OUR 73 GRADUATES WILL ATTEND 41 DIFFERENT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN 16 STATES AND WASHINGTON, D.C.
112
MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2026 WERE ACCEPTED INTO 112 DIFFERENT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN 31 STATES, WASHINGTON D.C., AND SCOTLAND
228
THE MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2026 TOOK 228 AP EXAMS IN 13 SUBJECT AREAS DURING THEIR SENIOR YEAR.
All Steward seniors were offered admission to four-year colleges and universities.
SENIORS WERE ADMITTED TO COMPETITIVE DIRECT-ADMISSION PROGRAMS, INCLUDING:
agricultural management, construction management, business administration, accounting, economics, international business, finance, kinesiology, architecture, marketing, visual art, psychology, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, computer science, and international relations.
3
THE NUMBER OF SENIORS ATTENDING COLLEGE AS NCAA-RECRUITED ATHLETES.
THEIR SPORTS INCLUDE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AND BASEBALL.
6
SIX SENIORS COMMITTED TO STUDY THE ARTS IN COLLEGE.
$9.9 Million+ EARNED MORE THAN $9.9 MILLION IN MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS FROM ALL THE SCHOOLS TO WHICH THEY WERE ACCEPTED.
This signature program allows our students to opt-in to new opportunities for learning, as well as the ability to earn a unique diploma credential that will prepare them both for their college applications and future careers. Students in this program have formed mentoring partnerships and conceptualized real-world business plans with companies including Capital One and The Martin Agency.
HEATHER O’ TOOLE JETER
Director of College Counseling
Ms. Jeter has spent 26 years as an educator and college counselor in independent schools and has been a director of college counseling for the past 21 years. She is passionate about helping students discover the types of colleges that are perfect for them and celebrating with them as they transition to life as college students. With undergraduate and graduate degrees in English literature, Ms. Jeter especially enjoys working with students as they craft unique, creative application essays. She also has a passion for art history and museums, and she has a mighty green thumb!
This selective two- to three-year program sequences leadership studies in the classroom, in the community, and via a student-initiated project in the junior year.
All Upper School students participate in Minimester, which is an opportunity to learn outside of the classroom. Freshmen complete community service and tour colleges, while sophomores and juniors participate in international travel and internships. Seniors use the week to finish their Senior Projects.
At Steward, we seek to cultivate in our students global understanding of and appreciation for different cultures.
Therefore, Upper School students have the opportunity to travel abroad and domestically to gain real-world experience by immersing themselves in other cultures. Recent international trips have ventured to China, Spain, Italy, and Ecuador and the Galapagos.
deliver an original speech to an audience of their peers, teachers, and families. A beloved annual tradition since the school’s founding, this rite of passage is rooted in a strong belief in the importance of both public speaking skills and the ability to craft a sincere and passionate message.
KHADIJAH LUQMAN Associate Director of
College Counseling
At the heart of Steward’s curriculum is the value of responsible citizenship — caring for a cause beyond oneself. Instilled at every grade level, good citizenship is promoted by programs and traditions that bridge the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools. In the Upper School, students choose their community service involvements, and many students will accumulate hundreds of hours of service by graduation.
In Upper School, students may start their own clubs with the support of a faculty advisor. At the annual Club Fair, students sign up to participate in a variety of clubs. From the Entrepreneurship Club to the Diversity Club to the student-run online newspaper Steward Ink, there’s a student-run organization for every Spartan’s passion.
Ms. Luqman has been an educator for 23 years. Prior to Steward, she spent 15 years as a Spanish teacher, where she informally found herself assisting first-generation prospective college students through their college selection process. This led her to pursue a master’s degree in school counseling and to serve as a high school counselor. She joined Steward in 2017 as a Spanish teacher and added college counseling to her repertoire in 2019. Ms. Luqman loves helping students manage their unique path to finding their college “fit.” She has studied Arabic and American Sign Language and loves jigsaw puzzles.
Each winter, every member of the senior class takes the stage at Steward to
Skill building, good sportsmanship, and strong participation are the cornerstones of Steward’s athletic program. Because of our purposeful small size, our expert coaches get to know each player, both on and off the field or court. At all levels, we are focused on developing the whole athlete, emphasizing skill as well as character, confidence, leadership, and teamwork.
