Mission Statement:
Grounded in our founding values, we cultivate a community of curious and compassionate learners who are inspired to serve and enrich our world.
OUR EPISCOPAL IDENTITY
After more than a year of thoughtful reflection and intentional collaboration, we are excited to share St. Anne’s first Episcopal Identity Statement—an effort to formally articulate what it means for us to be an Episcopal school and to be more united around this vision as a community. Such statements, though painfully short, are a common practice among schools like ours; they help to live out an ethos of character, spirituality, and religious practice of the Episcopal tradition with greater clarity, confidence, and fullness. Through rigorous but tender discussions and multiple rounds of feedback, we worked hard to authentically represent a wide range of St. Anne’s voices, perspectives, and aspirations. With a firm commitment to the legacy of the Sisters and their Christian faith, we aimed to be responsive to the needs of our diverse and evolving community and create a common language for a living expression of what it means to be St. Anne’s Episcopal School in the City of Denver today. We hope that this statement conveys the spirit of our Founders as well as a warm welcome felt by many who step foot on campus and opens a door for all to consider a St. Anne’s education.
This Episcopal Identity Statement serves as both a touchstone and a compass. It also illuminates the connection between our faith heritage and our commitment to inclusion, service, and building a beloved community. Knowing that St. Anne’s Sisters were wholeheartedly dedicated to God and to following Him in the world, the statement reflects our deep respect for the variety of religious and secular backgrounds of our families and serves as an invitation for a continued dialogue about questions of faith, belief, and belonging.
We are proud to share this statement with the full St. Anne’s community so that together, we may continue to practice what has guided this school since its founding with authenticity and grace. Because the statement, by nature, is limited in length, we invite everyone to visit our website and read more about the gifts of Episcopal education and the answers to Frequently Asked Questions. We look forward to the conversations, reflections, and shared experiences this work will continue to inspire. Thank you for supporting us in so many ways!
Rooted in the faith, service, and unconditional love exemplified by our founding Sisters, St. Anne’s
strives to be a welcoming community that respects and advocates for the dignity of all students, faculty, staff, and families. As an Episcopal school, we tend to the many life stories, spiritual journeys, and religious traditions present among us. We invite all community members to engage in the joyful and courageous process of learning - a lifelong endeavor that calls us to grow and work together for justice and peace.
FAQs
| Are you affiliated with a church and/or the diocese? |
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| We are fully independent and are not accountable to or governed by any church, parish, or the Episcopal Church (diocese) in Colorado. We maintain friendly relations with members of the clergy and the places of worship our families attend. |
| Are families from different religious and non-religious backgrounds welcome at St. Anne’s? |
| Absolutely! We are a diverse group of educators and learners, parents and alumni, only a minority identifying as Episcopalian. Our community includes families who practice various religious traditions or none at all. We respect each other’s individuality and build community on shared human values. |
| What kind of a religious school is St. Anne’s? |
| We stand in the remarkable lineage of Episcopal schools, all known for their academic excellence and inclusion of the “spiritual” in the whole-child approach to education. We support children’s innate curiosity about a higher power but do not seek to indoctrinate or proselytize. |
| Is there a school chaplain? |
| Yes. A school chaplain is an ordained or lay minister (MDiv) who takes care of our religious heritage and traditions, oversees chapels, and offers pastoral care to all members of our community. The chaplain takes an active role in the life of the school, is in charge of religious education, and contributes to service learning, diversity and equity initiatives, character education, and, occasionally, coaches a sport or leads a dance elective. |
| What is Chapel? |
| Chapels are non-sacramental and intentionally inclusive gatherings - grade level, middle school, and all-school - held about once a month each. Because of our heritage, most of our lexicon is Christian (ex. “God,” “grace,” “amen,” etc.) and chapels loosely follow the liturgy outlined in the Book of Common Prayer, a hallmark of the Episcopal Church. A sequence of hymns, music, readings, reflections, and prayer can be expected at each all-school chapel, held in the dining hall and performance arts space. We also have the sisters’ chapel, which is an original prayer space of the Sisters of the Order of St. Anne’s. |
| Will our children hear about God and the Bible? |
| Yes. Our chaplain teaches a class in religious studies throughout the school year to all students in Preschool through 8th Grade about once a rotation (every seven school days) in Lower School and roughly once a month in Middle School. Most of class time in Lower School (PS-5) is dedicated to stories from the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, with a focus on central Biblical characters. We take a closer look at Jesus of Nazareth around Christmas and Easter while maintaining an academic approach. We also study major holidays of other religions as a way to familiarize students with fundamental terms, concepts, and practices. The Middle School curriculum is dedicated to ethics, religious exemplars, world religions, and fundamentals of Christian theology. |
| What is the role of religion in the curriculum? |
| Religious studies is a stand-alone class that supplements our multifaceted, holistic curriculum. Religion does not influence any other subject taught at St. Anne’s. |
| Does St. Anne’s Episcopal School receive accreditation from any governing organization? |
| Yes, St. Anne’s is accredited by the ACIS (Association of Colorado Independent Schools). |
| What is NAES and the school’s relationship with it? |
| St. Anne’s is a member of NAES, which stands for National Association of Episcopal Schools. We are also members of the National Association of Independent School (NAIS), Center for Spirituality in Education (CSEE), and Independent School Data Exchange (INDEX). |