St. Stephen's Episcopal School TX

My friend's child received this offer and another offer from Morzinsburg College, which is ranked a bit lower, this year. After comprehensive consideration, they chose the latter. My friend said they learned that this school has had some issues in recent years and isn't as good as expected.

St. Stephen's Church School has approximately 700 students. The school focuses on fostering students' moral growth, potential discovery, and character development. The academic curriculum is deeply rooted in its excellent liberal arts tradition, emphasizing both the depth and breadth of learning. All departments stress the cultivation of critical thinking and skills, requiring students to articulate their unique insights and substantiate their hypotheses. The school also encourages students to engage in independent research, offering advanced research platforms such as PIRL (Projects and Innovation Realization Lab).

Although the school is named a church school, the religious atmosphere is not strong. The school respects all faiths and traditions, supporting fairness and inclusivity.

Principal Zhan's Review: SSTX is one of the best schools in Texas, ranking 23rd on FindingSchool. This indicates that the school is highly competitive, and admission is very challenging. Although there isn't a clear cut-off score, all SSAT scores throughout the school are 92% and above. SSTX's comprehensive facilities and abundant resources are all aimed at helping children become the best versions of themselves.
SSTX has a very strong culture and academic program, making it particularly suitable for children who enjoy sports or drama and love learning.
In terms of cultural heritage, while SSTX has a strong religious atmosphere, from its very first day, the school has welcomed students from all religious backgrounds and cultures. The school respects all faiths and traditions, supports fairness and inclusion, and values diverse cultures and perspectives.
Regarding academic development, the school does not offer AP courses, but all upper-grade courses are honors or advanced level. Moreover, the courses designed by teachers have greater depth, complexity, and flexibility.
In terms of community building, the school matches each boarding student with a day-student family. Although the children still live at school, the day-student families will provide accommodation for them during long weekends, help them celebrate their birthdays or corresponding national holidays, and come to school to encourage and cheer for them during campus events.
For emotional support, the school and counselors regularly connect with students and their families through meetings, dedicated to fostering critical skills for students to achieve their potential. Additionally, the school provides training in relevant skills through its health and wellness courses.

St. Stephen's Episcopal School, founded in 1950, is located in the hill country of Austin, Texas, surrounded by affluent neighborhoods. It is ranked as the #1 boarding school in Texas, the first co-educational Episcopal school in the United States, and the first comprehensive boarding school in the South. The school offers a unique college preparatory curriculum and does not offer AP courses, but the difficulty of its courses is no less than that of AP course standards. It focuses on cultivating students' moral growth, potential development, and personality development.

The school boasts over 370 acres of land with hills and water, and the central campus is surrounded by miles of hiking, running, and biking trails. Leveraging its unique environmental conditions, the school offers The Devil’s Canyon Wilderness Program (DCWP): students can experience cave exploration, with annual spring expeditions to caves in the Austin area, West Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia (TAG), as well as Colorado River paddling, mountain biking, and rock climbing to enhance their wilderness survival skills. The school also offers astrophysics courses, studying special and general relativity, and provides professional large astronomical telescopes. Students have the opportunity to visit and learn at NASA headquarters.

St. Stephen's Episcopal School is the best private boarding high school in Texas. Its facilities include classrooms and computer labs equipped with the latest technology, and state-of-the-art art studios and performance spaces. Recently added campus facilities include the Temple Academic Center, Booth Student Center, Bowen Art Studio, Dell Pedestrian Green, and the Spartan Fitness Center.

Independent Research Opportunities: Students can design and propose advanced research topics beyond the school's existing regular curriculum. Topics include aerospace engineering, bioinformatics, comparative literature, genetics, music and neuroscience, quantum physics, mathematics, and computer science, among many other fields.

Outdoor and Adventure Programs: Outdoor activities include mountain biking, hiking, and land management projects on campus, as well as off-campus cave exploration, boating, and rock climbing in the Texas Hill Country or further afield, and research expeditions to explore different biomes such as the Peruvian Amazon and Big Bend National Park.

St. Stephen's Episcopal School is located in a wealthy area next to Lake Austin, Texas.
● Offers grades 8-12, co-educational school
● Enrollment: 699 students; International student ratio: 12%; Boarding student ratio: 76%
● Ranked #17 among HIGH SCHOOLS FOR STEM (offer boarding)
● Ranked #27 in FindingSchool's Private Boarding High School rankings
● Ivy League acceptance rate: 5%
● HYMPS acceptance rate: 3%

The school focuses on cultivating STEM innovation capabilities, offering a series of science and technology innovation projects and providing state-of-the-art facilities, such as PIRL (Project and Idea Realization Lab), a maker space equipped with high-tech tools; and Technovation, a global app design competition where students solve community problems by creating a mobile app, among others.

