Episcopal schools are Christian educational communities whose missions integrate spiritual formation into all aspects of the educational experience. Episcopal schools are most distinctive when they are true to this mission and when they do so in the graceful and inclusive manner which is the hallmark of the Anglican approach to education over the centuries. Traditionally, Episcopal schools have offered some of the highest quality education in the U.S. while also providing components of faith formation and character development that distinguish students in these schools to be successful and lives of meaning and service.
Episcopal schools have been established, however, not solely as communities for Christians, like a parish church, but as ecumenical and diverse ministries of educational and human formation for people of all faiths and backgrounds. Episcopal schools are populated by a rich variety of human beings, from increasingly diverse religious, cultural, and economic backgrounds. In fact, the intentional pluralism of most of our Episcopal schools is a hallmark of their missions.
It is also a distinguishing characteristic that we seek to integrate religious and spiritual formation into the overall curriculum and life of our school community. We invite all who work in our schools— Episcopalians and non-Episcopalians, Christians and non-Christians, people of no faith tradition— both to seek clarity about their own beliefs and religions and to honor those traditions more fully and faithfully in their own lives.
Above all, Episcopal schools exist not merely to educate, but to demonstrate and proclaim the unique worth and beauty of all human beings as creations of a loving, empowering God.
