The Gathering Place is a charter school on the northwest side of San Antonio that develops innovators through real-world, hands-on learning. On December 15, 2023, The Gathering Place began accepting enrollment applications for the 2024–25 school year. Open enrollment will conclude on March 15, 2024. We have put together a guide to help you learn more about The Gathering Place and take steps to enroll your child.
About The Gathering Place
The Gathering Place opened in August 2020 as a child-centered school that gets students involved in active learning and provides arts education and enrichment. For the current school year (2023–24), The Gathering Place is serving students in grades K–5. They will grow to add one grade per year—so, grades K–6 in the coming school year (2024–25) until they are fully K–12.
The Gathering Place is a hands-on, project-based learning school with an emphasis on arts and social justice. In elementary school, children have art every single day, and their learning experiences dive into social justice and equity to continuously engage in cycles of awareness, action, and reflection.
The Gathering Place is meant to provide students with a learning environment that develops innovators through real-world, hands-on learning. The culture is child-centered: what students do each day is built around their individual development and passions.
Project-based learning means that students are working on activities that are relevant to their lives and their communities. They also experience the arts and enrichment, including P.E., health, visual arts, culinary arts, digital fluency, makerspace learning, and outdoor learning. The Gathering Place aspires to be a community of kindness by teaching students the social and emotional skills to handle tough situations.
To read more about The Gathering Place in the news, we recommend that you click on the articles linked at the bottom of this post. Also, we invite you to join the San Antonio Charter Moms discussion group on Facebook and ask questions; the group includes current TGP families who can comment with answers based on their own experiences.
The Gathering Place in San Antonio
The Gathering Place currently serves students in grades K–5, with plans to add 6th grade in 2024–25. They will continue to expand each year until they are serving grades K–12.
Their campus is located at 5818 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78238 (map). The main phone number is 210-942-4850, and you can reach them by email at enroll@thegatheringplacek12.org.
On their most recent district report card and school report card, they were not rated.
Download the free San Antonio Charter Schools app for an interactive map that includes The Gathering Place and many more. You can also find campus information about TGP (and many other schools of choice) in our Guide to Charter Schools in San Antonio.
Enrollment Information
Families can apply online to enroll their children at The Gathering Place. Open enrollment for 2024–25 began on December 15, 2023 and continues through March 15, 2024. For the coming school year, The Gathering Place is accepting applications for grades K–6.
On the website, families can fill out an inquiry form and sign up for a campus tour.
Follow The Gathering Place on social media: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
In addition, please join the San Antonio Charter Moms discussion group on Facebook to post questions and search previous discussions about TGP.
Facts About The Gathering Place
The Gathering Place is tuition-free and open to all students. Although it is an arts school, students do not need to audition to attend.
Before-school and after-school care is available at TGP.
The teachers at TGP are highly qualified and have diverse interests that they share with their students.
The website has a caregiver hub with answers to many questions that caregivers and parents are likely to ask.
Charter Moms Chats
Watch Brian Sparks, Interim Superintendent of The Gathering Place, and Jay Jackson-Carter, Principal at The Gathering Place, speak with Inga Cotton on Charter Moms Chats on January 27, 2024 at 4:00 PM Central live on Facebook and YouTube.
Brian Sparks (he/him) is the Interim Superintendent of The Gathering Place. Brian is a three-time graduate of Trinity University with undergraduate and graduate degrees in Teaching and Administration. He has built a rich career in education, serving as a Special Education Teacher, 5th Grade Teacher, and Math Instructional Coach, and has held various administrative positions, including leading two schools that focused on both Project-Based Learning and Social and Emotional Learning.
Brian is a firm believer that students learn by doing, and that it is our role as educators to facilitate experiences where kids problem-solve, innovate and dream.
When he’s not helping shape tomorrow’s leaders, artists and innovators at school, Brian enjoys spending time with his wife, who is his college sweetheart, and their two incredible children. They enjoy time spent outdoors, camping around the state, exploring San Antonio and spending time with family and friends. He also loves to play golf, watch every sport possible, read a good book, and is always, always learning.
Jay Jackson-Carter (she/her) is the Principal at The Gathering Place. Ms. Jay has learned over the course of her life that her purpose and passions have always been connected to children, and more specifically in educating children. Being a music and vocal arts director, being a nanny, to being a coach, and ultimately being a mom have all contributed to her feeling her most powerful and impactful when she is teaching, growing, and learning!
Read More About The Gathering Place
- “Charter Moms Chats—The Gathering Place, With Jay Jackson-Carter And Ryan York,” YouTube, January 24, 2023
- “The Gathering Place: Meet the Texas School Pioneering a New Model of Learning”, International Business Times, December 1, 2022
- “The Gathering Place Launches Projects Designed to Boost Student Entrepreneurship”, Yahoo!, November 11, 2022
- “The Gathering Place Announces New Project-Based Learning Model for US Schools,” Business Insider, October 28, 2022
- “Charter Moms Chats—The Gathering Place, With Asia Klekowicz and Ryan York,” YouTube, May 4, 2021
- “These Three Principals Are Opening New Schools This Fall. If That Sounds Challenging, You’re Right,” Bekah McNeel, 74 Million, August 12, 2020
- “3 New San Antonio Charter Schools Plan to Open in Fall 2020,” Emily Donaldson, San Antonio Report, April 27, 2020
- “Meet The Gathering Place, One of San Antonio’s Newest and Busiest Charter Schools,” Bekah McNeel, San Antonio Charter Moms, June 22, 2019
- “After fight, state education panel OKs new San Antonio charter schools,” Alia Malik, San Antonio Express-News, June 17, 2019
- “Board of Education Approves Two New San Antonio Charter Schools for 2020–21,” Emily Donaldson, San Antonio Report, June 14, 2019
- “Seven new San Antonio-area charter schools planned to open by 2020,” Ryan Salchert, San Antonio Business Journal, June 12, 2019
- “Two Applicants Look to Open New Charter Schools in San Antonio,” Emily Donaldson, San Antonio Report, May 1, 2019
- “Federal money to fuel charter expansion, including IDEA’s big San Antonio plans,” Liz Teitz, San Antonio Express-News, April 25, 2019
- “New charter school hopefuls eye San Antonio for expansion,” Liz Teitz, San Antonio Express-News, February 22, 2019
- “The Gathering Place Presents the Great Food Truck Summer Camp Showcase,” San Antonio Charter Moms, October 17, 2018
