Spartans Return to Campus for New School Year

9/8/2017

St. Stephen’s Episcopal School welcomed students back to campus last week for the 2017–18 academic year. Boarding students from across the United States and around the globe battled travel issues raised by Hurricane Harvey to make their way to campus for the first day of classes on Aug. 30.

“St. Stephen’s campus experienced sustained rain and notable wind, but we were fortunate to have been spared from the worst impact of the storm,’ said Head of School Chris Gunnin. “We were forced to push all of our start-of-school activities back a day, but we were able to return to full campus life by mid-week.”

A college preparatory school serving grades 6 through 12, St. Stephen’s first welcomed to campus 177 boarding students from 28 cities across Texas, as well as California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota and New York. International boarding students hail from 16 countries, including Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Egypt, Finland, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. Once they moved into the dorms, boarders were joined on campus by 509 day students for an array of start-of-school activities.

All of St. Stephen’s 686 students made it back to campus safely, although those students from the Houston area — the region hardest hit by the storm — faced stressors as they readied themselves for school. “Several of our students’ families were displaced by Harvey, so these students had much more to contend with than just gathering school supplies for the new year,” Gunnin noted. “These young men and women have shown incredible maturity and grit in the face of true crisis.

“Our school community is committed to assisting those families impacted by the storms in Houston and other coastal regions of Texas, regardless of whether their children attend St. Stephen’s,” he said. “Within 48 hours of the storm making landfall, our Houston-area alumni were hard at work, helping to identify and care for displaced families. We are now working with schools in Houston affected by the storm to provide aid and support for their students as well.”

Kindy Verderber, who teaches Middle School science at St. Stephen’s, was one of the first faculty members to initiate relief efforts on campus. “My family evacuated from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, so I know firsthand what it feels like to be displaced,” she said. Verderber and others worked with students to prepare emergency toiletry kits for people affected by the hurricane. “Our 6th grade students traveled to Wimberley last week. Several families from evacuated communities were housed at the same camp where they stayed, so students were able to deliver their care packages directly to the people they wished to help.”

Even the littlest of Spartans sought ways to help. On Labor Day “campus kids” – children of residential faculty and staff – spent their morning compiling care packages for families affected by the storm and flooding.

“I am always excited to welcome faculty and students back to campus in the fall,” Gunnin noted. “This year, however, was very different for a number of people in our community. Even in the opening days of the school year, our students and faculty truly embodied our mission to look beyond ourselves to serve others. I could not have been prouder of our school community than I was last week.”

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