St. Stephen's Episcopal School

Several seniors are stepping into the classroom this fall with new perspectives on their passions and career interests, thanks to summer experiences made possible by the Spartan Alumni office and our Parents’ Association’s Spartan Engage program.

Learn more from Marygrace Beinke ’25 and Rebecca Cole ’25: https://tinyurl.com/4yrnabe9

From 6th graders to seniors, it’s been a blast welcoming each and every Spartan to The Hill. Let’s make it a great year!

Help us give a warm St. Stephen’s welcome to our new and returning boarding students from near and far! ❤️💜 Last week, our International Program welcomed 42 new international students from 20 different countries. A 4-day orientation called Venture helps support these new Spartans as they start acclimating to their new home away from home on The Hill.🫶🏽

St. Stephen’s begins the new 2024-25 academic year welcoming new faculty, coaching staff members and commending others on their new positions within the school. Meet our new Spartans and join us in congratulating them!

Read about our new team members and transitions: https://tinyurl.com/mptuy2ch
Learn about our new Spartan coaches: https://tinyurl.com/583v64p4

Happy Austin Pride Day 2024 🏳️‍🌈
In alignment with our mission to strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being, we celebrate and proudly support the LGBTQIA++ community both on and off campus. We at St. Stephen's value service to the local and global communities, respect for the earth, and the uniqueness of every member of our community.

💫 You’re invited to Austin Under the Stars 💫

THIS Saturday, August 10 • 7:30-11:30 p.m. • 6500 St. Stephen’s Drive, Austin, 78746

St. Stephen’s excited to welcome Austin astronomers, astronomy enthusiasts and curious stargazers to our campus football field for this free Austin Astronomical Society (AAS) event. Join dozens of amateur and experienced astronomers who will be set up on the field with their high-end telescopes ready to see the celestial wonders visible in our night sky and answer questions. 🔭🌖🪐✨🌎

More details: https://tinyurl.com/32bpx37e

Olympians have called St. Stephen's home. ⭐ Shoutout to Olympic alum Dr. Lennie Waite '04 who currently serves on the Paris 2024 Olympic Committee, where she plays a key role in creating mental health services for track and field athletes. And shoutout to Spartan Olympic contenders who came extremely close to representing Team USA in Paris: Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen '16 and Longhorn swimmer Coby Carrozza '20.

Read more about Lennie's journey on page 38 in the summer Spartan magazine and see our mention of both Jarrett and Coby: https://tinyurl.com/3ykxjnbc

Win the gold with us! 🏅 The deadline to give to the 2023-24 Annual Fund is July 31 at midnight CST. If you've already supported our St. Stephen's team, thank you! If not, please consider a gift to help us surpass our $1.75 million goal. Your gift strengthens every aspect of the student and faculty experience on The Hill and allows St. Stephen's to make choices, not compromises.

Click here to give now: sstx.org/givenow

From The Hill to NPR's Tiny Desk, Maya Sampleton '16 is striking the right cords in her professional music career. 🎤 🌟 The Columbia University graduate says this is only the beginning, and is grateful to the Spartan community for giving her the confidence she needed to excel on the basketball court and the stage.

Read the full story in the Summer 2024 Spartan Magazine (page 40) or here: https://tinyurl.com/24hx8nvs

If you're in the Austin area, don't miss Maya performing soon at the "Drop In" free outdoor summer concert series at the Long Center in Austin. Stay tuned to our stories, and we'll let you know when Austin City Limits Radio announces the day she'll be hitting the stage as the headliner.

Spartan families! The deadline to register for pre-season fine arts workshops, fall sports camps and private lessons is quickly approaching on July 31.

Access the registration forms on our Back to School page here: https://www.sstx.org/back-to-school

(That’s where you can also find orientation schedules, summer reading lists, our laptop policy and school supply lists.)

St. Stephen's students harness the power of YES, as instructors inspire them to explore, create and discover something new through Senior Independent Projects.

Read more about this impactful program and the endowment that makes it possible in the latest issue of the Spartan Magazine (pages 17-19).

Digital story here: https://tinyurl.com/5x3ehzht

This fall, our Upper School students will be designing these 3D printed mooncakes 🥮 in Hai Zheng Olefsky’s Chinese language classes to coincide with the Moon Festival in September. 🌕

The Associate Director of the St. Stephen’s International Program and Coordinator of Chinese Language Studies was recently invited to share about this unique classroom project at the prestigious Asia Society National Chinese Language Conference in California, which combines Chinese culture and cutting edge technology.

Read the full story: https://tinyurl.com/mr8nmsah

Flashback Friday 📸 Capture the fun these young photographers had during Spartan Summer Camp ’24. Professional photographer, SSES Fine Arts instructor and Spartan alum Chris Caselli ’82 introduced campers to pinhole cameras, the darkroom, Photoshop editing and the beautiful campus trails (including the Gulch!) where they hiked and tested their eye for nature photography.

