St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School, one of the six Episcopal Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, has a long tradition of providing an excellent college preparatory education in Northern Virginia. The school began as two separate single-sex schools, St. Agnes, founded in 1924, and St. Stephen's, founded in 1944.

Established by a group of Alexandria Episcopalians, both schools' original aims included the intellectual, physical, and moral development of students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade. Over the years each school established its own curriculum and developed its own rich traditions, often coming together as brother-sister schools on important academic, athletic, and social occasions. Both schools instituted an Honor Code, which remains in place to this day.

During the years of the New Deal and World War II, the burgeoning population of the Washington, D. C. area caused enormous growth in the number of students at St. Agnes. It became clear that Lloyd House, the historic property housing both the school and its small boarding department, would no longer be adequate.

Under the direction of Helen Arny Macan, Headmistress 1934-1952, Roberta C. McBride, Headmistress 1952-1977, and Robert E. Leipheimer, Headmaster 1977-1983, the school undertook various building programs that created Macan, Daniel, McBride, and MacKinnon Halls. As Headmaster of St. Stephen's from 1955-1975, The Reverend Emmett H. Hoy, Jr. oversaw the school's building program that resulted in the move in 1957 from its original small site on Russell Road to its new campus on St. Stephen's Road.

In 1991, the two schools merged to become one co-educational Episcopal day school with one administration and two campuses. Joan G. Ogilvy Holden, Head of St. Agnes from 1984-1991, was appointed Head of the new St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School. The old St. Agnes and St. Stephen's campuses underwent extensive renovations in preparation for the merger, and a third campus was created in 1995 when the acquisition and renovation of the former Ascension Academy property on Braddock Road enabled the Middle School to move to its own campus. The spectacular new Chapel/Performing Arts Center was built on the Upper School campus in 2003 upon the completion of the New Century Fund, directed by the Board of Governors and Mrs. Holden.

Since its beginning the school has grown to include 1144 students from diverse backgrounds and a talented faculty and staff of more than 200 men and women whose aims for their students include high standards of academic and artistic achievement, moral growth and behavior, service to others, and athletic endeavor. While St. Stephen's & St. Agnes students undergo rigorous preparation for college, the school equally promotes the good character, spiritual development, and social awareness embraced by the Episcopal school tradition.