Data for St. Stephen's Episcopal School: 699 students, student-teacher ratio 1:8, international student percentage 18%, boarding percentage 34%, teachers with advanced degrees 77%, average class size 17. The academic curriculum is deeply rooted in its excellent liberal arts tradition, emphasizing the depth and breadth of learning. All departments emphasize the cultivation of critical thinking and skills. Students are taught to form their unique insights and substantiate their hypotheses. The school encourages students to be diligent, creative, and contribute to society. The school's strengths lie in its high-quality teaching, world-class educational facilities, and diverse extracurricular activities. The campus environment is beautiful and caring, boasting various clubs and diverse religious faiths. The school's academic system is self-contained, challenging, and of high standards; the school does not offer AP courses, but it is an authorized AP testing center, where students can take the exams.

I am an 8th-grade student here. The school is very good, and the academic atmosphere is excellent. All kinds of facilities are complete, except for the food which isn't great (hahahahaha, this is publicly acknowledged, but it's still very healthy, just not very tasty). Everything else is excellent. The courses are challenging, and the school's ranking is also very good. Although it's not a T0-level American high school, it definitely qualifies as a T1-level. The scenery is beautiful. Austin itself isn't a highly modernized city, but it's developing rapidly with excellent prospects. Most of the Chinese international students at this school are very friendly and willing to share their experiences with you. All in all, St. Stephen's School will definitely not disappoint you!

At St. Stephen's, there will be dedicated drama classes. Periodically, the school will invite world-class theatre artists to provide face-to-face instruction to students, studying literature from a theatrical perspective, and enhancing students' critical analysis, project management, improvisation, and collaborative problem-solving skills. By attending theatrical performances at local theaters and in nearby cities, and engaging in various roles in theatrical production, students will gain insight into a dynamic and diverse industry, thereby deepening their understanding and appreciation of visual language. Art has always been a strength at St. Stephen's, and the school has consistently been dedicated to the research, practice, and production of drama. As an art form that integrates visual and auditory enjoyment, it covers a wide range of knowledge, and coupled with the inherent charm of drama itself, students can not only learn from it but also enjoy the process of their participation.

St. Stephen's Episcopal School can be considered the top-ranked boarding school in Texas. It boasts convenient transportation and is situated in an affluent area. The school focuses on cultivating students' reading abilities and maintaining a balance between humanities and sciences. Tennis and soccer are the school's strong programs; it features a professional tennis academy, and its soccer team is the Texas champion. The school's admissions director has studied in China, possesses a deep understanding of Chinese children, and shows a high level of attention to Chinese students. The school offers astrophysics courses, delving into special and general relativity. Current students have the opportunity to visit and learn at NASA headquarters.

St. Stephen's Episcopal School is a 6-12 grade boarding school that accepts international students in grades 8-12. Founded in 1950 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, it was the first coeducational boarding school in the American South. The school's mission and core values are rooted in progressive yet steadfast principles: respecting all faiths and traditions, and supporting equity and inclusion. The school is situated atop a hill in Austin, the capital of Texas. From its campus, one can overlook rolling hills, the Colorado River, and numerous villas, offering picturesque views. Currently, the school has 684 students. They come from 25 cities in Texas, 9 states across the U.S., and 13 countries. Students at St. Stephen's Episcopal School are supported by first-class facilities, including classrooms and computer labs equipped with the latest technology, state-of-the-art art studios, and performance venues.

St. Stephen's Episcopal School's signature program, the Devil's Canyon Wilderness Program (DCWP): Students can participate in year-round outdoor and adventure activities led by faculty. Autumn: Caving---Students will explore caves in the greater Austin area, West Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia (TAG); Canoeing---Students paddle in Central Texas rivers including the Colorado River, Blanco River, Frio River, and Llano River. Winter: Mountain Biking---St. Stephen's DCWP program participates in the Texas High School Mountain Bike League, and winter training includes 3 days of trail training and 2 days of gym training. Spring: Rock Climbing---Each spring, students participating in rock climbing are invited on a four-day trip to Taos, New Mexico, allowing them to enjoy climbing on granite, basalt, limestone, and conglomerate.

The school is located in the hilly region of Austin, Texas, spanning nearly 400 acres, featuring mountains and water. These natural resources are excellently utilized by the school in its curriculum. Its signature program, The Devil's Canyon Wilderness Program (DCWP), offers students abundant opportunities for outdoor adventure and learning.

Additional notes:

3. Theater Aspect: Theater Focus offers unique opportunities for theater enthusiasts. Theater Focus provides experienced guidance in all areas of the university application and audition process, ultimately guiding students through unified auditions in Chicago. Focus students can not only audition for regular school productions but also enjoy three exclusive performance opportunities.

