St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School (SSSAS) is an independent

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...

coed

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

college preparatory school in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

. The school 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. Stephens & St. Agnes honor code is "I will not lie, cheat, or steal nor tolerate those who do". St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School serves students from across Northern Virginia,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The old St. Stephen's was one of the founding schools of the

Interstate Athletic Conference The Interstate Athletic Conference is an all-boys high school sports league made up of six private high schools in the Washington, D.C., area, competing in twelve varsity sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, ice hockey, lac ...

Statistics

Advanced courses offered

The school offers

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

courses in Art History, Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Comparative Government, Computer Science, Economics (Micro and Macro), English, European History, French Language, Latin, Music Theory, Physics, Psychology, Spanish Language, Spanish Literature, Statistics, Studio 2-D Art, Studio 3-D Art, US Government and Politics, US History and World History.

Statistics

There are 1120 students enrolled at SSSAS, twenty-eight percent are students of color. Twenty-two percent of students receive grants in aid. Sixty-five percent of the faculty hold advanced degrees.

Administration

The school is governed by a Head of School, Kirsten Prettyman Adams, an Assistant Head of School, Bob Weiman, and a Board of Governors. The Board of Governors consists of 27 members. Twenty-three members are elected, two serve

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

and do not have voting rights, and two are non-voting members of the Association of Parents and Teachers and the Alumni Association. The Board is primarily responsible for the school's finances and determines the school's long-term policies.

Honor code

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School is known for its student-established honor system, which is modeled after the honor system at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. 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. Every year in the fall, at the beginning of the school year, students pledge their commitment to the Honor System by signing copies of the Honor Code.

Athletics

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School competes in the

(boys) and

Independent School League Independent School League or ISL may refer to: * Independent School League (Illinois), a group of nine Chicago-area preparatory schools * Independent School League (New England), a group of 16 New England preparatory schools * Independent School Le ...

(girls). The girls'

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

team is a perennial power, currently ranked in the top ten in the nation, having finished the 2008 season undefeated. In 1997 the girls' lacrosse team was ranked #1 in the nation. The 2010 girls' varsity lacrosse won the ISL league title and the VISAA State Championships. Then in 2009, the girls' lacrosse team won their third consecutive VISAA title as number one. The sports offered include: baseball, basketball, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.

Arts

The school theatre program, known as the Stage One Players, has won several regional awards for their performances including the

Cappies The Cappies (Critics and Awards Program) is an international program for recognizing, celebrating, and providing learning experiences for high school theater and journalism students and teenage playwrights. There are currently 13 Cappies programs i ...

. The 2009 fall production of ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' was nominated for four Cappie Awards (Critics and Artist Program) including lighting, make-up, and supporting actor, putting each in the top five out of 54 productions. In 2015 SSSAS was nominated for five Cappies for the "Richard III" production. Two seniors won a Cappies award in the Creativity category for music composition and performance. In addition, SSSAS received two Cappies nominations for the fall production of “The 39 Steps” in the Sound and Special Effects/Technology categories. In 2003, the school completed construction of a Chapel and Performing Arts Center (CPAC).

Sustainability

Students For Sustainability

St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School has a drive for

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

. The school will host its ninth annual “Students For Sustainability” conference in spring 2017. The third sustainability conference earned local recognition, where a few attendees were interviewed on by Fox 5 reporters. Students For Sustainability is a conference in which approximately 100 students from the Washington D.C. metro area come together to learn about the issues and discuss plans for achieving better sustainability in schools.

Recognition

The 2016 Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award has been presented to St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School in Alexandria. The award was presented during the Alexandria Earth Day celebration on April 30, an event sponsored by the City of Alexandria Environmental Policy Commission and Alexandria Renew Enterprises. St. Stephen's & St. Agnes Middle School was selected as a 2016 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School. This is a national environmental sustainability award presented to schools, districts, and post-secondary institutions. Secretary of Education John King announced the honorees on Earth Day, April 22, 2016. Only six private schools were selected this year and SSSAS is the only one from Virginia, the District of Columbia or Maryland. SSSAS was formally presented with the award on July 20, 2016, in Washington, DC.

Notable alumni

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and Republican

presidential candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, attended St. Stephen's from 1946 to 1949 before ultimately graduating from Episcopal High School in 1954. *

Anne Mollegen Smith Anne Mollegen Smith is an American magazine editor, and writer. She was the first woman to serve as editor-in-chief of ''Redbook''. Early life and background Anne Rush Mollegen was born in Meridian, Mississippi, the youngest of two children of ...

