Saint Stephen's Episcopal School

FALCONS WIN SSAC 5A TITLE

The Falcons proved it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, as they captured the Sunshine State Athletic Conference 5A Championship with a dominating 47-7 win over Ocoee Legacy Charter in Lakeland on Nov. 12.

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Ms. Adventina Emmanuel and a student from Denmark

INTERNATIONAL GUESTS ARRIVE

International visitors have returned to campus for the first time in nearly three years as we welcome Ms. Adventina Emmanuel from Tanzania, and a group of students and their headmaster from Denmark to SSES this week.

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SSES AIDS HURRICANE RELIEF

While the Saint Stephen’s community was mostly spared from the brunt of Hurricane Ian, our neighbors to the south in Lee and Collier counties weren’t nearly as lucky. The Hurricane left a path of widespread destruction in Southwest Florida that will require long-term recovery efforts. With a desire to do its part to help, the entire SSES community created a series of donation efforts that culminated this week.

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HAAKMAN IS TOP LATIN TEACHER

Middle School Latin teacher Tony Haakman has been named the state’s 2022 Latin Teacher of the Year by the Classical Association of Florida. Haakman becomes the third Saint Stephen’s Latin teacher to win this award since the association began naming its honorees in 1981.

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SSES OPENS 52ND SCHOOL YEAR

Saint Stephen’s has opened its 52nd school year with record enrollment and unmatched enthusiasm. Students, faculty, and staff representing all grade levels gathered inside Hoagland Arena on Aug. 26 for a rousing opening celebration that included musical performances, the ringing of the opening bell, and plenty of Green & Gold spirit created and led by the varsity cheer squad.

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FALCONS SERVING UP EXCELLENCE

An argument can be made that Saint Stephen’s boys tennis is currently in the midst of the most successful run in the program’s storied history – but so far, without the ultimate payoff.

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BROWNS TOSS CHISOX FIRST PITCH

Saint Stephen’s alums (Class of 2018) Chase and Sydney Brown, star student-athletes on the football team at the University of Illinois, were selected to throw out the honorary first pitch on Wednesday, May 25, at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago prior to the White Sox game against the Boston Red Sox.

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HONORING THE CLASS OF 2022

Saint Stephen’s celebrated its 47th graduating class on Saturday, May 21, with a beautiful commencement ceremony at Harvest United Methodist Church in Lakewood Ranch.

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KRAFT NAMED HEAD OF SCHOOL

Following an extensive national search, the Board of Trustees has named Peter Kraft the new Head of School at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School.

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FALCONS BOOST TEAM MANATEE

Three Saint Stephen’s students were part of the six-member Manatee County team that finished second in the state at the annual Commissioner’s Academic Challenge, March 31-April 2 in Orlando.

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ARTS WEEK STARTS MARCH 18

Saint Stephen’s annual Fine Arts Week kicks off on Friday, March 18, with the first performance of the Upper/Middle School musical “Beauty and the Beast” at 7 p.m. in the Falcon Playhouse.

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AISL HONORS SSES LIBRARIAN

Library Director Christina Pommer was honored on March 3 with the highest award given by the Association of Independent School Librarians (AISL) – the Marky Award.

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MARINE SCIENCE 2ND AT NOSB

SSES students placed second overall at the Spoonbill Regional of the National Ocean Science Bowl at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg, Feb. 11-12

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LATIN STUDENTS NO. 2 AT Forum

In the first in-person games since February 2020, 36 Upper School and 11 Middle School students joined students from around Tampa Bay on Feb. 5 at Plant High School in Tampa for the Regional Latin Forum.

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SPRINGSTEAD SETS RECORD

Senior Jamie Springstead has rewritten the SSES basketball record book, as she became the school’s all-time leading scorer – regardless of gender – in a Jan. 6 home victory against Patel High.

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Playwrights are Finalists

Four Saint Stephen’s students have been selected among the eight finalists in Theater Odyssey’s 10th Annual Student 10-Minute Playwriting Festival.

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ROWERS ARE MAKING WAVES

“Two kids and a boat” was the theme uttered over and over as Saint Stephen’s contemplated starting its rowing program in 2015. Six years later, the dock on the McLewis Bayou is awash with activity that includes seven crew boats and more than 20 rowers.

