Toddle

Toddle Outbound Capstone

The International School of Texas, Bee Cave, Austin

Written from the seat of a Toddle rep covering US independent schools. Prepared 14 September 2026.

Highlighted lines are the points the sequence turns on. Everything else is supporting detail.

The Account

Website: internationalschooloftexas.com

What they are: an independent, secular, non-profit PK-12 IB World School, founded in September 2013 by thirteen families. They run the full IB Continuum, PYP, MYP and DP. IST is one of thirteen IB Continuum schools in Texas and the first independent, secular PK-12 school in the Austin area to hold all three programmes.

Campus: purpose-built, opened in August 2024 at 15506-C TX-71, Bee Cave. The first high school cohort entered the same month.

Size: 40+ nationalities and 24 language backgrounds. Public listings show 11 to 50 staff, and the site names around 45 faculty and staff.

Tuition for 2026-27: $26,250 early childhood, $26,500 lower school, $28,250 middle school, $29,400 upper school, plus a $2,050 comprehensive fee.

Email pattern: [email redacted], confirmed across a.king, b.ngo, c.bates, s.solomon and d.watson. Verify every address in Apollo before day 0.

Phone: (512) 351-3403, front desk.

Social: LinkedIn /company/international-school-of-texas, Instagram @internationalschooloftexas, YouTube @ISTtrailblazers and Facebook. There is also a News and Stories page on the site.

The finding that shapes this entire sequence

IST is already a Toddle school. Their 2026-27 parent Contact Guide routes planned absences to Toddle and routes learning-differences questions through Toddle, while technology and database questions route to Veracross. Toddle is therefore live on the primary and parent-facing side, and Veracross is the SIS.

On 10 February 2026, IST was authorised for the Diploma Programme. The first DP cohort is in the building this year, and the first May session is 2028.

That makes this an expansion sequence rather than a cold pitch. The wedge is the half of the school Toddle is not running yet: the DP core, the IA and EA cycle, MYP projects, and the AI and accreditation layer in Ultimate. Every touch below assumes they know the logo and have never been shown the secondary side of it.

Confirm with the account's Toddle Buddy before day 0: current plan tier, seat count, renewal date, and whether DP Core has already been switched on. If DP is live, the sequence pivots to Ultimate and accreditation, and the day 0 email loses its first line.

The Personas

This is a small school with no procurement committee: one head, two coordinators, one CFO and one IT manager. Four threads, opened on a stagger.

What is public about David Watson, and what each fact is for

• More than 30 years leading international schools across the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He is a dual US and UK citizen and is fluent in French. Personal thread.
• Most recently Head of School at Community School of Naples, Florida, where he grew enrolment by 40%, tripled the endowment and expanded facilities. He is a growth head rather than a caretaker, so the money thread is legitimate with him.
• Prior posts at The Awty International School in Houston, RAK Academy in the UAE and Garden International School in Malaysia. He has stood up and run IB programmes in four systems and has seen the documentation problem in all of them, so do not explain the IB to him.
• PhD in English Literature from the University of Zagreb, MSc from Bristol, and a graduate of the Principals' Training Center. He reads long form, so write as though the email will be read closely, because it will be.
• His stated philosophy is community, respect and meaningful challenge. Nothing here should sound like a vendor selling efficiency to a man who talks about belonging.

What is public about Michelle Overman

• She joined IST in 2024 as IB Diploma Programme Coordinator and Psychology teacher, then stepped into Assistant Head of Secondary for Teaching and Learning in 2026, holding MYP and DP coordination together.
• She has taught IB in Texas, China and Thailand, at Avenues World School, Concordian International School, Qingdao Amerasia International School and Sam Houston High School.
• She holds an MA in Rhetoric and Composition and a BA in English from Texas State, plus an Instructional Leadership certification from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
• She is the person who will actually run a first DP cohort through IAs, EE supervision and CAS while also running the MYP. That is the sharpest true thing in this account, and it belongs in the WDYM line.