4. Specialized Courses: In Biomedical Technology, students will explore fields such as genetic engineering and biotechnology, oncology, immunology, gastroenterology, and neurology. The common thread across all areas will be genetics and genetic engineering, serving as solutions and therapies. Students will participate in laboratory experiments, introducing techniques such as PCR, CRISPR, GMOs, cancer morphology, cancer genes, ELISA diagnostics, and bacterial Gram staining.

5. The Astronomy course offers professional large astronomical telescopes, 4-inch and 6-inch telescopes, as well as the use of a 10-inch refractor at the school observatory. Current students can intern directly at NASA headquarters.

St. Stephen's Episcopal School is a co-educational boarding high school located on a hilltop in Austin, the capital of Texas. The school does not offer AP courses, but the difficulty of its curriculum is in no way lower than the standards of AP courses. Its geographical location is unique; it boasts over 370 acres of land and an elevation exceeding 370 feet, featuring diverse terrain. It is considered one of the best schools in the central region.

School Highlights:
1. Focus on students' practical and innovative abilities: The school is committed to providing students with opportunities to engage with the curriculum in innovative ways. The school has PIRL (Project and Idea Realization Lab) and a makerspace, equipped with high-tech production tools and facilities. It also develops Technovation—a global app design competition—in which all students participate.

2. Unique DCWP Program: The Devil's Canyon Wilderness Program (DCWP) offers experiences such as caving. Each spring, students go caving in the Austin area, West Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia (TAG), along with outdoor activities like Colorado River paddling, mountain biking, and rock climbing, to enhance their wilderness survival skills.

St. Stephen's Episcopal School, founded in 1950, is a co-educational, full-day boarding school. Located atop a small hill in Austin, the capital of Texas, the campus offers picturesque views of rolling hills, the Colorado River, and luxurious homes. The campus environment is beautiful and nurturing, boasting a variety of clubs and diverse religious faiths. International students will have a transition curriculum in their first year, and all courses will be the same as those for American students from the second year onwards. The school frequently organizes trips for students to other cities to attend academic seminars, visit local theaters, or see performances. For students who wish to continue studying drama at university, the school provides professional guidance for university applications, including assistance with and training for the unified auditions in Chicago. Signature courses include: Multivariate Analysis, Astrophysics, Engineering Principles, Political Commentaries as Art, Constitutional Law, Cosmopolitanism, Global Music, Psychology, Graphic Design, Choreography, Improvised Drama, and Percussion Ensemble. The astronomy program offers professional large astronomical telescopes, and current students can intern directly at NASA headquarters. There is a Saxena Internship Program, which aims to provide off-campus extracurricular internship opportunities for students at the school interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

St. Stephen's is located on the beautiful shores of Lake Austin. My child has been enrolled for almost a year. St. Stephen's is not just an academically rigorous school; it is also a school filled with great love. During the pandemic, it bore the expectations of parents, providing a loving home for children who found it difficult to return to their home countries! Having our child study at St. Stephen's was the most correct choice we ever made!

St. Stephen's Episcopal School was founded in 1950 and is located by Lake Austin in the United States. The school is full of care, with diverse community activities and religious beliefs. The school focuses on fostering students' moral growth, potential development, and personality discovery. It has a strong academic atmosphere, providing university preparatory courses for students. The school enrolls students from different regions, with students coming from 16 US states and 15 different countries. The school does not offer AP courses; its academic system is self-contained, challenging, and of a high standard. The school is located in Austin, the capital of Texas, home to the renowned University of Texas at Austin. The school's archaeology program collaborates with the university. As a religious school, the overall atmosphere is traditional, management is strict, but students are cared for, and teacher-student relationships are close. Parents and students highly approve of the school's management model and express high satisfaction.

SSES is located in Austin, Texas, a city repeatedly ranked as the most livable in the U.S. by US News & Report. As early as the 2008-2009 academic year, SSES discontinued AP courses (though the school still provides AP testing facilities for students to take exams). In their place, the school developed its own advanced courses. These advanced courses cover disciplines such as biology, physics, chemistry, geography, astrophysics, environmental science, engineering, electronics, and robotics. Teachers integrate the most cutting-edge and innovative knowledge from various fields into these courses, effectively helping students broaden the depth and breadth of their academic understanding. Another major feature of the school is its performing arts program. The school's Theatre Focus is open to students interested in dramatic performance. Here, students have the opportunity to receive professional guidance from experienced teachers, learning directing, production, and stage acting. For students aspiring to apply for related majors, teachers provide full support in preparing for supplementary auditions and portfolios. Additionally, SSES excels in college counseling; each student is paired with a college counselor who assists with course selection and university choices. SSES has maintained an excellent college placement record in recent years.