The Saint Stephen’s culture of philanthropy is a strong and ever-evolving part of the fabric of our school. It is the result of every member of the Falcon community pulling together and supporting the school’s events, committee work, and fundraising efforts. Members of the advancement team, the Parents’ Association, and the board’s Development and Community Outreach Committee partner to ensure that community-building events, educational programs, and fundraising drives both reach and appeal to community members. The theme of the 2016-17 Saint’s Fund Campaign, All In, speaks directly to this important feature of Saint Stephen’s.
Annually, Saint Stephen’s programs are buoyed by a robust Saint’s Fund drive that enables the School to provide the highest level of academic, arts, and athletic experiences. Independent schools such as Saint Stephen’s depend on such funding in the annual operating budget to ensure excellence in programming and help control tuition costs. All parents are encouraged to participate in the Saint’s Fund and embrace the opportunity to give along with those in the school’s greater philanthropic community. Parents have moved their participation rates to 80% over the past several years, and this year’s All In theme is working to move participation ever closer to the 100% mark.
Making each family’s experience deeper and richer is only a segment of the focus of the advancement team at Saint Stephen’s. Following graduation from the school, there begins a nurturing of those more mature relationships held by past parents, alumni and friends of Saint Stephen’s. The ongoing stewardship of these groups as Saint Stephen’s heads into its 50th Anniversary during the 2020-21 school year knits together the generations of the school, strengthening its fabric in preparation for this momentous celebration of our history.
Through such vehicles as Major Donor Dinners and the Falcon Legacy Society, Saint Stephen’s recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the School and honors their years of service and philanthropy. Whether the contributions are to annual, capital, or endowment through planned gifts, each donor is valued, and supporters recognize that during their children’s most active days at SSES, they were likewise supported by the generosity of those who preceded them and shared their passion and vision for the School. By hosting events for alumni, alumni parents, and friends of the School, the advancement team continues to strengthen the individual relationships between these community members and Saint Stephen’s. There is now an initiative underway to see the school’s $5-million endowment grow to $10-million by its golden anniversary in 2020.
Ongoing capital campaigns continue to develop premier programs for the students at Saint Stephen’s. After completing the waterfront project that included the opening of a spectacular, new Marine Science Center and crew facility on the campus’ McLewis Bayou during February 2016, the School has made initial announcement of an impending Performing Arts Building project. More detailed information of this exciting undertaking will be released along with commencement of preliminary fundraising efforts during the spring of 2017.
Thank you for visiting our Support Saint Stephen’s page. We hope that you will support the efforts of Saint Stephen’s in its mission to educate its students in a community rooted in the values and morals of the Episcopal Church within its tolerant, global, multi-faith community.