Steward embraces our history of strong visual and performing arts programs. Upper School students enjoy taking classes in visual arts, photography, technical theatre, acting, chorus, and band. Outside of the school day, they participate in Steward’s plays, musicals, pep band, and drum line. Many students are also busy in community theatre, local and regional choruses, bands, orchestras, and summer arts intensives.
BRAEDEN GLANCY ‘15 College Counseling Administrative Assistant
As a graduate of the Class of 2015, Ms. Glancy has a unique perspective of the Steward college counseling process. After earning the senior superlative “most likely to work at Steward” and graduating from Longwood University with her B.A. in history, she returned to Steward in the fall of 2020. She is excited to share her passion for all things Steward, enthusiasm for creative design, and organizational skills with students and the college counseling team. Her love for the Spartan community extends to her leadership and mentorship in various student clubs and organizations. Outside of Steward, you will find her spending any free time with her golden retrievers, Juno and Finley!
Contact the team at collegecounseling@stewardschool.org to set up a meeting today or visit stewardschool.org/collegecounseling.
I AM A
We caught up with some of Steward’s alumni to hear about how they each found the path to college that was right for them.
1 RYAN ODIBO ’18
Ryan graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Tech, earned his Ed.M. from Harvard, and a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.
How did the College Counseling Office help you decide what schools, majors, and programs to look into?
“The College Counseling Office was integral in the processes of both helping me articulate the impact that I wanted to make on society and steering me toward a university with foundational principles rooted in service.”
How were you supported during the college application process?
“I was supported in any way I needed at the time. Most times, support looked like 1:1 meetings during which we would go over my application essays. Other times, support looked like a pep talk and Jolly Ranchers. The College Counseling Office truly does it all, and to this day, I am grateful for it.”
2 CARLOS, MICHAEL, & LYNDDA CEVALLOS
All three Cevallos siblings earned full scholarships to the University of Richmond, including Michael's Gates Millennium Scholarship. Carlos graduated from medical school at the University of Virginia and Michael received his dentistry degree from Harvard.
CARLOS ’13:
What role did the College Counseling Office have in your college application process?
“As the first person in my family to go to college in the U.S., the College Counseling Office was amazing in guiding us from start to finish, ultimately helping me get into my top college choice.”
MICHAEL ’14:
How did the College Counseling Office help you decide which school was right for you?
“Toward the end of the college counseling process, I was trying to decide between a few different schools in Virginia. Ms. Jeter advised me to think about what sort of class size I was looking for. I liked the small class sizes at Steward and having that kind of access to my teachers. That’s one of the main reasons I chose University of Richmond.”
LYNDDA ’20:
How did the College Counseling Office help you find your path?
“The College Counseling Office helped me immensely. Through weekly meetings, I was able to narrow down my selection and find a school that was right for me. The college counseling team is incredibly supportive, and I appreciate their efforts in breaking down the application process into more manageable pieces.”
3
Harrison graduated summa cum laude from Furman University with a bachelor’s degree in music education. He is now attending Colorado State University to pursue a Master of Music in percussion performance.
What role did the College Counseling Office play as you chose your collegiate path?
“The College Counseling Office was instrumental in the decision-making process to help me narrow down my list of schools. Deciding on where to go for the next four years of your life is a daunting and scary task. However, they helped me to identify the best qualities of a program to determine what would be the right fit for my future.”
How did they support you during your application process?
“I am thankful that their doors were always open to answer any and all questions about the next part of the process. As a musician, there were many more steps for applying to schools, but I am very grateful to have had Steward’s College Counseling Office help me every step of the way!”
4 ALLISON LANGENBURG ’20
Allison graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2024 and recently completed a master's degree in public policy and international affairs at Harvard School of Government. She is currently completing an Air Force Intelligence Officer Course.
How did the College Counseling Office support
you in your application to the U.S. Air Force Academy?
“Ms. Jeter and the Steward College Counseling Office encouraged me to apply to a military academy even though I doubted myself. I will never forget the countless meetings encouraging me, editing essays and resumes, and celebrating my acceptance.”
Mark Carnes recently graduated in the top 10% of his class from the U.S. Air Force Academy and was the top Economics major. He commissioned as a second lieutenant and is now participating in the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program in Texas.