Signals

The Offer and the Numbers

There is one product story, used everywhere: Toddle already runs part of IST, and the expansion is the secondary half of the school plus the AI layer.

• Three plans: Planning Pro, Essentials and Ultimate, tiered by number of users within each plan. Nothing is published per seat, so a number never goes into an email. It goes into the call.
• The DP and CP plan lines include DP and CP Core, subject-specific IAs and EAs, and an exam-style questions library. The MYP lines include MYP Projects.
• Ultimate adds the AI curriculum design assistant, AI-assisted grading, AI progress reports, AI Tutors, the Communications Hub, Behaviour Management and Accreditation Management.
• The free trial runs for two to three weeks, with accounts set up for them and training run for the team. This is the real ask in this sequence, not a demo.
• Multi-year plans exist at two and three years with discounts, which is relevant to a CFO signing across a DP cohort that graduates in 2028.
• Toddle's published numbers, used sparingly and always labelled as published: 85% of schools replace three or more platforms, 95% of teachers report saving two to five hours a week with Toddle AI, and 2,500+ schools use the platform.
• Proof that travels: Hill Country Christian School of Austin sits on Toddle's customer wall, twenty minutes from Bee Cave. Woodward Academy, The Mount Vernon School, Durham Academy and Oregon Episcopal are the US independent references.

The number this gets compared to is not another platform. It is $29,400, IST's upper school tuition, because one retained Upper School family is the frame Watson already thinks in. Never claim it is the price. Use it as the yardstick and put the real number next to it on a call.

Timing

Today is 14 September 2026. Term is three weeks old, which is the worst week of the year to ask for a demo and the best week to ask a question.

• October and November: the board cycle and budget building for 2027-28. This is Watson's planning window.
• January: re-enrolment and financial aid season, plus the TEFA intake, when attention leaves academics.
• The first DP internal assessment deadlines land across this year, with EE supervision running alongside, so Overman's pressure builds from November.
• May 2028 is the first exam session. Every touch that references the DP should point at 2028 rather than at "next year".
• Toddle runs US leadership meetups this autumn, including Boston on 29 October. Use this as a soft touch only if he has a reason to be there, otherwise it reads as filler.

The copy says "first cohort", "before the first IA deadline" and "2028". It never says "back to school season" and it never says "just checking in".

The Calendar

A reply from anyone stops every other thread on the account. Nothing else stops it.

Sequence 1: Email to David Watson

This is the money and institution thread: the programme, the cost, and the thing he promised parents. Never the craft, which lives on LinkedIn.

Day 0, subject: the February authorisation

Hi David,

IST was authorised for the DP on 10 February. The first cohort is in the building now and the first May session is 2028.

Your parent contact guide sends absences to Toddle and technology questions to Veracross, so Toddle already runs your primary side. The DP core does not appear anywhere public.

IAs, EE supervision, TOK, CAS hours, predicted grades. That is two years of evidence before anyone sits a paper.

Is that already inside Toddle, or is it still living in Drive folders?

Harshit

Day 3, follow up 1

The part I would want to know at your stage is that there is nothing to migrate.

Your first high school cohort walked in during August 2024, so the DP has no legacy documentation anywhere. Schools that switch mid-programme spend a term moving files. You would be starting clean.

DP core, subject-specific IAs and EAs, and the exam-style question library all sit in the same platform your primary teachers already open every morning.

Day 6, follow up 2

Rough maths on why I keep writing.

Michelle Overman holds MYP and DP coordination in one role, which means she is running a first DP cohort and a full Middle Years Programme off the same calendar.

The number that sits next to that decision at IST is $29,400, your upper school tuition. One family.

I would rather put our number next to yours on a call than guess at it in an email. Which line is wrong?

Day 9, follow up 3, Loom

I made you a video instead of writing more.

