As an Episcopal school, St. Anne’s recognizes the innate spirituality of every person and offers an educational experience steeped in independent thinking, religious studies, community traditions, and shared rhythms that help us lead centered lives of connection, purpose, grace, and generosity. At St. Anne’s, we do not prescribe what one ought to believe but rather come together to pay attention, to pray, to share joys and sorrows. We believe that it is through asking questions, listening, and engaging with a variety of worldviews and faith practices that we can discover something bigger than ourselves and build a loving community and a more just world.

While Christianity is central to the history and ethos of our school, we recognize that no one person or group has a monopoly on truth, goodness, and beauty. We see our diversity as a gift and meet people wherever they are on the journey of life and faith. We take pride in being an Episcopal school and work to raise self-aware, well-rounded, spiritually curious children who can articulate their faith, however defined, and be prepared to engage across differences in a pluralistic world. St. Anne’s rejects exclusive theologies, dogmas, and practices that deny people their right to belong or be loved. We consistently emphasize service to others, humility, non-judgment, and looking for one’s spiritual center while being true to who you are. 

Our founders were religious women, members of the Episcopal Order of Saint Anne (mother of Mary). They lived as a small monastic community on the margins of both society and the Church, dedicating their lives to prayer and service to others. Nourished by simplicity, beauty, devotion, and friendship, the Sisters treated everything and everyone as sacred and helped more than eighty children, stricken by polio, walk out of St. Anne’s Home for children (think a rehab facility with round-the-clock protocol of massages, hot packs, and exercise) on their own feet. When, because of the epidemic, more regional hospitals were built, the sisters retired from health care and started a school. It is this heritage that inspires and sustains many of our traditions.

We gather monthly for a thirty-minute service to cultivate rhythms of stillness and action, in an otherwise busy day. Through music, texts, reflections from community members, and prayer, we tend to the questions bigger than those found in textbooks, notice what is happening in and around us, and practice being a community. We recite or listen to the Lord’s Prayer at weekly assemblies, bless the animals on St. Francis Day and gardens in the spring, re-enact Las Posadas, and gather for Ash Wednesday and May Day.  We often turn to art and nature, and respectfully borrow language from secular and non-theistic traditions to find common ground and cultivate a sense of spirituality, inner strength, and belonging: to ourselves, each other, and the world. 

St. Anne’s is first and foremost an educational institution steeped in academic discovery and critical thinking; we value both human reason and wisdom of the Scriptures, scientific endeavor, and religious literacy. Our PS-8 religion curriculum centers around a general survey of major Biblical stories and their context, fundamental teachings and practices of the five world religions, as well as indigenous spirituality and interfaith dialogue. The goal of these classes is to always think deeply and support asking questions more than arriving at definite answers. Students learn to articulate their identity and practices, engage in theological imagination, gain respect for other faiths, build an ethical framework, and consider religion and spirituality as a means towards the improvement of self and the world.

We hope that a balanced, developmentally appropriate exposure to religious studies will support every student’s spiritual curiosity, meaning-making, and engagement with a beautifully diverse and often challenging world. We understand that religious practice is a lived reality for some of our families, and hope that a school like St. Anne’s can be a place to uphold it beyond home. 

While organized religion has ignited much disapproval and divisiveness throughout history,  we believe it would be unwise to discard the perennial search for meaning, the value of ritual, and a call to work for justice and peace found in religious practice. Our Episcopal identity invites us to look at life through an additional lens, which sees every person as beloved by God. For this reason, we respect the “big” questions that children ask and hope to instill in them a sense of unconditional self-worth,  empathy, respect for others, and a sense of responsibility. We encourage learners of all ages to honor one another's dignity, listen openly, and live lives of gratitude, care, and harmony.

Our dedication to nurturing the whole child — mind, body, and spirit — is supported through the Character Education program, Service Learning, counseling, and a balanced academic, athletic, art, and outdoor education curriculum. We invest in the social, emotional, and spiritual growth of our students, helping each of them to discover their unique strengths, purpose, and potential. In the classroom or on the playground, soup-kitchen or soccer field, we emphasize kindness and service, looking out for one another and being a friend. Episcopal Identity in action means holding a young person’s full flourishing as our highest priority.