St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School (SSSAS) is an independent Episcopal coed private college preparatory school in Alexandria, Virginia. 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. Stephen's and St. Agnes School (SSSAS)
Location
Alexandria , Virginia United States
Coordinates	38°49′02″N 77°06′05″W / 38.8173°N 77.1015°W / 38.8173; -77.1015
Information
Type	Independent preparatory school
Motto	Living our Mission
Established	1924
Head of school	Kirsten Adams
Grades	JK - 12
Enrollment	1,123 (450 in Upper School)
Color(s)	Red, White, Green, Gold
Athletics	Boys: Interstate Athletic Conference Girls: Independent School League
Mascot	Saints
Newspaper	The Voice
Yearbook	Traditions
Affiliation	Episcopalian
Website	www.sssas.org

Richard B. Lloyd House

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School serves students from across Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The old St. Stephen's was one of the founding schools of the Interstate Athletic Conference.

Advanced courses offered

The school offers Advanced Placement 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.^[1]

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 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.

Athletics

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School competes in the Interstate Athletic Conference (boys) and Independent School League (girls). The girls' lacrosse team is currently ranked in the top ten in the nation, having finished the 2008 season undefeated. In 1997 the girls' lacrosse team was ranked No. 1 in the nation.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

Arts

The school theatre program, known as the Stage One Players, has won several regional awards for their performances including the Cappies. The 2009 fall production of A Midsummer Night's Dream 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.^[4] In addition, SSSAS received two Cappies nominations for the fall production of “The 39 Steps” in the Sound and Special Effects/Technology categories.^[5]

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. The school will host its ninth annual “Students For Sustainability” conference in spring 2017.^[6] The third sustainability conference earned local recognition, where a few attendees were interviewed by WTTG.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9]

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.^[10]

Notable alumni

• John McCain, senator and Republican presidential candidate in 2000 and 2008, attended St. Stephen's from 1946 to 1949 before ultimately graduating from Episcopal High School in 1954.
• Anne Mollegen Smith (St. Agnes), magazine editor and writer, née Anne Rush Mollegen^[11]
• Fred Barnes (St. Stephen's Class of 1960), political commentator and Fox News personality
• Thomas Boswell (St. Stephen's Class of 1965), Washington Post senior sports columnist
• Leo Braudy (Class of 2011), art dealer
• Tipper Gore (St. Agnes Class of 1966), née Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson
• Margaret Stender (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 on the HBO prison drama Oz and Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama Law & Order: SVU
• Amy Argetsinger (St. Agnes class of 1986), journalist, staff writer for the Style section of The Washington Post
• Jennifer Griffin (St. Agnes class of 1987), national security correspondent for Fox News
• Dave Flemming (St. Stephen's class of 1994), radio broadcaster for the San Francisco Giants
• Will Flemming, radio broadcaster for the Boston Red Sox
• Terrence Wilkins, former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver
• G. Zachary Terwilliger (Class of 1999), United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
• Steven Pruitt (Class of 2002), Wikipedia editor who has made more edits on the English Wikipedia than any other editor
• Michael Schwimer (Class of 2004), baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies
• Treat Huey (Class of 2004), professional tennis player.
• Darius Manora (Class of 2013), captain 2016 Yale football team^[12]

References

1. "Private School Review: St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School". Private School Review: St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School.
2. Nelson, Jeff (17 May 2009). "Saints Win Third Straight VISAA Title". Saints Win Third Straight VISAA Title.
3. "Private School Review: St. Stephen's and St. Agnes". Private School Review: St. Stephen's and St. Agnes.
4. "Seniors Receive a Cappies Award". 12 June 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
5. "SSSAS Receives Two Cappies Nominations". 20 May 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
6. "Students For Sustainability Conference". Students For Sustainability Conference.
7. "Students Learn Environmental Responsibility at Students For Sustainability Conference". Students Learn Environmental Responsibility at Students For Sustainability Conference.
8. "Sustainability S4S". Sustainability S4S.
9. . Alexandria News. Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
10. . Alexandria News. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
11. Blau, Eleanor (1 September 1989). "McCall's gets editor in chief". New York Times. New York, New York. p. D4. Retrieved 6 December 2022. A native of Meridian, Miss., she graduated from the St. Agnes School in Alexandria, Va., and received a B.A. in English literature from Smith College. She is a past president of the Women's Media Society and has written articles and poetry.
12. THE GAME program, Nov. 19, 2016, Harvard Football News, pg. 38, by line, Steve Conn