Tom Sheppard, Head of School, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, spoke to the rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s May 7, 2019, meeting. The subject of his talk was “Why St. Andrew’s Matters to Mississippi.” He started his talk by citing that the school’s students have an average composite ACT score of 30, which on a national basis is the 95th percentile.
Mr. Sheppard came to St. Andrew’s in the fall of 2018 from the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, NJ, where he was Dean of Enrollment Management. He is a graduate of Washington & Lee University and received his M. Ed.. from Lehigh University.
He presented three key points on why St. Andrew’s Matters to Mississippi: People, Program, and Partnership.
A key point is that PEOPLE are the key to St. Andrew’s, He emphasized the impact St. Andrew's graduates are having. For our state he cited Robert Langford, Executive Director of Operation Shoestring in Jackson, Lucien Smith, head of the Mississippi Republican Party, North Jackson Rotarian Jack Allin, Principal Architect with Wier Boerner Allin Architects plus other graduates making a global impact including Dr. Anita Goel, Chairman and CEO of Nanobiosym, Andrew Chatham with Google and Chief Engineer of Google’s Waymo subsidiary that is developing driverless vehicles, and Alexander Clark Founder and CEO of Technolutions.
Mr. Sheppard’s second point regarding St. Andrew’s was that the School’s PROGRAM serves as a magnet for making a difference. His final key point was that service via PARTNERSHIPS with others makes a difference to our community and the world. Examples of this service were the school’s partnerships with UMMC, The Piney Woods School, Jackson Public Schools, McWilllie and Boyd Elementary Schools. Although not included in the 3 Ps, the St. Andrew's Honor Code is a key factor for the school:
"On my honor as a St. Andrew’s student, I pledge that I will neither lie, nor cheat, nor steal.”
We thank Mr. Sheppard for his presentation to our Club and for his commitment to Mississippi. He is shown below with Rotarian Lee Moss (left) who introduced him and with Club President Anna Powers.
Shown below are Mr. Sheppard (center), with Lauren McMillin, St. Andrew’s Director of Alumni and Public Relations, and Rotarian Erik Hearon (right).
Mr. Sheppard was accompanied by Jay Philpott, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Stephanie Garriga, director of Institutional Advancement. Mrs. Garriga is shown in the following photo with Rotarian Jack Allin, a St. Andrew's alumnus.
