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

Infobox School
name = St. Stephen's Episcopal School


caption = The official seal of St. Stephen's Episcopal School
streetaddress = 2900 Bunny Run
city = Austin
state = Texas
zipcode = 78746
country = US
coordinates = coord|30.330289|-97.816327|display=inline,title|type:edu
authority = Episcopal Diocese of Texas
religion = Christian
denomination = Anglican
founder = Bishop John Hines
head of school = Robert E. Kirkpatrick
chairperson = Rt. Rev. Don Wimberly
staff = 80
ceeb = 440315
avg_class_size = 16
ratio = 8:1
gender = Coed
type = Private
system = College Preparatory
tuition = $19,350 (Upper)
endowment = $8.2 M
budget = $18.9 M
enrollment = 652
grades = 612
campus size = convert|370|acre|abbr=on
campus type = Suburban
athletics = Various
conference = Southwest Preparatory Conference
motto = Nisi Dominus Frustra
accreditation = NAIS & others
mascot = Spartan
mascot

team_name = Spartans
school_colors = Purple and Scarlet
yearbook = "The Deacon"
founded = 1950
picture =
homepage = http://www.sstx.org/

St. Stephen's Episcopal School is a private diocesan Episcopal boarding and day school in Austin, Texas. Enrollment is approximately 650, with roughly 460 in Grades 9–12 and 190 in Grades 6–8. Its campus overlooking Lake Austin is spread over convert|370|acre|km2 of the Texas Hill Country.cite web
url=http://www.sstx.org/experiment.php?page=aboutUs
title=About Us
accessdate=2008-05-10
date=2007
work=sstx.org
publisher=St. Stephen's Episcopal School]

History

Bishop John E. Hines of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas founded St. Stephen's 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." Cast in the image of these leaders, the school has played a minor part in the 20th Century Civil Rights Movement as the first co-ed Episcopal school in the United States and the first integrated boarding school in the South.

The early years of the school were marked by internal and external struggles. Although situated today at the western edge of the city of Austin, and surrounded by affluent housing developments, for many years the school was quite isolated from the outside world. A number of the early buildings at the school 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.

During these early years, external pressures occasionally affected life at the school, with heavy pressure sometimes exerted by racists on Bishop Hines and other school officials to modify the school's position on integration. The school faced down these threats, and in 1968, following the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, the school established a scholarship in his name.

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 headmaster, who is appointed by the board of trustees with the consent of the Bishop of Texas. The current headmaster is Bob Kirkpatrick. Rules and policies of the school are adopted by the faculty at faculty meetings.

Religion

The school's chapel, walled in glass and local limestone, is designed to resemble a cross. Throughout the history of the school, morning chapel services have been held with varying frequency, sometimes three times per school week, at others, six times per school week. Morning chapel services feature prayers and commentary from guest speakers and important announcements. Additionally, a weekly church service is conducted during the school year on Sunday evenings. Boarding students are required to attend this service. Public prayers are also offered before meals, and at important occasions, but are not generally offered in other contexts. However, most sermons place an emphasis on ecumenism and are often not religious at all.

The school is served by an Episcopal Priest, designated as chaplain. Occasionally, other priests are assigned as assistant chaplains. Apart from conducting chapel services, the chaplain offers guidance and counseling to students, and often teaches several class sections.

Demographics

In the 2006–07 school year, about 170 of the 460 upper school students were boarding students from 12 U.S. states and 20 foreign countries.

Academics

Every student at St. Stephen's is assigned a faculty advisor during their time at the school. Students are required to meet with their advisor briefly each day, and at least once weekly for an extended period. Additionally, the group of students assigned to a faculty member are known as an "advisory," and often meet jointly with the advisor or to partake in group activities. Morning advisories also serve the purpose of verifying attendance. The advisor approves the student's course schedule and is responsible for ensuring his or her academic progress.

The academic year at St. Stephen's is organized into three terms, Fall, Winter and Spring. Each term is puncuated 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 each Fall and Spring Term. Classes are currently held five days a week on a rotating schedule ensures that course periods will be held at different times throughout the day, according the day of the schedule. Until the fall of 1973, classes were also held on Saturday mornings.

