St Stephen's Episcopal School

315 41st Street West

Bradenton, FL 34209

31 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-12
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on January 29, 2025

Our children have attended schools both public & private in Florida, New Jersey and Canada. At St. Stephen’s we have found thoughtfully curated & high quality curriculum, an energized sports & STEM program and an appreciation of music & arts. Each year we see our daughters benefit from this “whole student” approach to learning. But most importantly, we see each graduating class leave St. Stephen’s well rounded, confident and ready for college. We’re so grateful for the renewed energy and vision our new Head of School has brought to St. Stephen’s. Our family feels lucky to be a part of the school at this exciting time. Lastly, as a busy parent, I am especially thankful for the warm St. Stephen’s welcome we received a few years ago. The new friendships have been a surprising bonus!
Submitted by parent on January 13, 2025

Saint Stephen’s is home for us. The teachers know both of my student’s names and are invested in their academic success. The extracurricular and athletic opportunities offer my children multiple options outside of the classroom. The low student to teacher ratio gives my children the attention not found in larger schools.
Submitted by parent on January 13, 2025

We are so grateful and proud to have our daughter at SSES. When you step onto campus you have a sense for the learning environment and the high standard throughout the students and faculty. Success breeds success and we believe at SSES we are providing an excellent foundation for our daughter to elevate forward from!
Submitted by parent on January 13, 2025

Saint Stephen’s provides students with an excellent, well rounded education. The teachers are incredible and truly are invested in their students. Mr. Kraft is a wonderful Head of School! My three children are so lucky to have a Saint Stephen’s experience!
Submitted by parent on January 13, 2025

Saint Stephen's prepared our daughter extremely well for success in college and is the finest private school in the Sarasota-Bradenton area. The faculty is excellent, the community is welcoming, and the campus is safe and beautiful. My wife and I highly recommend Saint Stephen's!
Submitted by parent on December 03, 2024

My daughter and another female student, both very nice girls, started 8th grade at SSES in August 2024 as new transfer students. Both had previously been attending private schools in different states. Both girls and their families (did not know each other prior to SSES) chose to leave SSES by October 2024 to escape the horrendously unwelcoming, unhealthy and mean-spirited conditions they were exposed to at SSES by the other female students in the grade. Completely shocked too by the faith-based emphasis / environment with having the students attend chapel once a week; these particular students DO NOT exemplify the values the school is trying to teach them. I strongly advise anyone with a girl starting 9th grade Class of 2029 to look elsewhere. I do not have any bad feelings towards the school in general; this review is strictly for anyone considering sending their daughter there if she is Class of 2029. If I had known about how the SSES girls behaved there, we would never have joined the school. It was a total nightmare and I only hope to have other girls avoid this same disaster that our family was subjected to. This is a very difficult piece of information to obtain when you are considering a school and we did not know any other girl parents in the grade. You are more than welcome to contact me at melissa.burneston at G mail for details if you are considering SSES for your daughter. I will not post details here as it involves terrible despicable behavior by minor children who carelessly do major damage to others.
Submitted by student on February 23, 2024

i am currently a student at saint stephens and have been for 8years, this school has brought nothing to my plate and is extremely bad with social situations. everyone bullies each other and they don’t do anything about it. and all the kids need to be humbled so badly.
Submitted by parent on July 28, 2022

My daughter began attending in pre-kindergarten and graduated in 2018 well prepared for college and future success. We researched every public and private school in the Sarasota/Bradenton area before deciding on Saint Stephen's and NEVER regretted our choice. The school is outstanding in every way and the finest - by far - in this area of southwest Florida. Academics are world class. Extracurricular offerings are plentiful and top notch. There is a sense of community at the school that is unique. Every school can say it provides a "family atmosphere" - Saint Stephen's lives it. It is the best investment our family has ever made.
Submitted by parent on March 11, 2021

I absolutely love this school my daughter has learned so much. The teachers are Amazing the class sizes are small so the teacher is able to concentrate on your child more if they need help which I love!
Submitted by parent on May 11, 2020

My son has had a wonderful experience at Saint Stephen's. The teachers prepare their students academically and send many of their graduates to top universities.
Submitted by parent on July 26, 2019

Been to several schools in the area from Bradenton through Venice (including Pine View for 8 years) and Saint Stephen's is by far the Best All Around!
Submitted by parent on September 22, 2017

ugh, the worst, so glad we pulled our kids from this school
Submitted by parent on August 07, 2016