Ninety seconds, no slides. I open the DP core on a continuum school and show you the IA tracker, the EE supervision log and the accreditation dashboard, in that order.

[Loom]

Wrong programme? Say so and I will redo it on MYP projects.

Day 13, follow up 4

David, did the DP core land inside Toddle, or somewhere else?

Day 17, follow up 5

A different angle.

SB2 put a billion dollars into Education Freedom Accounts and you have a full TEFA page up, which means new families arriving mid-cycle and a records load that lands on the same people running the DP.

Every new student is an intake, a portfolio and a reporting history. Worth fifteen minutes before January?

Day 21, follow up 6

Schools your size are on video at toddleapp.com/impact-stories, with heads and coordinators talking about what actually changed. There is no pitch in any of them.

Do you want the link, or is this a 2027-28 budget conversation?

Day 28 onward

One line every two weeks on the same thread. Rotate between the programme, the season and an observation about something the school has published. Stop when he says no or blocks you.

Examples: Did the DP core move into Toddle yet? · Saw the Trip Week Japan post. That is a real programme, not a brochure. · The first IA deadlines land soon, and the offer still stands. · I read the 2024-29 strategic plan properly. The teaching and learning section is the part I would build around.

Sequence 2: LinkedIn to David Watson

This is the craft thread: the continuum, the coherence, and the rules that live in people's heads. Never the price, and never the emails.

Day 0, connection request

Hi David, you have stood up IB programmes in Houston, Ras Al Khaimah, Kuala Lumpur and Naples, and then built a continuum in Bee Cave. I work on the documentation half of that job. Connecting.

Day 2, first message

Hi David, four countries and four systems, and I would bet the same thing broke in all of them: the PYP unit planner and the DP mark sheet never lived in the same place.

IST is now authorised across all three programmes in one building with roughly forty five staff.

Is that a tooling problem or a habits problem, in your view?

Day 5

Your strategic plan is public, which most heads would not do.

The part I keep coming back to is that a continuum only shows up for a student at the handover, G5 to G6 and G10 to DP1. That is where evidence either travels or gets retyped.

How does the handover actually work at IST right now?

Day 8

Ten or more people joined your faculty in 2026, several of them from IB schools in Poland, Hong Kong, Brazil and Kazakhstan.

Each of them arrives with a planning habit that worked at the last place.

September is the cheapest month you will ever have to make those habits the same. By February it costs a term.

Day 11, voice note, 25 seconds

"David, this is Harshit from Toddle. I am sending a voice note because you have had enough text from me. You already run Toddle on the primary side. The half I keep writing about is the DP you authorised in February, first cohort, first session in 2028. If that is already sorted, I would like to know. If it is not, fifteen minutes. Either way, tell me."

Day 15

Which programme hands your team the ugliest documentation: PYP planners, MYP projects or the DP core?

Day 20

A standing offer, with no call attached. Name the programme and I will build the tracker for it in Toddle using your published course structure, then send you what it looks like. You decide whether it is any good.

Day 30 onward

One line every ten days. Comment properly on IST posts and on anything he publishes in between, which does more than another DM. Keep going until he answers either way.

Sequence 3: Michelle Overman, LinkedIn then Email

She owns the first DP cohort, so the angle is the work and never the budget. She is the one who will tell Watson this is worth a meeting.

Day 2, connection request

Hi Michelle, you came in as DP Coordinator in 2024 and now hold MYP and DP together. I work on the platform side of exactly that job. Connecting.

Day 4

Hi Michelle, a real question, since you are running a first cohort rather than inheriting one.

What does your IA tracking actually look like right now? Most first-cohort schools I see run a spreadsheet per subject and one shared calendar, and it holds until February.

Day 9

The thing we take off coordinators is the chasing. IA deadlines, EE supervision meetings and CAS evidence sit in one place with the dates attached, so you are reviewing rather than collecting.