St. Stephen's eschews traditional marks in favor of a system of letter grades devised by the school, known as HVGPUX. In this system, grades 90 and above are classified as 'honors,' 80 and above as 'very good,' 70 and above as 'good,' 60 and above as 'passing,' 40 and above as 'unsatisfactory,' and anything below 40 as "X" for seriously failing. Under this system, a grade of 80, or "V," roughly corresponds with an "A," under the standard grading system. Although instructors often use number grades to mark coursework, the only grades reflected 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. However, in some classes, particularly those in the humanities and social sciences, no number grades are ever used. Students are not assigned a grade point average, and it is highly unusual for students to be awarded an "H" or "H+" grade, with typically no more than one awarded per class section. Additionally, each instructor prepares a written evaluation on the student that is shared with the student, his or her parents and his advisor.

At St. Stephen's, 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 are allowed to graduate with honors, or high honors, respectively.

Two papers on the literary themes of various books of a single author, known as the "author papers," are required of all Seniors. 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." Special projects are also required of 8th graders in order to advance to the Upper School. Additionally, students completing grades 6-12 will be required to take theology at least twice during their academic career: once in 8th grade, and once in 12th grade. Unlike many church-affiliated schools, theology classes at St. Stephen's give equal treatment to the beliefs of other religions.

Additionally, each student is required to participate in some sort of physical activity per term, whether it be a sport or PE, and to take at least two years of fine arts classes (or at least one year of a full-credit Fine Arts class, such as AP Music Theory or Art History).

A number of prizes and medals 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. Numerous other awards are given for achievement in academic and athletic fields.

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. [cite web
url=http://www.spcsports.org/
title=The Official Site of the Southwest Preparatory Conference
accessdate=2008-05-10
date=2007
work=spcsports.org
publisher=Southwest Preparatory Conference
quote=The Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC) consists of 18 of the finest college preparatory schools located in Texas and Oklahoma.]

tudent government

The overall body for student government is the Student Congress, which is lead by a president or co-presidents, who represent the entire student body. Each class elects two representatives (one boarding student and one day student) to the congress. The student president represents the students before the faculty and school administration, and in consultation with the student congress, develops proposals for presentation to the faculty.

Each year, a certain number of seniors are elected proctors by their peers and the faculty. These students are charged with overseeing the dormitories and conduct other staff functions for the school. Within each dormitory, a certain number of faculty living on campus are designated as house masters. These faculty members periodically check the dormitories and provide guidance and support to the boarding students. Generally, one or two of these faculty members will reside in an apartment adjacent to the dormitory.

Additionally, discipline at the school is the province of the Discipline Committee (DC), a body comprising three students and three faculty members. Students accused of an infraction of school rules go before the committee, which weighs their guilt or innocence and, as warranted, recommends punishment to the headmaster.

For many years, students at St. Stephen's were also assigned tasks known as 'school keeping' and 'table waiting.' Under the table waiting system, underclassmen were responsible for serving and clearing away food to their table. Given the school's namesake was known for serving the multitudes he sought to convert, many considered this tradition instructive. This system was abolished, however, for practical reasons when meals in the dining hall began to be served "cafeteria style," and the practice was later rendered impractical when the lunch period was divided to accommodate the growth of the school.

Examples of school keeping included cleaning class rooms, clerical work in the administration office, conducting attendance and ringing the bell that marked time at the school. Although the school still does not use a central, automatic time system, bell ringing was discontinued because it was often not timely. Late in the school year of 2004-2005 radio-synchronized clocks were installed in every classroom to aid in keeping everyone on the same schedule.

Alumni

Notable alumni, in order of the most recent year of attendance (if known), then alphabetically by last name:
* 1975 - Viola Canales, author
* 1975 - Cecile Richards, the President of Planned Parenthood
* 1975 - Boyd Vance, stage actor, director, producer
* 1994 - Lukas Haas, actor, musician
* 1997 - Lauren C. King, screenwriter,filmmaker, and founder of Angelblue Productions
* 2001 - Ross Ohlendorf, Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher (2007 - present)
* Charles C. Campbell (General)
* Ray Lynch, composer, musician, writer and mathematician
* Terrence Malick, American film director
* Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes
* William C. Powers, president of The University of Texas at Austin (2006 - present)

References

External links

* [http://www.sstx.org/ St. Stephen's Episcopal School] - Official School Website