Head of school hosts Champagne Toast to welcome newly admitted families.

St. Stephen’s recently celebrated its newly admitted families for the 2025-26 academic year with a champagne toast hosted by Head of School Chris Gunnin and his wife Nancy. 

New families were also welcomed by staff, faculty and administration from various departments including offices of Admission, Advancement and Marketing and Communications.

Each year, the Gunnin’s welcome new families with a food and champagne evening reception at their residence on-campus. 

During his remarks, Gunnin mentioned the 2025-26 school will mark the school’s 75th year and he is anticipating a vibrant year celebrating the history of St. Stephen’s and every single Spartan.

“To our newest Spartans and our partnership in working with them to develop compassionate hearts, sharp minds and fierce spirits, here here,” Gunnin said as he motioned for the crowd to raise their glasses and toast in unison.

The school recently admitted 67 new 6th graders and 32 9th grade day students from a number of schools across Austin and Central Texas, successfully meeting 2025 Admission enrollment objectives. The school also anticipates attaining its goal of maintaining 180 domestic and international boarding students.

Lawrence Sampleton, associate head of school for enrollment management is not only excited to welcome new students and their parents but he is equally thrilled about the strength of the admission office’s recruiting and retention strategy. This year, St. Stephen’s has reached a 95% retention rate, which is slightly higher than in previous years. Sampleton says the proof is in the statistics and stories.

“I think that we have high retention and we have a quality applicant pool because we're doing such a better job of telling our story,” says Sampleton. “And a lot of this comes from the weekly News and Notes [e-newsletter]. “Our current parents are reading that and I think they are more equipped to talk about the school because they receive school communications about interesting things that are happening with our student body, with our faculty, [and] with programs.”

Sampleton says his office has implemented a more targeted strategy that he is confident has made a noticeable and statistical difference, like more Zoom events worldwide and making information about academics and affordability easily accessible — topics parents frequently inquire about. 

Other events like the annual Discovery Weekend open house in December and a comprehensive advertising campaign have also helped to raise more awareness and increase the quality applicant pool. 

“I just think we do so much better in terms of telling our story, that people really understand the school. So when you go to an event like the Champagne Toast, the energy level there and the buy-in with parents is really apparent; you can feel it,” he says. “They know so much about the school, they’re sharing that with their friends and they've made an educated decision that this is where they want to be,” says Sampleton. “People see value in what they're getting here and they feel like it's a commitment worth making.”

We send a special congratulations and welcome to each of our new families! Go Spartans! 

To learn more about Stephen’s application process, visit our main Admission Office page.