Would that have changed how you scoped this year, or is the system already set?

Day 14, email, subject: before the first IA deadline

Hi Michelle,

Is this worth fifteen minutes before the first IA deadline rather than after it?

If it is not for you, say so. If it is, you are the one who would feel the difference first, not David.

Harshit

Day 21 onward

One line every two weeks in the same email thread. Same rule: keep going until she answers either way. If she replies and Watson has not, she becomes the thread and Watson becomes the copy line.

Sequence 4: Ewelina MacDonald, LinkedIn

This opens on day 12. She has no budget, so the only ask is an opinion. She is also the cheapest thread to keep warm for three years.

Day 12

Hi Ewelina, you coordinate the PYP and teach Grade 4. You were a PYP Coordinator, head teacher and principal in Warsaw before this, so you know both sides of that trade.

Which one loses when the week gets hard?

Day 18

I ask because the collecting is the part we removed. Planners, evidence and portfolios sit in one place, so coordination happens in the review rather than in the chase.

Happy to show you and let you decide whether it is worth mentioning upstairs. No pitch, and nothing to sit through.

Day 30 onward

Monthly, one line. This is the slowest thread and the least important this quarter, but it is the one most likely to matter at renewal.

Sequence 5: The Experiment

This opens on day 30 with Watson. He is a top-ten account, so it could open on day 0 instead and skip the polite version. Six touches, one lever each, dated.

Day 30, LinkedIn, restrained compliment, 6 out of 10

You published a contact guide that tells parents exactly who to email and in what order. Most schools publish a directory and hope. That is a real decision about people's time.

No "incredible school". One specific choice, acknowledged flatly, then stop.

Day 33, email, new thread, subject: the G5 to G6 handover

Hi David,

There is one thing about continuum schools that I would bet is true at IST.

A Grade 5 student finishes the PYP exhibition with two years of evidence attached to them. In August, they walk into the MYP and their new teacher starts from a conversation rather than from the record.

The transcript survives the handover. The learning history does not.

Am I close?

Harshit

Day 36, LinkedIn, hyper-specific commonality

You have run schools in Malaysia, the UAE, Houston and Naples. I am writing to Bee Cave from Gurgaon. Between us, that is a lot of evenings spent on someone else's clock.

It is also why I keep writing at odd hours. That is not a strategy, just a time zone.

Day 40, email, reply on the day 33 thread, the WDYM line

Your continuum is authorised across three programmes and coordinated by two people, one of whom teaches Grade 4.

Twenty words. Do not explain it in the same message. Alternates, one per account, never two:

The DP you authorised in February is the only programme at IST without a system.

Your newest programme is being run by your busiest person.

The first May session is 2028, and the documentation for it started last month.

Day 44, LinkedIn, the personal thread

Rule: there is never an ask in this thread. It reacts to something published or to the season, and it never follows up on anything.

Trip Week to Japan with an upper school that is two years old. That is confident programming. Did the students choose it, or did you?

Day 48, LinkedIn voice note, 25 seconds, the close the experiment earns

"David, this is the last one in this shape. You have had two threads from me this month, one about your DP and one about your school, and I would rather they merged than competed. The offer is the build: name a programme, I construct the tracker in Toddle from your published course structure and send it over, with no call attached. If the answer is no, say no and I will go back to commenting on the Japan photos."

Day 10: The Call

The front desk is (512) 351-3403, open 7:30 to 4:00 Central. Never call between 7:45 and 8:15, which is drop-off. The best window is 1:00 to 2:30 Central, which is 11:30pm to 1:00am in Gurgaon, so block it properly.

Ask for Dr. Watson's office. If you are gatekept, the honest line is that you write to him about the DP authorisation and want to know who owns the platform decision. Take Michelle Overman as a redirect and treat it as a win.

