The Steward School

Founded in 1972, The Steward School serves boys and girls in junior kindergarten through grade 12. With a college-preparatory curriculum, small classes, individual attention, extracurricular enterprises, and an in-school tutoring program, Steward is designed to help students reach their educational goals—all while harnessing their individual abilities through athletics, fine arts, community service, and interest clubs. Additionally, Steward offers extended care, English as a Second Language, summer camps, interdisciplinary projects, and innovative minimesters with internship and travel abroad opportunities, allowing for a personalized educational experience.

Values and Beliefs

We foster personal accomplishment through effort. We expect our students to care for and respect one another, to accept personal responsibility, and to behave honorably. Steward’s commitment to small class size ensures focus on each student’s talents and passions. Students are required to articulate, share, and defend their opinions while considering the views of their fellow students. We believe a diversity of talents, abilities, and cultures among our student body offers a rich and well-rounded educational experience. We value our sense of community, made possible by our commitment to a relatively small population.

Educational Philosophy

The Steward School’s educational philosophy expresses who we were founded to be, who we are, and who we strive to become.

While we value and celebrate traditional academic achievement and intellectual accomplishment, we believe that each child is an individual and should be treated as such, and that this is a greater guiding principle than any linear scale.

We celebrate the fact that we have a student population of differing talents and abilities.

The essence of the school’s culture is rooted in the ethic of care–care for oneself, for others, for the school community, and for a cause greater than oneself.

Competition exists and is important at Steward, as it is in college and life. Discovering the satisfaction that comes from becoming deeply and fully engaged and knowing that you are spending life in a meaningful way is an important life skill, regardless of whether one wins or loses.

At Steward, efforts are made to gauge the appropriate level of expectation and support for each student’s individuality.

Every child is unique. The importance of the individual — and treating each individual with the dignity to which he or she is entitled — is a theme which runs very deep in the Steward mission.

Steward has a vigorous commitment to preparing our students for new ways of thinking and innovations in the way we approach issues, the ways we value each other, and the ways that we relate.

The use and integration of technology into learning is essential to student growth and development.

Understanding and respecting differences is necessary to becoming fully educated. Genuine understanding of other cultures, their histories, and how members of different cultures think and view the world is essential to a global society.

At Steward, balance is a core value, if not the most important element of all. To the extent that we discover the individual, recognize and honor all facets of that individual, and help him or her form a self-respecting, meaningful, and rewarding relationship with the world, we will have succeeded. This is The Steward Way.

International Students

The Steward School has welcomed international students for more than 15 years. Our small classes, robust curriculum, and experienced teachers make it an ideal setting for the college-bound student whose native language is not English. We believe that having diverse cultures represented on our campus and in our classrooms enriches the education of the entire Steward community.

International students join Steward’s student body in several ways—international placement agencies, families who have moved to the area, or through a search for schools via the Internet. Regardless of how they find us, international students are supported at Steward in a variety of ways:

• Our small classes and nurturing school community offer students a supportive and stimulating environment in which to further their general education while expanding their skills in English.
• The English as a Second Language teachers work closely with each student and family to develop a course of study based on the student’s abilities and academic goals. Students are placed in mainstream classes in most of the content areas and are enrolled in English as a Second Language classes if needed.
• Students receive assistance regarding I-20 forms and visas, if needed.
• A team of Upper School “ambassadors” assists international students with the transition into Steward life and American culture in general. They also host several international student events throughout the year.
• For students pursuing admission to an American university, college advising and help with TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) preparation are available.
• Students needing academic support in areas other than English can receive individual tutoring through the Center for the Advancement of Learning (CAL) for an additional fee.

At Steward, we are committed to the kind of education that recognizes the individuality of each student and fosters his or her potential through its differentiated approach to education. Our international student graduates have been accepted to a wide range of American universities and colleges.

International Housing

Living with family or relatives based in Richmond is recommended, but there is an option to stay with a host family. Home stays are designed for international students who would like the experience of living with an American family, and they are a great way to speed up language acquisition and acculturation. The Steward School partners with agencies to arrange home stays with American families.

Host Family

For many international students, going to a family barbeque, visiting the beach, or cheering on a local baseball team are new experiences that they’ll remember for years to come. Home stays offer families opportunities to learn more about world cultures and traditions, to develop lasting friendships, and to share American culture and Richmond life. Host families are asked to provide a safe and caring environment, meals, transportation to and from school, and a private or shared bedroom (with a host sibling of the same gender). Families receive ongoing support from the local agency coordinator, as well as from the school. In all cases, students come with their own spending money and insurance and are enrolled in the school’s lunch plan.