How did the College Counseling Office support you in your college applications?
“Steward’s College Counseling Office kept me honest. They weren’t afraid to have real conversations that helped me home in on schools that were in my sweet spot. This saved me time and stress and allowed me to work on applications to schools that mattered to my success. The most important thing they did was help me prep for my U.S. Air Force Academy interviews. They prepared me to speak with senators and congresswomen…and it worked.”
Sherese graduated with a political science degree from Tulane University, where she played her final year of Division I basketball. She played her first professional season in Slovakia in 2025-26.
How did Steward and the College Counseling Office prepare you to thrive as a collegiate student-athlete?
“At Steward, I learned to balance academics and basketball, which prepared me for life at college. Being a collegiate athlete is about focus and time management, two skills I learned in Upper School. I am thankful for the College Counseling Office and athletics department's help with the transition from Steward to college. They helped me find the right school and major.”
Lucia spent her first year after graduation studying Mandarin in Taiwan as part of the U.S. Department of State’s highly competitive National Security Language Initiative for Youth. She is now enrolled at the University of Virginia, studying public policy and global security.
How did Steward and the College Counseling Office help you find your unique and impressive path?
"The College Counseling Office was an invaluable resource for helping me to find programs, scholarships, and
internships. Even though I thought I knew exactly what my college path was going to look like, they helped me to explore alternative options that I had not previously considered. If it were not for Steward's emphasis on real-world and hands-on education, I would not have even thought about the idea of taking a gap year. But the college counseling team members were some of my biggest supporters in that decision and helped me to navigate that alternative."
Jack Morgan earned a marketing degree from Virginia Tech. He was a photographer for Virginia Tech Athletics and co-director of multimedia for a premier faculty-led, student-run marketing agency on campus called PRISM. He now works with Mazda North American Operations.
How did Steward and the College Counseling Office impact you?
“With the help of my teachers and the College Counseling Office, I was able to apply and get into Virginia Tech, the college I had wanted to attend my entire life. Upon attending Virginia Tech, I was presented with new opportunities that were made possible by the prior experiences that I had at Steward. Throughout Upper School, I was able to grow my passion for photography and film, which are skills that I use every day for my jobs and classwork.
At The Steward School, college counseling is a multi-year, highly personalized process. Our goal is to help each student discover what type of college fits them best, and, ultimately, for them to attend a top-choice school.
Families throughout the Steward community are invited to meet with the college counselors at any time during their students’ education.
The College Counseling Office hosts biannual meetings to share information pertinent to each step in the Upper School student’s progression.
Beginning in grade 9, students visit colleges on school-sponsored trips.
College counselors help students make wise, balanced choices regarding course selection and rigor.
In second semester of grade 11, each student has a family meeting with a college counselor in order to discuss topics such as: their individual plan for standardized testing, maximizing their summer opportunities, and crafting their college application list.
College counselors support seniors as they finalize their college application lists, fill out applications, and write application essays. The counselors proofread applications and help students to ideate, plan, and proofread creative essays. With the counselors’ assistance, students submit all of their college applications before Winter Break.
Financial aid is a major consideration for many families, and the college counselors are well-versed in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and College Scholarship Service Profile (CSS Profile). The counselors will also assist students with finding and applying for merit-based scholarships.
As students receive their application results, the college counselors help them to weigh
their options and compare financial aid packages.
Each fall, over 100 college and university representatives visit Steward. Students in grades 9-12 are invited to attend these meetings, which provide important learning and connecting opportunities.
Each spring, juniors attend the Richmond Area Independent Schools (RAIS) College Fair. There, they meet with representatives from over 200 colleges and universities and expand their college considerations.
For aspiring collegiate athletes, the college counselors help to guide students through the complex recruiting process, including NCAA guidelines and eligibility.
In fall of grade 11, juniors embark on the Junior College Tour: an overnight trip to visit different types of colleges. This tour is an invaluable step in the college exploration process as students discover and focus on the qualities that define their unique preferences.
Second-semester juniors and firstsemester seniors take a College Seminar class, in which they meet with the college counselors and cover topics including: learning about a variety of colleges, creating an extracurricular resume, practicing for interviews, and working on essays and applications.
In our annual parent survey, families gave our College Counseling Office high marks, listing it as a top program in the Upper School.
