Did you know that there are 177 boarding students at St. Stephen’s this year, from 10 different states and 19 countries?

Being a mixed boarding/day school is one of our greatest assets as a community. Through relationships with local host families and with day student friends and faculty, residential students have the opportunity to deepen their connection to Austin, TX. By a similar token, the fact that St. Stephen’s is a 24/7 community that many call home enriches the experience of day students and day faculty/staff as well. The boarding program brings all kinds of diversity (cultural, economic, linguistic, racial, religious, etc.) to the school, allowing for unique opportunities to connect with people from all over the city of Austin, the state of Texas, and the world! This diversity contributes to our ability to fulfill our institutional mission of helping students learn what it means to be fully human in all of our complexity, difference and unity.

However, being a mixed boarding/day community also comes with some very real challenges. Many perceived misunderstandings and gaps exist between day students and boarding (especially international) students. Some of these tensions were only exacerbated during the last few years of COVID. But, as we know, many of these problems have been long-standing. For many of us, it’s difficult to get to know someone that we might initially seem to share little in common with. On top of that, for upperclassmen, it can be hard to talk to new people (outside of one’s social group) at all! And for some students whose first language is not English, communication may be difficult at first. These problems and more have always magnified the gap between the boarding and day communities. But how can we alleviate this? How have we attempted to alleviate this already?

At the moment, both of us, one student and one teacher, are in charge of working towards “bridging” these communities. Along with a committee of interested students, we believe that we are making strides in our goals of (1) increasing on-campus activities that bring everyone together, (2) providing more Austin-based off-campus opportunities for boarders, and (3) demystifying residential life for the entire student/teacher population.

Already this year, a number of day faculty have volunteered to either take students for special trips off-campus or to host  on-campus events open to both day and boarding students. Some off-campus highlights include trips to Pavement Vintage Resale, Lady Bird Lake, Pease Park, Mozart’s, and LBJ National Park! On-campus highlights include an orienteering challenge, craft workshops like card-making and flower-arranging, and a monthly campfire sing-along. Some ideas in the works include sports watch parties, an international movie night, and Ultimate Frisbee tournaments.

Follow our Instagram at @SSTX_Boarding_Life! If you would like to be involved or share your own ideas on how to help, reach out to Mrs. Sweetlamb or Liam Cochran for more information!