St. Stephen's Episcopal School (Austin, Texas)

St. Stephen's Episcopal School
Address
6500 St. Stephen's Drive
Austin, Texas 78746
United States
Coordinates 30°19′49.04″N 97°48′58.78″W / 30.3302889°N 97.8163278°W / 30.3302889; -97.8163278Coordinates: 30°19′49.04″N 97°48′58.78″W / 30.3302889°N 97.8163278°W / 30.3302889; -97.8163278
Information
Type Private, Boarding
Religious affiliation(s) Episcopalian
Denomination Episcopal
Founded 1950
Founder Bishop John E. Hines
Authority Episcopal Diocese of Texas
CEEB code 44315
Chairperson The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle
Head of school Chris Gunnin
Staff 75
Grades 6‒12
Gender Coed
Enrollment 691
Average class size 16
Student to teacher ratio 8:1
Education system College Preparatory
Campus size 370 acres (150 ha)
Campus type Suburban
School color(s) Purple and Red
Athletics Various
Athletics conference Southwest Preparatory Conference Division II
Mascot Spartan
Team name Spartans
Endowment $13.1 million
Tuition $28,390 (Upper)
Website http://www.sstx.org/

St. Stephen's Episcopal School is a private coeducational preparatory boarding and day school in Austin, Texas. Enrollment is approximately 690, with roughly 490 in Grades 9–12 and 200 in Grades 6–8. Its campus overlooking Lake Austin is spread over 370 acres (1.5 km2) of the Texas Hill Country.[1] The school is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS).

History

Bishop John E. Hines of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas founded St. Stephen's Episcopal School in 1950 with the support of the Episcopal Church. He was once quoted as saying that it was the duty of Christians "to live on the bleeding edge of the human dilemma, and to bear the exquisite penalty of such an exposed position". The school played a minor part in the 20th-century Civil Rights Movement as the first co-educational Episcopal school in the United States and the first integrated boarding school in the South.[2]

The early years of the school were marked by internal and external struggles. Although today it is situated at the western edge of the city of Austin and surrounded by affluent housing developments, for many years the school was isolated. A number of its early buildings were constructed by local "cedar choppers", with the assistance of students and staff members, using locally-available materials. This rugged environment led students to nickname themselves "Spartans", which became the school's mascot.

Governance

St. Stephen's is overseen by a board of trustees, comprising alumni and community leaders. Day-to-day operations of the school are overseen by a head of school, who is appointed by the board of trustees with the consent of the Bishop of Texas. The current headmaster is Christopher L. Gunnin.

Religion

Since the school is religious, chapel services are held in the early noons, in the form of a traditional Episcopalian worship service, sometimes featuring guest speakers and announcements. A weekly Sunday morning church service takes place during the school year, and boarding students are required to attend. Prayers are also offered after meals and on important occasions.

Unlike many church-affiliated schools, in its theology classes St. Stephen's gives equal treatment to the beliefs of other religions.

The school is served by an Episcopal chaplain, the Rev. Todd FitzGerald and Adam Varner.

Academics

Every student at St. Stephen's is assigned a faculty advisor, who approves the student's course schedule and is responsible for ensuring his or her academic progress. The group of students assigned to each faculty member are known as an "advisory," and often meet jointly with the advisor or to take part in group activities. Morning advisories also serve the purpose of verifying attendance. In the middle school, the advisory meetings are held once a week on Wednesdays, whereas in the upper school, advisory meetings are held every day before chapel.

The academic year at St. Stephen's is organized into three terms: Fall, Winter, and Spring. Each is punctuated by a series of breaks, including "free weekends", which are extended holidays designed to accommodate boarding students, and fall and spring breaks. Final examinations are held at the end of both the Fall and Spring terms. Classes are held five days a week on a seven day block schedule that ensures that course periods will be held at different times on different days. Until Fall 1973, classes were also held on Saturday mornings.

Instead of traditional marks, St. Stephen's uses a system of letter grades devised by the school, known as HVGPUX. In this system, grades 96 and above are classified as "honors", 90-95 as "very good", 80–89 as "good", 71–79 as "passing", 70 as "unsatisfactory", and anything below 55 as "X", which is failing. Under this system, a grade of 90, or "V", roughly corresponds to an "A" under the standard grading system. Students are not assigned a grade point average, and it is rare for students to be awarded an "H" or "H+" grade. Grades of "V−" and above qualify for the honor roll, and grades of "H−" and above for the high honor roll, although a student may sometimes be placed on the honor roll through the practice of allowing an "H−" mark to pull up a "G+" mark; however, if more than one grade of G+ or below is present on the student's report card, honor roll status is denied. Students who remain on the honor or high honor roll during their last two years at school graduate with honors or high honors, respectively.

Although instructors in some subjects often use number grades to mark coursework, the only grade on the student's transcript will be a letter grade, which may be accompanied by a "+" or "−" sign to indicate its position within the grade range. Additionally, each instructor prepares a written evaluation on the student that is shared with the student, his or her parents and his advisor. In some classes, particularly those in the humanities and social sciences, no number grades are ever used.

Until the graduating class of 2012, all seniors were required to write two papers on the literary themes of various books by a single author, known as the "author papers." This requirement was replaced with a "novel project", a series of three comprehensive papers on three novels and one text (play, movie, novel, etc.) exploring a singular theme. A smaller version of this paper on short stories, rather than entire books, is required of all juniors and has come to be known as the "Junior author paper". Eighth graders are also required to complete a special project in order to advance to the Upper School, and in addition students completing grades 6–12 are required to take theology at least twice during their academic career, in 8th and 12th grades.

Each student is also required to participate in some sort of physical activity per term, either a sport or PE, and to take at least one full credit of fine arts. Most fine arts (dance, art, choir, band, etc.) are only a half credit; however, some are a full credit.

A number of prizes and medals for academics and athletics are awarded to St. Stephen's students each year. The Bishop's Medal is awarded to the student with the highest level of academic achievement.

Athletics

St. Stephen's is aligned with the Southwest Preparatory Conference (Division II, South Zone), the athletic organization for several private high schools in Texas and Oklahoma.

It is also home to the Chrysalis dance company, which is directed by Deirdre Strand.[3]

Alumni

Notable alumni, in order of the most recent year of attendance (if known), then alphabetically by last name:

References

  1. ↑ "Overview & Quick Facts". St. Stephen's Episcopal School. Retrieved 2014-12-30.
  2. ↑ https://www.sstx.org/page/list-detail?pk=99953&fromId=225516
  3. ↑ "Dance". St. Stephen's Episcopal School. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
  4. ↑ "Jarrett Allen, St. Stephen's Episcopal , Power Forward". 247Sports. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
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