HEATHER O’ TOOLE JETER Director of College Counseling
Ms. Jeter has spent 26 years as an educator and college counselor in independent schools and has been a director of college counseling for the past 21 years. She is passionate about helping students discover the types of colleges that are perfect for them and celebrating with them as they transition to life as college students. With undergraduate and graduate degrees in English literature, Ms. Jeter especially enjoys working with students as they craft unique, creative application essays. She also has a passion for art history and museums, and she has a mighty green thumb!
KHADIJAH LUQMAN Associate Director of College Counseling
Ms. Luqman has been an educator for 23 years. Prior
to Steward, she spent 15 years as a Spanish teacher, where she informally found herself assisting first-generation prospective college students through their college selection process. This led her to pursue a master’s degree in school counseling and to serve as a high school counselor. She joined Steward in 2017 as a Spanish teacher and added college counseling to her repertoire in 2019. Ms. Luqman loves helping students manage their unique path to finding their college “fit.” She has studied Arabic and American Sign Language and loves jigsaw puzzles.
BRAEDEN GLANCY ‘15 College Counseling Administrative Assistant
As a graduate of the Class of 2015, Ms. Glancy has a unique perspective of the Steward college counseling process. After earning the senior superlative “most likely to work at Steward” and graduating from Longwood University with her B.A. in history, she returned to Steward in the fall of 2020. She is excited to share her passion for all things Steward, enthusiasm for creative design, and organizational skills with students and the college counseling team. Her love for the Spartan community extends to her leadership and mentorship in various student clubs and organizations. Outside of Steward, you will find her spending any free time with her golden retrievers, Juno and Finley!
Nearly 100% of the students in these graduating classes were accepted to a top-choice school.
Syracuse University
Temple University
Texas A&M University
Texas Christian University
The American University of Paris
The Catholic University of America
The College of Wooster
The Ohio State University
Towson University
College
Southeastern University
Oglethorpe University
University Pratt Institute
Purdue University
Queen Mary University of
Queens University of Charlotte Quinnipiac University
Radford University
Randolph College
Randolph-Macon College
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rhode Island School of Design Rider University
Roanoke College
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rollins College
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Rutgers University
SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology
SUNY Fredonia
SUNY Purchase College
Saint Francis University
Saint Joseph’s University
Saint Leo University
Santa Fe College
Savannah College of Art and Design
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Seton Hall University
Shaw University
Shenandoah University
Southern University and A&M College
Spelman College
St. John’s University (New York)
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
St. Thomas Aquinas College
Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevenson University
Stony Brook University
Suffolk University
Swarthmore College
Sweet Briar College
Union College
United States Military Academy
United States Naval Academy
University of Alabama
University of Arizona
University of California (Berkeley)
University of California (Davis)
University of California (Irvine)
University of California (Los Angeles)
University of California (San Diego)
University of California (Santa Barbara)
University of California (Santa Cruz)
University of Central Florida
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado (Boulder)
University of Connecticut
University of Delaware
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Greenwich
University of Hartford
University of Illinois (UrbanaChampaign)
University of Kentucky
University of Lynchburg
University of Mary Washington
University of Maryland
University of Maryland (Baltimore County)
University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts (Boston)
University of Miami
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
University of Mississippi
University of Montana
University of Nebraska
University of New England
University of New Hampshire
University of New Haven
University of North Carolina (Asheville)
University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill)
University of North Carolina (Charlotte)
University of North Carolina (Greensboro)
University of North Carolina (Wilmington)
University of North Florida
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rhode Island
University of Richmond
University of Rochester
University of South Carolina
University of South Florida
University of Southern California
University of St Andrews
University of Tampa
University of Tennessee
University of Texas (Arlington)
University of Toronto
University of Utah
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
University of Virginia (Wise)
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin
University of Wyoming
University of the South Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
Villanova University
Virginia UniversityCommonwealth
Virginia Military Institute
Virginia State University
Virginia Tech
Virginia Union University
Virginia Wesleyan University
Wagner College
Wake Forest University
Warren Wilson College
Washington College
Washington and Lee University
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
West Virginia University
Western Kentucky University
Wheaton College
Wilkes University
College of William & Mary
Wingate University
Wofford College
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Xavier University