(St. Agnes), magazine editor and writer, née Anne Rush Mollegen * Fred Barnes (St. Stephen's Class of 1960), political commentator and Fox News personality *

Thomas Boswell Thomas M. Boswell (born October 11, 1947, in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American sports columnist. Career Boswell spent his entire career at the ''Washington Post'', joining it shortly after graduating from Amherst College in 1969. He became ...

(St. Stephen's Class of 1965), ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' senior sports columnist * Leo Braudy (Class of 2011), art dealer * Tipper Gore (St. Agnes Class of 1966), née Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson *

Margaret Stender Margaret Stender is business woman and former college basketball player. She spent 21 years in the corporate business world, including being president of the ready-to-eat cereal division at Quaker Oats Company; senior vice-president and general ma ...

(St. Agnes Class of 1974), founding President and CEO of the WNBA's Chicago Sky * Gerald Fauth (St. Stephen's class of 1974), American consultant and government official * Christopher Meloni (St. Stephen's Class of 1979), actor who portrayed

Chris Keller The characters of '' Oz'', fictional characters on the television series about prison life, are a diverse mixture of inmates from various gangs and prison staff. Main inmates Key Other inmates The Aryans The Aryans are a f ...

on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

prison drama '' Oz'' and Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama '' Law & Order: SVU'' *

Amy Argetsinger Amy Argetsinger is an editor for the Style section of ''The Washington Post''. A staff writer with ''The Post'' since 1995, she covered the Maryland suburbs, higher education and later the West Coast as an L.A.-based reporter before serving eight ...

(St. Agnes class of 1986), journalist, staff writer for the Style section of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' *

Jennifer Griffin Jennifer Griffin is an American journalist who works as national security correspondent at the Pentagon for Fox News. She joined Fox News in October 1999 as a Jerusalem-based correspondent. Prior to the posting, she reported for three years from ...

(St. Agnes class of 1987), national security correspondent for Fox News *

Dave Flemming David Braxton Flemming (born May 31, 1976) is an American sportscaster who has been a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2003. Flemming also calls college football, college basketball, major leag ...

(St. Stephen's class of 1994), radio broadcaster for the San Francisco Giants *

Will Flemming William Flemming (born April 3, 1979, in Alexandria, Virginia) is an American sportscaster who broadcasts play-by-play of Boston Red Sox games with the WEEI Red Sox Radio Network alongside veteran announcer Joe Castiglione; Prior to joining WEEI ...

, radio broadcaster for the Boston Red Sox * Terrence Wilkins, former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver *

G. Zachary Terwilliger George Zachary Terwilliger (born March 22, 1981) is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia from May 25, 2018 to January 15, 2021. Education Terwilliger received his Bachelor of Arts de ...

(Class of 1999),

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the

Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, H ...

Steven Pruitt Steven Pruitt (born April 17, 1984) is an American Wikipedia editor with the highest number of edits made to the English Wikipedia, at over 5 million, having made at least one edit to one-third of all English Wikipedia articles. Pruitt first b ...

(Class of 2002),

Wikipedia editor The Wikipedia community, collectively known colloquially as Wikipedians, is an informal community that volunteers to create and maintain Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. Since August 2012, the word "Wikipedian" has been an '' Oxford Diction ...

who has made more edits on the English Wikipedia than any other editor *

Michael Schwimer Michael Fredarick Schwimer (born February 19, 1986) is an American businessperson and former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2011 and 2012. Amateur career High school In high school, Schwimer ...

(Class of 2004), baseball player for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Treat Huey Treat Conrad Huey (; born August 28, 1985) is a Filipino-American tennis player who represents the Philippines in international competitions. He turned professional in 2008 and he started representing the Philippines in the Davis Cup and the ...

(Class of 2004), professional tennis player. * Darius Manora (Class of 2013), captain 2016 Yale football teamTHE GAME program, Nov. 19, 2016, Harvard Football News, pg. 38, by line, Steve Conn

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Stephen's and Saint Agnes School Independent School League Educational institutions established in 1924 Schools in Alexandria, Virginia Private K-12 schools in Virginia Episcopal schools in the United States 1924 establishments in Virginia Preparatory schools in Virginia