Mrs. Dawson was born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia. She received a BAE from Arizona State University and taught 5th grade for several years in Mesa, AZ before moving back to VA. She worked on her Master's in Curriculum & Instruction at Texas State while securing her Texas certification. She and her husband, Bill, have been married 33 years. They have a son, Brian, who lives in San Francisco with his wife, Jessica, and a son, Doug, who graduated from the University of Kansas School of Architecture this past May and now lives/works in Austin as an architect. This is Mrs. Dawson's 12th year teaching in Austin ISD, 9 years of which she spent at Oak Hill Elementary. Sara enjoys reading, exercising, hiking, attending live music shows and movies, museum hopping, playing Mah Jong, cooking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.