Voicemail, fifteen seconds:

"David, this is Harshit from Toddle. You authorised the DP in February and your school already runs Toddle on the primary side, so I have been writing about the half that is not connected yet. I sent a ninety second video. I will try you on Thursday, or beat me to it on [number]."

The Replies You Will Get

Before Day 0

• Run d.watson, m.overman and e.macdonald through Apollo to verify that the pattern holds.
• Confirm the current Toddle plan, seat count, renewal date and whether DP Core is live with the account's Toddle Buddy, because this changes the day 0 email.
• Read the Strategic Plan 2024-2029 on Issuu end to end before writing day 5 or day 6.
• Subscribe to the News and Stories page and follow the school on LinkedIn and Instagram on day minus one.
• Confirm whether Gené goes by Racinskas or Giraudeau before the day 50 contingency.
• Build the Loom against a live continuum school account rather than a blank sandbox, because a blank sandbox is what everyone else sends.

Full Call Script: How Most Calls Will Go

Most calls will not follow a perfect script.

David may answer while doing something else, give short answers, ask why I am calling, or try to get off the phone. The objective is to keep the conversation natural and earn the next thirty seconds.

The conversation below is the most likely path if David answers and gives some level of engagement.

Opening

Harshit:

"David, Harshit from Toddle. I know I'm catching you out of the blue. Can I take twenty seconds to tell you why I called?"

David:

"Sure, go ahead."

Harshit:

"You already use Toddle on the primary side, and I noticed IST was authorised for the DP in February. The first cohort is underway now, so I was curious whether the DP side is already running in Toddle too, or whether I'm looking in the wrong place."

David:

"Well, we're using a few different things. I don't know that we've moved everything into Toddle."

Harshit:

"Got it. Where does most of that live today?"

David:

"Probably Drive, spreadsheets, different things for different departments."

Harshit:

"That makes sense. And is Michelle mainly managing that?"

David:

"Yes, Michelle is heavily involved."

Harshit:

"Right. I saw she's holding both MYP and DP coordination."

David:

"She is."

Moving Into Discovery

Harshit:

"So I'm curious, with the first DP cohort, what's been the harder part so far? Keeping track of the actual requirements, or getting everyone to keep their documentation updated?"

David:

"I'd say probably the latter. There's a lot going on."

Harshit:

"Yeah. Especially when it's the first cohort and you're building the process as you go."

David:

"Exactly."

Harshit:

"How are you handling that today? Is Michelle chasing individual teachers, or do you have a central process?"

David:

"There's a process, but obviously we're still refining it."

Harshit:

"That's probably what I was trying to understand."

Pause.

"You don't really have a legacy DP system to migrate because this is the first cohort. So the question isn't really 'how do we move everything?' It's more 'where do we want this workflow to live before it gets bigger?'"

Introducing Toddle

David:

"Right."

Harshit:

"That's the reason I called. Toddle already has a footprint at IST, so I'm not suggesting another platform for the sake of it. The question is whether it makes sense to extend what you're already using into the DP workflow."

David:

"What exactly would that cover?"

Harshit:

"For the DP side, things like the core, subject-specific IAs and EAs, EE supervision and the documentation around the programme. And if you ever wanted to go further, Ultimate adds the AI and accreditation layer."

Pause.

"But I don't want to turn this into a product tour over the phone."

Qualification

Harshit:

"From what you've said, does this actually sound like a problem worth solving, or is the current setup working well enough?"

David:

"I'd say we're managing it. It's not a huge problem."

Harshit:

"Fair."

Pause.

"Is that because the process is genuinely working, or because you've got bigger things to worry about right now?"

David:

"Probably a bit of both."

Harshit:

"That's fair."

"Then I probably wouldn't suggest doing anything immediately. What would make this more relevant for you? The first IA deadlines, the October board cycle, or when you're thinking about 2027-28?"

David:

"Probably budget planning for next year."

The Meeting Ask

Harshit:

"That makes sense."

