Founded in 1972, The Steward School is a private

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

 day school

Day school

A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...

 in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

. It serves boys and girls in Pre-K through Grade 12. Steward offers a college-preparatory curriculum

Curriculum

See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...

 designed to help students of varying abilities reach their educational goals. Small classes, individual attention, extracurricular opportunities, and an in-school tutor

Tutor

A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...

ing program support students at all grade levels. Instruction is geared to a child's learning style. Students in all divisions are involved in athletics, fine arts, community service

Community service

Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....

, outdoor trips, and interest clubs. Extended care, English as a Second Language, summer sessions, interdisciplinary projects, and innovative minimesters with internships are offered. An addition was recently added to the high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

, which provided much needed classroom and meeting space.

History

The story began in 1972, when educational pioneer Helen Dixon founded The Steward School in a church basement in the west end of Richmond as a small, non-sectarian, co-educational alternative to the larger private schools in the area. The first class graduated a total of three students in 1977. During the ensuing 30 years, Steward has grown to a student body of more than 600 in grades
JK through twelve.

Mission

The Steward School's mission is to prepare each child for college and for life. Their core character values are honor, responsibility, and achievement, balanced by caring and respect for one's self and for others. Steward is committed to small classes and small overall size, which allow for discovery and development of each student's unique talents and passions, while providing more opportunities for individual participation. The School believes in an environment with a diversity of talents, abilities, cultures and backgrounds provides the richest and most fully rounded educational experience.

At a Glance

Number of Students (As of 2011)


635

Class Size


JK-1: Target 15


2-5: Target 16


6-12: Target 17

Student/Faculty Ratio


8 to 1

Hours


Lower School: 8 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.


Middle School: 8 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.


Upper School: 8 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.


School Year (2011-2012)


August 29, 2011 - June 1, 2012


Interscholastic Athletics


Grades 6-12: 39 teams

Tuition 2011-2012


Junior Kindergarten (half-day): $8,500


Junior Kindergarten (full-day): $12,500


Grade K-5: $17,675


Grades 6-8: $18,715


Grades 9-12: $19,755


Accreditation: Steward is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools

National Association of Independent Schools

The National Association of Independent Schools is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1963, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boarding, and day/boarding schools; elementary and secondary...

 (VAIS).

Campus

Located in western Henrico County on 37 acres (149,733.8 m²), Steward has five academic buildings, an athletic center, three athletic fields, a baseball field, and six tennis courts

Fine arts

With the Cramer Center being established, the school has now become one of the primary schools for fine arts in the theatre area. Theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

, Art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

, Choral Music and are JK through 12, which also branch out in Upper School into film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 and photography

Photography

Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

, both digital and film.

Sports

The Steward School is currently supporting thirty-seven teams which range from varsity, junior varsity, middle school, and boys and girls or co-ed teams. Steward School participates in: soccer, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, lacrosse

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

, cross country

Cross country running

Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, field hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

, and cheerleading

Cheerleading

Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...

. All of the teams compete in either the Virginia Commonwealth Conference or the League of Independent Schools.

Facilities

The Athletic Center was completed in the summer of 2000. The new facility replaced the old gymnasium

Gym

The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

which was constructed in 1977. The Athletic Center is a 44300 square feet (4,115.6 m²) facility with two gymnasium. One gymnasium is a multi-purpose gym and the other is a varsity court. The facility also has two class rooms, a weight room, a trainer's room, and seven locker rooms.

Steward School also has several outdoor facilities on campus. There are three athletic fields along with six tennis courts and a baseball stadium. Majority of the sports which Steward School participates in are played in the Athletic Center or on the outdoor facilities. The only sports which uses off campus facilities are the cross country teams, the golf team, and the swim/dive team.

Spartan Club

The Spartan Club is a group of committed parents, volunteers, staff, alumni, and students who believe in The Steward School's commitment to athletics, and the values and skills athletics develops. The group is dedicated to provide a quality athletic program to its students by raising funds to help meet extra athletic expenses. These extra expenses consist of transportation, video equipment for all sports, and replacing old equipment. Raised funds come from the Annual Golf Classic, stand sales, and the generous support of individuals, families, businesses, corporations, and civic organizations.

State championships

Varsity Girls' Field Hockey. Division II 2001

Varsity Boys' Basketball. Division III 2003, 2004

Conference Championships

Varsity Girls' Basketball. Regular Season Champions 2008

Varsity Girls' Cross Country. Champion Meets 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

Varsity Girls' Field Hockey. Tournament Champions 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, Regular Season Champions 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007

Varsity Girls' Soccer. Tournament Champions 2004

Varsity Girls' Tennis. Tournament Champions 1999 through 2009, Regular Champions 1999 through 2009

Varsity Boys' Basketball. Tournament Champions 2003 through 2009, Season Champions 2002 through 2007

Varsity Boys' Cross Country. Champion Meet 2006

Varsity Boys' Soccer. Tournament Champions 2003, 2004, 2007, Season Champions 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007

Varsity Boys' Golf. Tournament Champions 2007, 2008, 2009

Varsity Boys' Tennis. Tournament Champions 2006, 2007, Season Champions 2006, 2007

Varsity Boys' Baseball. Tournament Champions 2008, 2009, 2010 Season Champions 2008, 2009, 2010

External links

• The Steward School Website