Once a Spartan, always a Spartan.❤️💜 We are forever grateful to our talented and devoted retiring faculty and staff members who have given decades of service to the St. Stephen’s community. Recent retirees include:

Cynthia Bartek
Cathy Crane
De Wayne "DJ" Jackson
Gale Peña
Marcelina Rodriguez
Karen Smith
Charles Warlick '83

Don't miss a special tribute to this group in the latest issue of the Spartan Magazine (pages 20-21). Read online: https://tinyurl.com/2wwzu9ra

We are extremely proud of our newest alumni, the Class of 2024. These 129 graduates will soon be matriculating to 72 colleges in 23 states and one international campus.

Read more about their accomplishments in our newest issue of the Spartan Magazine, out now! Enjoy the digital version here: https://tinyurl.com/2wwzu9ra

This week St. Stephen’s hosted the residential RTG Academy LLC Keepers of the Americas Goalkeeping Camp. From the soccer field to our dorms to our delicious dining hall, it’s been a blast having these campers and coaches on campus!

📸: RTG Academy

Time flies when you’re having fun! That’s a wrap on Spartan Summer Camp '24. A big shout out to all of our coaches, instructors and especially Shane Maguire and Andy Lopez '14 who take the lead on making the magic happen every June. We are grateful for your dedication and passion for impacting the lives of our campers.

📸: Kim Maguire Photography

Have you or someone you know dreamed of working at our exceptional independent boarding and day school in Austin, Texas? We are currently hiring for the following positions:

-Accounts Receivable Specialist (Business Office)
-Accounts Payable Associate (Business Office)
-Leadership Giving Officer (Advancement Office)
-Custodian/Housekeeping
-Seasonal Athletic Coaches
-Social Media and Digital Marketing Specialist (Marketing & Communications Office)

Learn more and apply here: https://www.sstx.org/about/employment

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recently announced their National Medalists and four are from St. Stephen's!🏅🎉Congratulations to Gracie Morton ’25 who won two National Scholastic Gold Medals, and Jasmine Li ’24, Isabella Messina ’24 and Jolie Stough ’25 who each received a National Scholastic Silver Medal.

Read the full story, including the artist statements about each winning piece: https://tinyurl.com/yc7426ab

Today, St. Stephen’s – the first integrated boarding school in the South – observes and celebrates Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day. This monumental day in our nation’s history commemorates the final emancipation of all enslaved people in the United States.

We observe this important day as a school community, and remain deeply committed to upholding and advancing our founders’ bold, progressive vision for a diverse, inclusive and equitable school community that respects and celebrates the unique individuality and dignity of every human being.

That’s a wrap on week✌🏼of Spartan Summer Camp! Campers are having a blast in the gyms, on the fields, in the classrooms and on our trails.

Spots are filling fast for our half-day and full-day sessions in June.

Register here: https://www.sstx.org/campus-life/summer-camps

Our St. Stephen’s solar panel program and Austin Energy partnership was recently featured in the Austin Business Journal, along with this stunning shot of campus–captured by one of our talented students (Alexander Agrawal ’25) with a self-built drone.

☀️ From March 2023-March 2024, our more than 1,000 solar panels have saved more than $65,000. 💡

Read the full story: https://tinyurl.com/app

Spartan families! Our Back to School page is live. It’s your one-stop shop for summer reading lists, important dates, orientation schedules, preseason sports and fine arts camps — and more!

Visit the page and be sure to check back periodically as we add new info:

https://www.sstx.org/back-to-school

Congratulations to our 2024 National Merit Scholarship winner Jorik Dammann ’24! 🎉 As a Merit Scholar, Dammann will receive a $2,500 college scholarship for academic excellence. The 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 high school Finalists in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Summer break is in sight, but there’s still lots of action happening in our labs. Swipe to see our 6th graders dissecting squids in Mr. Russ Glenn’s science class as part of their living organisms unit. 🦑 Students have been comparing the anatomy of different organisms to humans and learning the various roles they play in an ecosystem.

☀️ Spartan Summer Camp kicks off one week from today! ⚽️ 🏀 🥁🎾 🎭 🎬 🏐🏑

We’ve still got a few spots left in our full and half-day camps during the month of June. Full-day sessions for ages 6-18, taught by many longtime St. Stephen’s instructors and coaches, include lunch and swimming.🏖️🍦

Basketball
Soccer
Football
Tennis
Field Hockey
Volleyball
Mountain Biking

French Baking
Vacation Camp in Spanish
Lore Adventures
Chinese Language and Cultural Camp
Creative Writing
Investment Camp

Texas Jazz & Blues
Drums & Percussion
Intensive Acting for the Camera
Photography

Register here:
https://www.sstx.org/campus-life/summer-camps