The Steward School Richmond, Virginia Director
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THE STEWARD SCHOOL RICHMOND, VIRGINIA DIRECTOR OF ADMIssIONS START DATE: JULY 2019 WWW.STEWARDSCHOOL.ORG Mission Fast Facts To prepare our Number of students: 646 students for Target class size: 17 Number of faculty: 73 college and for life Percent of faculty who hold an advanced degree: 50% in a community Student/faculty ratio: 8 to 1 defined by robust Percent of students who identify as a person of color: 27% Number of countries represented by student body: 6 academics, inspiration, Campus size: 37 acres engagement, and care. Interscholastic athletics: 43 teams in 12 sports (grades 6-12) OVERVIEW The Steward School, which serves boys and girls in junior kindergarten through grade 12, is both a rigorous academic environment and a place for boundless imagination. With a college-preparatory curriculum, small classes, myriad extracurricular offerings, and an in-school tutoring program, Steward celebrates each student’s individual interests in academics, athletics, fine arts, community service, and clubs. Steward strives to empower its students to solve problems, take initiative, and become their own best selves. Perhaps this is expressed most directly through the school’s tagline: Fuel the mind. Stir the imagination. Unleash the possibilities. Diversity is an integral part of what makes Steward a dynamic, vibrant place to teach and learn. At Steward, all are welcomed, respected, and valued. This is the way Steward community members want to lead their lives on and off campus, and, by doing so, the community has cleaved to a philosophy that allows its children and adults to lead impactful lives. Steward is seeking a new Director of Admissions (DOA) who understands the beauty of a student’s imagination, the inherent value in small classes and care for each student, and the importance of a community that embraces diversity as one of its greatest assets. During the last application cycle, Steward received 273 applicants for 181 open spots; 118 of those students ultimately enrolled at Steward. With an admissions yield of 65%, Steward seeks a DOA who can help the school maintain its competitive presence among peer schools, while successfully facilitating the growth of a heterogenous student body. The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 2 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com SCHOOL HISTORY In 1972, educational pioneer Helen Dixon founded The Steward School in a church basement in the west end of Richmond as a small, non-sectarian, coeducational alternative to the larger private schools in the area. The first class graduated a total of three students in 1977. Steward has grown to a student body of nearly 650 students in grades junior kindergarten through 12. As this history shows, the small class size at Steward is part of its legacy. Steward today is large enough to provide the resources for students to explore diverse interests and curiosities across academics, the arts, and athletics, and small enough to give them the personalized attention they need in order to pursue these interests. THE SCHOOL At Steward, teachers engage students with hands-on learning paired with rigorous academic study. A Steward education is about more than memorizing facts—faculty recognize that in the 21st century, facts are as easy to come by as a Google search. Students not only gain knowledge, but they also learn to apply that knowledge, to create, and to innovate with it as they connect global thought leadership with interactive problem-solving opportunities. This environment helps shape today’s students into the type of learners the world will need in the future. Experiential learning comes to life in every classroom including the Bryan Innovation Lab, as well as in demonstration kitchens, gardens, and wetlands. The Bryan Innovation Lab is a 21st-century, cutting- edge facility. Through problem solving and experiential learning in a hands-on environment, students The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 3 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com are able to grapple with real-world issues, challenging their critical thinking and resourcefulness. All students have access to the Bryan Lab, working on interdisciplinary projects such as the Growing Leaders Club and the Robotics team. Programs often merge academics with the professional world through visiting speakers and presenters. Throughout the year and across disciplines, The Steward School celebrates the broad range of talents and abilities offered by its student population. Of course, the faculty and staff value and celebrate traditional academic achievement, but they also believe that each child is an individual and should be treated as such; embracing differences is an integral piece of becoming fully educated at Steward. Similarly, Steward’s curriculum, arts, extracurricular programming, and service opportunities serve to reinforce the concept that a genuine understanding of other cultures, their histories, and perspectives is essential to becoming a citizen in today’s global society. Steward offers a personalized educational experience through after-school care, summer camps, interdisciplinary projects, and innovative Minimesters with internship and travel abroad opportunities. The use and integration of technology with learning is essential to student growth and development. With the launch of a 1:1 program for all students in the fall of 2014, every Steward student has access to a device during the school year. In grades JK-8, iPads loaded with apps are available to every student, and Upper School students are responsible for bringing their own devices every day. The Steward School is acutely aware that education can be costly and is firmly committed to providing access to students and families from all socio-economic levels. Steward’s Variable Tuition program adjusts tuition based on each family’s individual financial situation. Steward proudly provides more than $2 million annually (to 31% of Steward families) to reduce the tuition burden on families each year. The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 4 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com “Compass 2022: Charting Our Course,” Steward’s strategic plan is designed to ensure that the school’s program will model innovation and creativity, its approaches will honor passion and engagement, and its school community will inspire pride and commitment now and for generations to come. Five specific initiatives, accompanied by milestones and guideposts, are guiding the school down a path of fearless innovation, respect for tradition, and partnership with the greater Richmond region: Steward in the Community; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Modern Teaching and Learning; Health and Wellbeing; and Steward for Life. For details of the plan, click here. Steward is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS), the Southern Associations of Independent Schools (SAIS), and the Virginia Council for Private Education (VCPE). Steward is a member of Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS), National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), Virginia Council for Private Education (VCPE), Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Independent School Management (ISM), Potomac and Chesapeake Association for College Admission Counseling (PCACAC), National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC), and National Business Officers Association (NBOA). ACADEMICS Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten Through play and academic exploration, junior kindergarten and kindergarten encourage students’ natural curiosity. In Steward’s program, children are actively engaged in hands-on, multisensory, and collaborative learning. This “whole child” approach engages students and helps them develop cognitive and creative skills from a very young age, as well as cross-curricular learning. Students are also encouraged to develop critical thinking skills, practice developmentally appropriate emotional The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 5 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com and social habits, and grow academically and personally. Junior kindergarten and kindergarten classes are integrated into the overall school, allowing students to actively participate in the greater Steward community. Lower School (Grades 1-5) From an early age, Steward students discover that the world is a fascinating place. Field trips, performances, and community service are creatively integrated into the academic curriculum in Lower School to complement academics, arts, and athletics. With Steward’s signature small class sizes and high degree of personal attention, Lower School students are introduced to a broad range of topics and concepts. In the process of exploring core curriculum topics, Steward students gain skills in asking questions, reasoning, and solving problems. By the end of Lower School, Steward students know a great deal about the world, want to know more, and have laid the foundation to become capable and caring individuals. Middle School (Grades 6-8) As students move into adolescence, exciting opportunities for character development and academic adventure emerge. Academics, fine arts, technology, and athletics are at the center of the Middle School curriculum, and Steward’s small classes allow teachers to engage each student, closely monitor progress, and provide extra help as needed. While Steward teachers enable each student to reach his or her potential across all disciplines, they understand that many lessons are learned outside the classroom. Accordingly, Steward