There is no better, more complete school in the Bradenton/Sarasota area. My daughter has grown academically, socially, athletically in so many ways. And when she graduates in 2018, I have no doubt that she will be prepared to succeed in college and beyond. You get what you pay for - and, yes, Saint Stephen's is pricey - but you can't make a better investment in your child's future than this school. It's a safe and nurturing environment. The faculty is outstanding and their credentials speak for themselves. When my wife and I chose Saint Stephen's for our child for pre-kindergarten 13 years ago, we made the best decision possible.
Submitted by parent on January 05, 2016

My child has been cyber bullied several times, and even physically bullied on a SSES school trip. The administration did nothing to effectively address either, just had a very benign "let's make nice" meeting with us to brush these discerns under the rug. We have found the school much more concerned with image over substance and feel strongly that the caliber of the students and the academic rigor PALES in comparison to Pine View and Riverview IB (we have children at both now). The culture is cliquey, money-driven, snobby, and lacks true diversity (zero socioeconomic diversity in fact). My child is often very sad about the social environment and dreads school. He is very appreciative of several teachers and feels the experiences in those classes has been excellent. The other 3 teachers are quite weak and have extremely low expectations for the kids. Money seems to buy the students' way out of trouble, including even cheating and bullying, and kids are even allowed to retake exams and midterms just because they failed to study the first time. What are we teaching them other than a deep sense of entitlement? Kids with learning disabilities are actually favored, and there only minority of students who work hard and actually care about their education. This school is NOT preparing kids to succeed in college. Go to IB or Pimeview if you want academic rigor, true anti-bullying approaches, character education, professional teaching (there are several great teachers here, but many incompetent ones as well) and true diversity. Very sad to write this, but feel it's important to be honest. Wish I had done some more thorough research before we spent tens of thousands of dollars to send our child here. I was taken with the facilities and the marketing sell, rather than invested in the actual day to day experience.
Submitted by other on June 17, 2015

Our family was impressed with St. Stephens. We thought the educational opportunity for growth was awesome, at first. Then, we thought about what we really wanted for a children. We want our to be educated, but we also want our children to have solid ethics, morals, and integrity. Would St. Stephens help develop my child's character? Would she grow up to be snob or would she grow up to be a smart intelligent young person who could interact with people from walks of life? I was not sure if St. Stephens would develop that aspect of her life. The lack of diversity on campus stood out. Especially, in the elementary level... While our family is not one that would qualify for financial assistance, I wondered if the organization recognizes a need to offer a hand up. St. Stephens is a great school academically, but I am not sure if it will achieve the other characteristics needed for life. As a result, St. Stephens was not the school for our family.
Submitted by parent on April 27, 2015

Very disappointed on several levels. Most of the teachers are wonderful (with the exception of 2 we've encountered), but the administration is not effective in solving problems or supporting students going through challenges within their insular community. The school is quite concerned with image over substance and I feel the academic expectations are quite low in comparison to say a Pine View or Riverview IB curriculum. The student body is mainly extremely wealthy, snobby, caddy and cliquey. My children experienced bullying via social media as well as in the school. Very saddened that despite some wonderful teachers and some amazing facilities, our experience has been quite frustrating and has led my child to feel isolated and sad.
Submitted by parent on August 15, 2014

Saint Stephens.. Excellent School and well worth every penny! My boys both have attended the summer program as well as my younger son attends the Pre-K program this year. Friendly staff, safe environment and excellent learning experience!
Submitted by parent on August 13, 2014

Great school! We moved here 3 years ago and found this "gem of a school". My boys (who have always attended public school in the past) acclimated well due to the friendly, caring staff and students. They have both found a great set of friends and have excelled in school even though the curriculum is much more difficult than they had been used to. The small class sizes are wonderful and the students get one-on-one attention from the well-educated teachers, as needed. Also, the College Counseling office has been great, they are incredibly knowledgable and well-connected to the college world. We are very happy with our decision to send our children to Saint Stephen's!
Submitted by parent on July 26, 2014

I really like St. Stephens. We've been sending our child there for 7 years now. The teachers & support staff are wonderful with the exception of one so far and the other parents we have met along the way are great as well. However, I do feel the school cares a lot more about it's image & pocketbook more than anything. The annual tuition is ridiculous and continues to go up in price about 1k each year. But I guess that's the price we have to pay for the many children AND grandchildren of staff members who attend the school at a highly discounted price, if not free! This will unfortunately be our last year at this school.
Submitted by parent on June 20, 2014

Our children attend Saint Stephen's and we couldn't be happier! The faculty/staff truly know each of our three children and embrace their individual qualities. The PK3-12 campus creates a unique and caring community that develops, challenges and supports each child at the appropriate level. I highly recommend Saint Stephen's. If there were a sixth star - I'd give it!