launched her own college consulting business to help students navigate the college admissions process and to share their best selves in their college essays.
As an essay coach and college consultant, I watch parents struggle mightily every year to figure out what their role in the college application process should be. What’s doing too much? What’s doing too little? What if your student wants you to butt out? What if no matter how many times you yell, plead, and try to inspire, your student isn’t engaging in the process? How much responsibility do you entrust to your student? These are all questions most of the parents I work with don’t know the answer to. This class is about having a very frank discussion through vignettes, concrete examples, and longterm experience about making sure you aren’t going into the college app process with the wrong assumptions about your part in the process. Bring your questions!
That’s right, we love our student members! Every year, LASA PTSA runs a contest to see which class will have the highest student membership. The race is on! Here’s the student membership count as of January 31st:
Class of 2028 – 59 members
Class of 2029 – 56 members
Class of 2027 – 47 members
Class of 2026 – 41 members
It’s a close race! Spread the word and have your classmates join PTSA. Every membership counts. While you’re at it, have your parents join too!
Join us Saturday, March 28 for an evening that’s all about great food and even better company. We’re hosting a Cajun Night Great Gathering in North-Central Austin, featuring a spread of Cajun-inspired favorite and hurricane cocktails. Whether you’re here for the spicy flavors or just the good conversation, we’d love to see you there!
In her 15 years as a college counselor at LASA, Jamie Kocian learned almost everything there is to know about the college admissions process for high-achieving students. In her 24+ years in the college admissions/college counseling field, she now has decided opinions on leveling up (in a genuine way) nearly every piece of the application puzzle and helping students discover more about themselves in the process.
Jamie will touch on all manner of topics, including the college list, standardized testing, essays, recommendation letters, interviews, and scholarships. Join us for some stories (some interesting, some just stories), a little chat on “Where did all the hobbies go?”, and reflections on lessons learned, feeling confident, and cutting through all the noise.