The City is the School—announcing Waterloo’s location.
January 29, 2019 | Craig Doerksen
Title: The City is the School—and Waterloo has a home in it!
Waterloo School has a home!
We have used “The city is the school” as a shorthand slogan for the kind of school we are building, one where teenagers discover how they can learn from and contribute to where they live. But this leads to a question many have wondered: where is Waterloo going to be? What kind of place best supports this vision? Now, finally, we can tell you:
Waterloo will open this fall at 1511 S. Congress Ave, at the home of The Church on Congress Avenue, in the cultural heart of Austin. It meets all of our somewhat unusual criteria for our mission:
✓ South Austin—a long-term growth corridor, and where we all live.
✓ Easy access to the city’s core—for learning, internships, resources, service and more.
✓ On a frequent-service Cap Metro route—for commuting and frequent easy outings.
✓ Close to a wide range of businesses for internship and work opportunities.
✓ Close to city parks for play and enjoyment.
✓ Food Trucks and Home Slice for lunch…and Hey Cupcake! for dessert 😉
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✓ Another BONUS: an amazing mission partner in Pastor George Tuthill and his church body.
The Church on Congress Avenue opened in 1887—less than fifty years after a little town named Waterloo was renamed Austin and became the capital of the Republic. It was here long before the city of Austin spread across the river to the south, and is still an active, worshiping church today. We will open Waterloo, a school committed to teaching students a sense of place, belonging, and participation at a church that is as much a part of the history and neighborhood of South Austin as any.
The city is the school. Why does that make sense for a Christian school? As the Israelites were led into Babylon, Jeremiah gave them a message: ‘But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.’ We want students to discover what that means—to learn how to develop and contribute their gifts and talents to the welfare of Austin, their city. The city is the school, so we will be in it.
