The glory of God is the human person fully alive. -Saint Irenaeus
What does it mean to be fully alive? It means recognizing the Beauty that’s all around us. It means orienting our lives toward the Good. It means not simply understanding Truth, but also living it out.
Our students begin their school week participating in the sacrifice of the Mass. We then see our students, and our educators, sacrifice in big and small ways throughout the day. Whether it is the second grader holding the door open for his classmate (and his teacher in some instances!), or the middle schooler’s patience assisting a third grader’s measuring precision during a Way of Beauty baking workshop, our students' care for one another is palpable. The truth is manifesting itself in good and beautiful ways here today as it did at our founding in 1925. Keeping our eyes fixed on the Lord, we invite you to join us in witnessing the glory of God– the human person fully alive here at Saint Stephen School.
We offer excellence in academics for all learning levels, including multiage math classrooms and a dedicated resource room. Grounded in a liberal arts curriculum, our Way of Beauty workshops, homeschool partnership, and Arrowsmith program are unique to our school.
Along with Saint Stephen pastor, Fr. Scott Nolan, I invite you to come explore our school!
Principal Elizabeth Black
Mission
To partner with parents in the whole-person formation of their children, who are made in the image of God and destined for communion with Him.
Academics
Forming the Whole Person
A Saint Stephen education is rooted in an understanding of the human person as presented in the Genesis narrative. God created humans as rational and free persons, made “in the image and likeness of God,” and entrusted man with the stewardship of creation. At Saint Stephen, we understand that a fully human education will form the student in a whole-person manner. “Liberal arts” are the studies that free a person from ignorance and uninformed opinion by training him or her to think logically and to discern the essential from the inessential. The liberal arts student sees "the big picture”; the individual facts and subjects that a student learns find their broader meaning when seen in light of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. For this reason, the student is free to choose well.
The Way of Beauty
But to choose well, we must want the good, to find it attractive and desirable. The Way of Beauty curriculum at Saint Stephen is a core k-8 sequence of workshops and studios wherein students learn to discover beauty and create it through handiwork and the fine arts. This is a program that fosters design thinking, engages the students in critical thinking, and enthuses them in creativity. It teaches the student the nobility of work, and through these authentic skills, the student comes fully alive.
Faith
Our students will be “fully alive” as seekers of truth, lovers of goodness, and creators of beauty, who shape their own lives to be beautiful and who seek to share Christ who is Beauty itself with others. Most school days begin with weekday Mass alongside parishioners and neighbors. We encourage private prayer and reflection during a weekly opportunity for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Saint Stephen School also offers Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (level I and II).
Extracurriculars
Saint Stephen athletics complement our school, church, and home in the development of the whole person - mind, body, and spirit. Our program, overseen by GRACEAC, is developmental in its approach and encourages participation regardless of skill level.
740 Gladstone Ave. SE
East Grand Rapids, MI 49506
United States