St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School

Infobox Secondary school
name = St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School

motto = Living Our Mission
established = 1924
type = Independent preparatory school
category_label =
category =
affiliation = Episcopalian
president =
chairman_label = Lower School Division Director and Assistant Head of School
chairman = Bob Weiman
head_label = Head of School
head = Joan G. Holden
faculty =
teaching_staff =
enrollment = 1,155 (450 in Upper School)
students =
grades_label =
grades = JK - 12
address =
city = Alexandria
state = Virginia
country =
accreditation =
campus =
colors = Red, White, Green, Gold
color box|Red color box|White color box|Green color box|Yellow
athletics = Boys: Interstate Athletic Conference
Girls: Independent School League
mascot =
emblem =
yearbook = Traditions
newspaper = The Voice
free_label_1 = Contact
free_1 = [e-mail]
website = [http://www.sssas.org/ www.sssas.org]
nickname = Saints
footnotes =
picture =
image_caption =

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School is an independent Episcopal coed private school in Alexandria, Virginia. It was created from the 1991 merger of St. Agnes School (a girls' school founded in 1924) with St. Stephen's School (a boys' school founded in 1944). The School consists of three campuses within a 1.5 mile radius. The Lower School, grades JK-5, is located on Fontaine Street; the Middle School, grades 6-8, is located on Braddock Road; and the Upper School, grades 9-12, is located on St. Stephen's Road.

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School serves students from across Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Currently enrolled students hail from the City of Alexandria, Arlington County, the City of Fairfax and Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Prince William County, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, and the District of Columbia. The old St. Stephen's was one of the founding schools of the Interstate Athletic Conference, a league composed of private schools that once dominated the region's high school sports scene. With strong emphases on academics, arts, athletics, and community service, SSSAS regularly sends graduates to the Ivy League and other elite private colleges and universities. St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School also boasts a strong alumni network for graduates.

History

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School, one of the six Episcopal Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, has a long tradition of providing an excellent college preparatory education in Northern Virginia. The school began as two separate single-sex schools, St. Agnes, founded in 1924, and St. Stephen's, founded in 1944.

Established by a group of Alexandria Episcopalians, both schools' original aims included the intellectual, physical, and moral development of students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade. Over the years each school established its own curriculum and developed its own rich traditions, often coming together as brother-sister schools on important academic, athletic, and social occasions. Both schools instituted an Honor Code, which remains in place to this day.

During the years of the New Deal and World War II, the burgeoning population of the Washington, D. C. area caused enormous growth in the number of students at St. Agnes. It became clear that Lloyd House, the historic property housing both the school and its small boarding department, would no longer be adequate.

Under the direction of Helen Arny Macan, Headmistress 1934-1952, Roberta C. McBride, Headmistress 1952-1977, and Robert E. Leipheimer, Headmaster 1977-1983, the school undertook various building programs that created Macan, Daniel, McBride, and MacKinnon Halls. As Headmaster of St. Stephen's from 1955-1975, The Reverend Emmett H. Hoy, Jr. oversaw the school's building program that resulted in the move in 1957 from its original small site on Russell Road to its new campus on St. Stephen's Road.

In 1991, the two schools merged to become one co-educational Episcopal day school with one administration and two campuses. Joan G. Ogilvy Holden, Head of St. Agnes from 1984-1991, was appointed Head of the new St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School. The old St. Agnes and St. Stephen's campuses underwent extensive renovations in preparation for the merger, and a third campus was created in 1995 when the acquisition and renovation of the former Ascension Academy property on Braddock Road enabled the Middle School to move to its own campus. The spectacular new Chapel/Performing Arts Center was built on the Upper School campus in 2003 upon the completion of the New Century Fund, directed by the Board of Governors and Mrs. Holden.

Since its beginning the school has grown to include 1144 students from diverse backgrounds and a talented faculty and staff of more than 200 men and women whose aims for their students include high standards of academic and artistic achievement, moral growth and behavior, service to others, and athletic endeavor. While St. Stephen's & St. Agnes students undergo rigorous preparation for college, the school equally promotes the good character, spiritual development, and social awareness embraced by the Episcopal school tradition.

Honor Code

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School is known for its renowned student-established honor system. Its foundation, the Honor Code, states, "As a member of the St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School community, I pledge that I will not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do." The student-run Honor Council is responsible for the administration of the Honor Code in the Upper School.

Athletics

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School competes in the Interstate Athletic Conference (boys) and Independent School League (girls). The girls' lacrosse team is a perennial power, currently ranked in the top 5 in the nation, having finished the 2008 season undefeated. The school's wrestling program also has a rich history, regularly turning out state and IAC champions; three wrestlers to date have won the Lehigh National Prep Tournament, two of them twice. Many St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School's athletes go on to play at the collegiate level each year. Recent SSSAS alumni compete for Wake Forest University, Yale University, Dartmouth College, Denison University, Princeton University, Duke University, Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, Kenyon College, Georgetown University, Columbia University, Davidson College, University of Virginia, Colgate University, Amherst College, Middlebury College, Trinity College, Williams College, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Vanderbilt University, and University of Maryland, College Park, among other schools.

Arts

St. Stephen's is host to a well reputed Theater and Performing Arts program, known as Stage One Players, which has consistently staged impressive shows that have won critical acclaim, including regional Cappies awards. The school's jazz band and string orchestra also have particularly strong reputations.

In 2003, the school completed construction of a chapel and performing arts center, which includes a theater, music classrooms, a recording studio, and a music library.

Notable Alumni

*Fred Barnes (St. Stephen's Class of 1952), noted political commentator and Fox News personality
*Thomas Boswell (St. Stephen's Class of 1965), Washington Post senior sports columnist
*Tipper Gore (St. Agnes Class of 1966), née Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson
*Christopher Meloni (St. Stephen's Class of 1979), actor who portrayed sociopath Chris Keller on the salacious HBO prison drama "Oz;" he is currently seen as Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama "
*Amy Argetsinger (St. Agnes class of 1986), journalist, staff writer for the Style section of The Washington Post
* Dave Flemming (St. Stephens class of 1994), radio broadcaster for the San Francisco Giants; youngest radio broadcaster in MLB
* Terrence Wilkins, former Indianapolis Colts wide receiverAdditionally, John McCain, senator and Republican presidential candidate in 2000 and 2008, attended St. Stephen's from 1946-1949 before ultimately graduating from Episcopal High School in 1951.

External links

* [http://www.sssas.org/ St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School]
* [http://static.reunion.com/s/sts/ststephenstagnes/ St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School Reunion]