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Saint STephen's Boys Golf 2021 Class 1A State Champions

HOLIDAY CONCERTS UPCOMING

There will be so much great holiday music happening on campus over the next few weeks! The Middle School band, strings, and ensemble start things off on Monday, Dec. 6, with their “Sounds of the Season” concert from 9:30-10:20 a.m. in Upper School Palm Courtyard.

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FALCONS CAPTURE 1A STATE TITLE

The Saint Stephen’s boys’ golf team won the Class 1A state championship today, running away with the title at the Mission Inn Resort & Club at Howey-in-the-Hills.

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A-TEAM SCORES AT HISTORY BOWL

The SSES Academic Team continued its stellar season with an impressive showing at the Central Florida regional History Bowl at Largo High School on Oct. 30.

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TRACKING THE CLASS OF 2017

In keeping with a Florida Council of Independent Schools mandate that member schools take stock of the success of their alumni during their college years, the Saint Stephen’s Alumni Office distributed a survey last summer to the SSES graduating class of 2017.

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THOMAS NAMED MERIT FINALIST

Congratulations to senior Michael Thomas, who has been named a National Merit Scholarship Finalist for 2021.

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TAINSH Has INSPIRING MESSAGE

Saint Stephen’s recently welcomed acclaimed speaker Kelsey Tainsh to campus. Tainsh successfully overcame a brain tumor at age five and went on to become a world champion wakeboarder.

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GRAD SINGS ON ELTON’S LATEST

Saint Stephen’s 2010 graduate Naarai Jacobs appears on a new song from Elton John and Stevie Wonder. Use the link included below to hear the song “Finish Line” from John’s album “The Lockdown Sessions.”

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DR. PULLEN TO RETIRE IN 2023

Dr. Jan Pullen, who has served as Head of School at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School for the past 19 years, has announced her retirement effective June 30, 2023.

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CONGRATS TO CLASS OF 2021!

Saint Stephen’s celebrated its 46th graduating class on Saturday, May 22, with a beautiful commencement ceremony under sunny skies at the Moore Athletic Complex at Turner Fields.

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TENNIS IS RUNNER-UP AT STATE

After cruising to district and regional titles, the SSES boys’ tennis team fell one victory short of its first state championship since 2015.

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COLLEGE PENNANT CEREMONY

The members of the Class of 2021 announced their college destinations at our annual College Pennant Ceremony on April 28 at the Moore Athletic Complex.

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LACROSSE SWEEPS TITLES

Saint Stephen’s lacrosse swept district competition, with both the boys and girls winning their respective tournaments on April 15 to advance in the postseason.

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BOYS TENNIS WinS DISTRICTs

The Falcons cruised to a win the 1A-District 11 Tournament on April 12-13 at Payne Park in Sarasota, capturing their third district title in four seasons and the 16th in school history.

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SUPPORT SSES ATHLETICS

The annual golf tournament to raise funds for the Saint Stephen’s Athletic Department – the Green & Golden Golf Scramble – is scheduled for Saturday, May 1, at The River Club Golf Course in Bradenton.

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The Green and Golden Game Show - Friday, March 12 at 6pm. Tune in and watch it at Facebook.com/SaintStephensEpiscopalSchool

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS

Join us on Facebook on Friday, March 12 at 6 p.m., as we continue our celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary year. The Green & Golden Game Show broadcast will be an evening of fun that’s filled with surprises!

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BOYS SOCCER WINS DISTRICT

On the strength of a thrilling 2-1 victory on the road at local rival and top-seeded Bradenton Christian, the Falcons (11-4-1) captured the Class 2A-District 10 tournament championship on Thursday evening (Feb. 11).

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AFRICAN PENGUINS VISIT

On Wednesday (Feb. 11), Saint Stephen’s students and faculty were treated to a visit from Kirby and Curry, two African penguins who traveled to campus with their keepers from Busch Gardens in Tampa.

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PANDEMIC ACADEMICS

How do we do this? What will it look like? Are we ready? Teachers across the country were asking these questions and many others in August as they prepared for the beginning of the academic year. While each school faced its own unique

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FALCONS FINISH 7TH AT STATE

After battling for two days, the Falcons finished seventh at the state golf tournament and brothers Ben and Alex Long both placed in the top 10 individually.

