The first day of classes followed two days of Orientation designed to welcome students back, introduce new members of the community, and give each grade time to reconnect before the academic year formally got underway.
For Head of School Maria Nunes, the opening of the year was also an opportunity to return to something fundamental: the St. Stephen’s mission and what it asks of the community.
St. Stephen’s is an American school providing an international education in a caring, culturally rich environment, empowering students to become independent and creative learners prepared for a complex world.
At St. Stephen’s, that mission takes on particular meaning. Students from around the world learn together in the heart of Rome, in an environment that asks them to become increasingly independent while remaining part of a close and caring community. The qualities named in the mission—care, creativity, independence, openness to the world—are not separate from academic learning, but part of the education the school seeks to provide.
That spirit was already visible during Orientation.
Before lessons began, students participated in activities tailored to the different stages of their St. Stephen’s experience. Grade 9 students headed to the Appian Way for team-building activities with Gruppo Storico Romano, while Grade 10 traveled to Parco Avventura Fregene for a day centered on collaboration and challenge. Grade 11 students ventured to Subiaco for team building with Vivere L’Aniene.
For seniors, Orientation looked toward the year ahead. Grade 12 students moved through meetings and sessions on student life, senior privileges, the IB, wellness, the Extended Essay, and college counseling, balancing the responsibilities of their final year with time to reconnect as a class.
By the time classes began, campus had once again settled into its familiar rhythm: students moving between lessons, conversations spilling onto the terrace, teachers welcoming new classes, and friendships picking up where they left off.
The first day marked the beginning of another academic year, but also the continuation of something larger—the daily work of living the St. Stephen’s mission and preparing students not simply for what comes after school, but for the complex world they are already learning to navigate.
