As our Patriot families may know, construction for the East Building’s addition started last fall, and we are excited to announce that we are now halfway to completing Phase 1 of this project.

Our goal is to provide all students — present and future — with a rich curricular and co-curricular experience. This addition is a necessary means to that goal: Enrollment data projects that our student body will rise to nearly 4,900 students by 2030. We need to expand our capacity and facilities now to accommodate a bigger Stevenson family in the future.

The primary purpose of this addition is to offer students more enhanced health and wellness opportunities that promote a well rounded Stevenson experience through:

An expanded fitness center to accommodate all students in our physical welfare classes and our after-school and summer health, fitness and wellness programs.
Additional classrooms for our growing student population.
Expanded and enhanced spaces for students to meet with their Student Services Teams (Counselors, Social Workers, Deans and Psychologists).
Additional multipurpose spaces and sport courts to accommodate the more than 2,000 athletes who participate in our growing Athletics program and more than 3,800 students who participate in one of our 150 co-curricular clubs and activities.

We expect the first phase of this project to be complete by this August, with the remainder of this project to be completed in August 2022. This project is made financially possible through a refinancing of existing debt and will not increase the burden on taxpayers in any way. We hope that our Patriot families are as excited as we are in seeing this building addition slowly come to life!

Upcoming Fine Arts Performances

The Stevenson Fine Arts Division has a number of free virtual performances scheduled over the next week which members of the Patriot community are invited to attend:

Patriot Theatre Company Production of 'The Compass"

Four performances will be held this weekend

Orchestra Senior Solo Recital

Wednesday, March 10 at 6 p.m.

Youth Arts Month Virtual Event

Thursday, March 11 at 7 p.m.

Please see the Fine Arts Events webpage for additional information.

Virtual Visiting Artist Series

As part of the 2020-21 Visiting Artists Series, Stevenson is proud to feature the work of Courtney Mattison now through April 2. Mattison creates intricately detailed and large-scale ceramic sculptural works inspired by the fragile beauty of coral reefs and works to raise awareness to conserve our changing seas.

Later this month, Mattison will virtually visit two visual arts classrooms to discuss her art and career. Please enjoy the digital exhibition in this video featuring Mattison’s artwork. The biography and online portfolio for this artist can be viewed on the ARTalks/Visiting Artists webpage and all of the 2020-21 exhibitions and ARTalk classroom presentations can be viewed on the Fine Arts YouTube channel.

The Visiting Artist Program and ARTalks are presented by the Stevenson Fine Arts Division in partnership with the Stevenson Foundation.

As our students engage in Hybrid Learning this spring semester, teachers and families together can collaborate to support our students during this transition back to school using the lens of social and emotional learning. School-family partnerships are critical components of student successes, so how to best engage during these uncertain times is worth exploring.

We all – families and educators alike – share a goal of learning. While teachers bring extensive professional knowledge of content and pedagogy to the conversation, families bring a deep knowledge of their child: who they are, where their strengths lie, and how they are growing and changing. Everyone involved can be engaged in promoting the most critical skills for success in school and life: social and emotional skills. So therein lies an opportunity to learn from one another about strategies for supporting a student’s development.

Here are five tips for using SEL Practices to foster strong school-to-home collaborations:

Partner Together Around Shared Leadership
Promote Collective Creativity
Communicate and Share Values and Vision
Promote a Positive School Climate
Build Practices of Trust

Please view the online version of this article for the full explanation of these practices.

Stevenson is in the process of continual improvement in our ability to teach and learn by focusing on each student by engaging in caring relationships. We know how crucial parents, caregivers and family members are given the chance to be a vital part of this process. Both research and practices shows that students will experience the most powerful form of Social and Emotional Learning possible through ALL the caring adults in their lives modeling collaboration and effective communication. I can’t imagine a more worthwhile process.

Next week, parents and guardians are invited to attend the following virtual programs which are free to attend as part of the Patriot Family Programming series.

Ways to Support Your Teen’s Emotional Health

Monday, March 8 at 12 p.m.

Power Moms: How Executive Mothers Navigate Work and Life
(Stevenson co-sponsored FAN Event)

Monday, March 8 at 7 p.m.

Making time for Happiness

Tuesday, March 9 at 12 p.m.

Encouraging Compassion in Your Teen

Wednesday, March 11 at 12 p.m.

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family
(Stevenson co-sponsored FAN Event)

Wednesday, March 10 at 7 p.m.

Helping Your Teen Focus

Thursday, March 12 at 4 p.m.