Professional Development

Limitless Potential

Faculty members at St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School have a wealth of opportunities to continue expanding their knowledge of both their disciplines and the field of education. The school is located only a few minutes from Washington D.C. and is surrounded by a number of excellent colleges and universities. Faculty and staff members also expand their exploration to resources nationally and internationally.

Lifelong Learning

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Experts in their Fields

See how our administrators, faculty, and staff continue to expand their career and share their expertise in their field locally and nationally.
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- Numerous faculty members have had their work published in books, newspapers, magazines, professional journals, websites, and other periodicals.
- Our administrators and faculty serve on panels and present workshops at national education conferences throughout the year and pursue more than 100 professional development opportunities annually, including conferences, workshops, and graduate education.
- Many of our faculty pursue master’s degrees or doctorates while teaching at SSSAS, at institutions such as the University of Virginia, Georgetown University, Trinity Washington University, St. John’s College, George Mason University, and Virginia Theological Seminary.
- Teachers regularly participate in programs at the Stanley King Counseling Institute, Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership, Hodson Trust Teacher Fellowship Program, Columbia University Teacher’s College, and Oxbridge Teacher Seminars.
- Others have worked on projects funded by the National Science Foundation and National Park Service or received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Virginia Endowment for the Arts.
- All educators who are new to SSSAS participate in a New Faculty and Administrators Workshop series led by the head of school and a master teacher.
- All new faculty and administrators participate in a six-week multicultural seminar led by our director of multicultural education, diversity, and equity initiatives.
- Faculty participate in two, full-day professional days on campus each year, which include nationally recognized guest speakers and small breakout sessions. Many of our faculty lead workshops during the professional day.
- Our educators have the opportunity to attend an array of workshops and/or conferences throughout the year, including the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS) Conference, diversity workshops sponsored by the Virginia Diversity Network, the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Conference, and the NAIS People of Color Conference.

Three Teachers. Three Stories.

Summer Study Grants

Every year the school's Association of Parents and Teachers (APT) awards summer study grants to faculty and administrators. In 2013, the program was renamed the Holden Summer Fellowships, in honor of former Head of School Joan Holden, who served from 1984-2014.

More than 300 of our professionals have used grants to study everything from civil rights to ecosystems to musical pedagogy. Others have participated in archaeological digs in Israel, Spanish immersion programs in Bolivia, and prominent reading and literature workshops nationwide. Still others have participated in a Fulbright program in Japan, coached athletics in Spain, or participated in an Earthwatch Institute field expedition to survey the Bahamian reefs.

Kelley Gorman, Middle School Science Teacher

I was fortunate to travel on a ship for eleven days around the Svalbard region of Norway. We hiked on glaciers and tundra, ventured into the pack ice in search of polar bears, witnessed a feeding frenzy with several fin whales and hundreds of kittiwakes, and encountered walruses on land and at sea. Each day the naturalists on board offered lectures on the local flora and fauna, ice forms, and regional environmental pressures. These sessions were a wonderful chance for me to become a student again.

Ted Yoder, Upper School AP Biology Teacher

I love studying fossils. It makes me happy. It makes me happy to find any fossils, even sharks teeth in the Chesapeake Bay. More importantly, kids love fossils. That’s why I was thrilled to attend The University of Washington Burke Museum Discovery in Geosciences (DIG) Field School for K-12 Teachers in Jordan, Montana. For my AP Biology students, I bring my fossils into class and put them in their hands so they can feel geologic history. A teacher can lecture on extinction events – but when a student holds a 55 million-year-old Cucullaea gigantea shell, they are interacting with a relic from the past.

Kimberly Scott, Upper School French Teacher

From the moment I arrived at Plum Village in France for a Mindfulness Retreat, I felt at home. Getting away from our busy, over-stimulated lives is not easy, and this experience helped me to reconnect with my true self, be more self-compassionate, and feel more connected to the present every day. I hope to impart this mindfulness with my students on a daily basis while we learn and take deep breaths together!

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