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ALUMNI DO COLLEGE WELL

This summer, in keeping with an FCIS mandate that independent schools take stock of the success of their alumni, Saint Stephen’s tracked the graduates of the class of 2016 to ascertain their progress toward a degree. Of the 69 grads that year, we were able to account for 66 of those alumni. To date, 51 (77% of those reached) have graduated from college in or before 2020. The remaining 15 are all still pursuing their degrees.

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STUDENTS EXCEL ON EXAMS

Our 2020 AP test scores have arrived and Saint Stephen’s students, once again, excelled. Despite the challenge of the virtual environment and significant changes in the test format, SSES test takers achieved passing scores (3-5) on 89-percent of their Advanced Placement exams.

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Q&A: HEAD COACH A.J. BROWN

Long-time assistant A.J. Brown enters his first season as the Falcons head football coach in 2020. Coach Brown sat down for a quick Q&A session as he prepared for his inaugural campaign leading Saint Stephen’s:

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BOLEK NAMED BASEBALL COACH

Former pro player and coach Ken Bolek has been named the next leader of SSES baseball. Coach Bolek brings a long and impressive resume to the Falcons that started at the University of Arizona, where he was a member of the school’s 1976 College World Series championship team.

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Photo of Freddy Falcon with the words Falcons Pride

FHSAA HONORS FALCONS

Falcon student-athletes were honored on Thursday (June 2) when the Florida High School Athletic Association named Saint Stephen’s as the recipient of this year’s Fred E. Rozelle Sportsmanship Award in Class 3A.

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CLASS OF 2020 MAKES HISTORY

Saint Stephen’s celebrated its 69 graduating seniors with a unique drive-through commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 23.

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REMEMBERING JOHN HOWARD

The entire Saint Stephen’s community was saddened on May 19 by the passing of beloved former Headmaster John Howard, following a brief battle with cancer.

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WATER IS LIFE 2020 CANCELED

The international Water is Life Conference, which SSES was set to host June 22-26, has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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CRENETI RESIGNS FOOTBALL POST

Tod Creneti, the head coach who built Saint Stephen’s football into an independent school powerhouse, has resigned his position after nine seasons at the helm. Veteran assistant coach A.J. Brown has been named as Creneti’s successor.

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SSES RUN ENDS AT FINAL 4

The SSES girls basketball team’s historic season came to a close in the Class 3A State Final Four on Wednesday night (Feb. 26) with a 67-30 loss to Carrollwood Day School at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

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Bernie Yanelli, Brittany Skoda, and Bill Johnston

GRAD JOINS BANK LEADERSHIP

Brittany Skoda, a 2005 Saint Stephen’s graduate, has been named Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Software Banking at Morgan Stanley. Following SSES, Brittany attended Georgetown University, where she competed on the golf team for one year and was named a Big East Conference Academic All Star.

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GRAD NAMED LINKEDIN CEO

Ryan Roslansky, a 1996 Saint Stephen’s graduate, has been named the CEO of LinkedIn. The business-networking company owned by Microsoft has been led by Jeff Weiner for the past 11 years, but Weiner will hand the reins to Roslansky on June 1.

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GIRLS HOOPS SETS WIN MARK

With their victory on Tuesday night (Jan. 21), the 2019-20 SSES girls basketball team is now in the record book as the winningest team in school history.

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THEATRE ODYSSEY JAN. 25-26

Four of the eight 10-minute plays selected for production from 46 entries in Theatre Odyssey’s eighth annual student competition were written by SSES students.

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THE A-TEAM SIX-PEATS!

For the sixth year in a row, the Falcons are the Manatee County Academic Challenge team champions.

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FALL SPORTS TEAMS EXCEL

The fall season wrapped up on Nov. 9, and football, boys golf, swimming, and boys cross country all advanced deep into the postseason. The football Falcons (9-2) fell one step short of returning to the independent state championship game for the fifth straight year, losing to Orlando’s The Master’s Academy in the semifinals.

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Sarasota Bradenton International Airport Sign

SIX WIN AT SRQ AIRPORT

We are proud to announce that we have six winners and three honorable mentions in the Manatee County Section of the 2019 Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport Art Show contest.

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SPIRIT OF PHILANTHROPY

“I pay tuition, so why am I being asked to give?” We hear you. It’s a fairly common question that’s asked at independent schools everywhere.

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BAHAMAS RELIEF EFFORTS

Our sincere thanks go out to the entire Saint Stephen’s community for showing its amazing support over the past few weeks for the relief efforts in the Bahamas in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.

