Saint Edward's School is a coeducational college-preparatory school in Vero Beach, Florida.
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College preparatory school founded on the Treasure Coast of Florida in 1965. The School opened with 31 students in grades 5-8. By 1974 grades K-12 had been added and the first class to attend all 12 years graduated in 1979. Students enrolled came from Fort Pierce to the South and Melbourne Beach to the North. The vision of the founders was to create a school where moral virtues could thrive and the educational atmosphere would produce responsible adults. The original mission statement was “mind, body, spirit.”
The original building on the north campus, formerly the Riomar Country Club, was built in 1929. In 1988, the original club house and cottages on the 6-acre (24,000 m2) site were renovated. In 1972, the Upper School campus was built and it is situated on 27 acres (110,000 m2) of land fronting the Indian River Lagoon. The south campus expansion took place in 2000 and created a separate middle school facility, performing arts center, fine arts building, and administration building. In 2010 the lower school was moved to the south campus where all of the School's facilities are now fronting the Indian River Lagoon.
Saint Edward's has approximately 2,000 alumni. The alumni base is relatively young but more “legacy” families are emerging in the younger grades, with at least a few who are older (high school & graduated). Legacies are defined as students, past or present, who are the sons or daughters of SES alumni. According to the National Association of Independent Schools, alumni are defined as students who attended an institution for at least one year (not necessarily graduates).[1] Currently, SES boasts 50+ legacy families (2009).
In the 2011/12 school year Saint Edward’s enrolls more than 500 students in pre-K through grade 12. Each division keeps a separate presence on the combined campus and the lower and middle schools have self contained facilities. The 800 seat Waxlax Performing Arts Center, the Becker Aquatic Center, the Peter B. Benedict Library, Pirate Stadium and the Wachter Activity Center provide state-of-the-art space for shared functions and multi-purpose use. The south campus has riverfront access, with a dock. SES fully utilizes the water access, especially during the academic year with science and arts classes utilizing the lagoon and during the summer months with SES's well-established summer camps.
There are 89 faculty members, more than one third with advanced degrees. SES offers its students advanced placement courses, athletics, travel abroad, creative and performing arts, Chinese, integrated tablet technology, even in the youngest grades, and a top-rate college preparatory education. The students' college test scores are well above the state average and exceed the national averages by 84 points in Reading, 74 points in Writing and 64 points in Math (2010 testing of the class of 2012). In 2011 the class of 2012 which numbered 71 students had 3 National Merit Scholarship SemiFinalists and 4 National Merit Commended Scholars.
The Board of Trustees selected Mr. Mike Mersky as the seventh head of school beginning on July 1, 2009.
Arthur L. Mullin, 1965-1966
J. Dale Sorensen, 1966-1969
J. Frederick Nunn, 1969-1971
Peter B. Benedict, 1971-1995
Diane B. Cooper, 1995-2003
Charles F. Clark, 2003–2008
Saint Edward’s School, founded upon the independent Episcopal school tradition, is a co-educational, pre-kindergarten through grade twelve, college preparatory school committed to educational excellence. To empower each child to reach his or her full potential, the School community promotes an environment of advocacy, challenges the whole student, cultivates moral courage and spiritual growth, and inspires a lifelong passion for learning.
The mission statement appears in every classroom and is printed on every program and marketing piece the school produces. The redesigned website is based upon the five core values listed in the mission statement: advocacy, whole student, moral courage and spiritual growth, and a lifelong passion for learning. The goal has been to infuse these core values into the school culture.
School Website: http://www.steds.org/