"Would it be useful to spend fifteen minutes before that and actually look at what the DP workflow could look like inside the Toddle environment you're already using?"

David:

"Maybe. What would you show me?"

Harshit:

"Very little, honestly. I'd show you the DP core, the IA workflow and the EE piece. You tell me whether it actually solves anything for Michelle. If it doesn't, we're done."

David:

"Okay. Send me something first."

Harshit:

"Absolutely. I'll send you the ninety second walkthrough I mentioned. Then if it looks relevant, we can pick it up from there."

David:

"Sounds good."

Harshit:

"Perfect. I'll send that over. Thanks, David."

If David Tries to End the Call Early

A more common version will be:

David:

"Harshit, I'm actually in the middle of something. Can you just send me an email?"

Harshit:

"Of course. One thing before I let you go so I don't send you something useless. Is the DP already inside Toddle, or is that still being managed elsewhere?"

David:

"Still elsewhere."

Harshit:

"Perfect. That's all I needed. I'll send you the DP piece rather than the general Toddle stuff."

This creates a useful micro-commitment without trying to keep someone on the phone against their will.

If David Says They Are Happy With Their Current System

David:

"We're pretty happy with how we're doing it."

Harshit:

"That's good. Then I don't want to create a problem where there isn't one."

Pause.

"Can I ask what you like about the current setup?"

Let him answer.

Then:

"And what's the one thing you'd change if you could?"

The answer determines whether there is actually a sales opportunity.

If there isn't:

"That's helpful. I'll leave it there."

If there is:

"That's actually the piece I was hoping to understand. Would it be worth seeing how we handle that inside Toddle?"

If David Becomes Curious

Sometimes the prospect will ask:

David:

"Why are you specifically calling us?"

Harshit:

"Three things stood out."

"You're already using Toddle."

"You've just started your first DP cohort."

"And Michelle is carrying both MYP and DP."

"So I thought the timing was more interesting than a generic 'here's what Toddle does' conversation."

Then stop.

Let David react.

If David Asks About Price

David:

"What's the cost?"

Harshit:

"It depends on the number of users and which plan makes sense, so I don't want to make up a number."

"There are three plan levels, and there are also two and three year options."

"If you tell me roughly what the team looks like, I can bring the actual number to the conversation."

If he insists:

"I'd rather give you the real number than quote something that doesn't apply to IST. The fifteen minutes would be enough to scope that."

If Michelle Answers Instead

Michelle:

"Hello?"

Harshit:

"Hi Michelle, Harshit from Toddle. I know this is a cold call. Can I take twenty seconds?"

Michelle:

"Sure."

Harshit:

"You came into IST as DP Coordinator and now you're holding both MYP and DP. I noticed this is the school's first DP cohort, so I had a very specific question."

"How are you actually tracking IAs and EE supervision right now?"

Michelle:

"We have spreadsheets and some shared documents."

Harshit:

"That's what I was wondering."

"What's harder for you: keeping the deadlines visible, or getting teachers to keep everything updated?"

Michelle:

"Probably getting everyone to keep it updated."

Harshit:

"Yeah. That's usually where the coordination becomes the work."

"That's the part we can take out of the process in Toddle. Rather than me explaining it now, would it be useful to show you what that workflow looks like?"

The Most Important Part of the Call

The script is a guide, not something to read word for word.

The actual conversation should follow this pattern:

Interrupt → earn permission → ask one real question → listen → ask a deeper question → confirm the problem → introduce Toddle → test relevance → ask for the next step.

The prospect should be speaking more than the rep.

The biggest mistake would be turning this into:

"Hi David, I'm Harshit from Toddle. We are an IB platform used by 2,500+ schools and we help schools save teachers time..."

That turns the call into a pitch before the prospect has given us a reason to pitch.

The better outcome is:

David: "Actually, yes. That's something Michelle is dealing with."

At that point, the prospect has created the reason for the meeting themselves.