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LATIN STUDENTS WIN TITLE

For the fifth year in a row, Saint Stephen’s Latin students returned from the National Junior Classical League’s annual convention with national championship recognition. Sophomores Tyler Kadivar and Michael Thomas were part of the Florida team that won the title at the Intermediate Level of Certamen – a Jeopardy-style quiz.

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USED UNIFORM GRAB

Thanks to the many generous donations from parents at the end of the 2018-19 school year and the inventory that remained following the closing of the Community Thrift Shop, we have dozens of used – but still very good quality – Saint Stephen’s logo uniform shirts, pants, pullovers, and more available for new and returning Lower and Intermediate School families.

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Saluting the Class of 2019

The 71 members of the Class of 2019 proudly received their diplomas on May 25 at Neel Auditorium on the campus of State College of Florida.

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Verrill Named to Maine HOF

Falcons head baseball coach Mike Verrill has been selected for induction into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame. Mike coached high school baseball for 20 years in the state and also led the program at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

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Tennis Captures District Titles

The Falcons boys and girls tennis teams dominated the 1A-District 9 tennis tournament (April 15-16) at the Payne Park Tennis Center in Sarasota, winning all four doubles titles and nine of 10 singles to advance to regional play.

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Latin Students Win State

For the first time in school history, Upper School Latin students took first place in Senior Division Academics at the Florida Junior Classical League state forum in Orlando, April 3-6.

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8th Grade Historian

Eighth grader Jackson Nealis finished first on the U.S. History Bee Exam, third in the National History Bee Quiz, and fourth in the International Geography Bee Exam at the 2019 Central Florida History Bee and Bowl Championships at Shorecrest Prep in St. Petersburg on March 23.

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SOCCER DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Falcons completed a sweep last week, with both soccer teams winning 1A-District 7 soccer titles.

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SSES Wins Academic Challenge

The Saint Stephen’s Academic Team is once again the champion of the annual Manatee County academic challenge, going undefeated and winning the overall title by 132 points over the second-place team.

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Photo of Saint Stephen's Football players

Falcons Fall to Orlando

Despite the dejection on the field after the Falcons fell, 35-14, to Orlando Christian Prep on Nov. 17 in the Sunshine State Athletic Conference Independent State Championship Game, the 2018 season might go down as SSES’s most noteworthy.

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Falcons Finish 10th

Led by sisters Maria and Catherine Huang, the SSES girls golf team finished in 10th place at the 2018 Class 1A State Championship Tournament, Oct. 30-31 at the Mission Inn Resort, Howey-in-the-Hills.

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SSES Hosts Conference

Saint Stephen’s, in collaboration with New College of Florida, has been named the host site of the international Water is Life Conference, June 22-28, 2020.

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Do You “KYP?”

If you were to wander onto the practice field at Saint Stephen’s where I coach high school football, there are any number of phrases you might hear that, without some context, make absolutely no sense.

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SSES Grad on Jeopardy!

Hannah Sage, a 2016 Saint Stephen’s graduate and current UCF student, will appear on the annual Jeopardy!

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Virgilio Hired

Saint Stephen’s has added another high-caliber coach with a championship resume to its already impressive roster with the hiring of Guy Virgilio to lead its girls soccer program.

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Photo of parents walking with their children

Five Questions

More and more families are considering non-public options for their children, primarily because of the smaller class sizes, the safe campuses, the excellent college preparation, and the access to extracurricular activities.

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The Future of Education

With the ever-changing landscape of education, it is important not only for educators, but also those in the community to pay attention to the trends and forces that influence and impact schools and students.

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Photo of the Middle School kindness tree

Lessons in Kindness

Can kindness be taught? At Saint Stephen’s there is concensus.

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Academic Team Defends Title

The Saint Stephen’s Academic Team defended its Manatee County championship for the fourth consecutive year on Dec. 5, hosting and winning the final meet and the season title.

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Falcons State Champions!

Saint Stephen’s football completed an undefeated 2017 season and defended its Sunshine State Athletic Conference Independent State Championship with a 49-21 Florida Bowl win over Windermere Prep on Nov. 18 at the Master’s Academy in Oviedo.

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Golf Teams Defend Titles

The SSES girls and boys golf teams successfully defended their 1A-District 16 titles on Monday, Oct. 16, advancing to their respective regional tournaments on Oct. 23.

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