Our mission and core values are rooted in progressive, yet resolute, principles: honor all faiths and traditions, support equity and inclusion, respect other cultures and perspectives, promote social justice, serve others and be good stewards of the environment.

spartan mascot

St. Stephen’s identity is inextricably linked to its physical place in the world. In the lore of the school, it is told that the campus chose our mascot for us. The tough, minimalist, ancient Spartan warriors were the self-evident choice, as early students looked upon their isolated, rustic campus and virtually ascetic environs. The bones of the school are rooted in the land. That is not a metaphor. The original buildings were built from stone quarried on campus. Our fierce attachment to our 370-plus acres on the Balcones Escarpment overlooking Lake Austin has flourished.

History of The Land

When Bishop John Hines and the Rev. William Brewster began their hunt for a campus in Texas to fulfill their vision for an Episcopal school, their hunt whittled down to two locations. The finalists were a decommissioned army base named Camp Swift in Bastrop and an overgrazed goat ranch west of Austin. Perhaps swayed by the beautiful vistas from the Austin location, they chose St. Stephen’s current home. What our visionary founders did not understand is that the exhausted land was unsuitable for their goals of grazing dairy cows and farming. However, the provincial, scenic setting was uniquely suited to their aspirations for a racially integrated, co-educational boarding school, “dedicated to the recovery of humans.”

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