Meet the Rector

Rector Sara Stephenson came to Chatham Hall in 2024 from Ashley Hall, a school for 660 girls in Charleston, SC where she was the director of strategic enrollment management and director of Upper School admission. During her more than five years at Ashley Hall, the school significantly increased enrollment and advanced its educational mission.
 
Rector Stephenson brings 27 years of experience as a teacher and administrator at several outstanding schools. Prior to Ashley Hall, she was director of enrollment at the University School, a school for boys in Cleveland, OH, and previously served as Middle School head at Hathaway Brown, a school for girls in Shaker Heights, OH. She also served as assistant director of the Middle School at the Blake School in Minneapolis, MN and started her career as a teacher at the Greenhill School in Dallas, TX. Rector Stephenson thus brings to Chatham Hall a wealth of experience in very strong and diverse schools.
 
A strong voice in independent schools, Rector Stephenson has presented and shared her knowledge at national conferences throughout her tenure in education. Most recently, she led a workshop at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Annual Conference about engaging parents in 2023, and co-wrote an article on the same topic for the Southern Association of Independent Schools. In 2024, she presented "Mind the Gap: Making the connection between new families and long-term ambassadors and donors" at the NAIS Annual Conference. In the 2022-2023 school year, Rector Stephenson was named the NAIS Aspiring Head Fellow. She also served as an Association of Independent School Admission Professionals cohort leader in 2020-2021.
 
In the wider community, Rector Stephenson was previously the vice president of the Greater Charleston Admission Professionals Society, served on the Sunbeam Board of the Vocational Guidance Services in Cleveland, and attended the Racial Equity Institute in 2020.
 
Rector Stephenson was born and raised in the United Kingdom and holds dual citizenship in both the U.K. and the U.S. She is a graduate of the University of Bristol where she was valedictorian of her class and holds a Master of Education from Cambridge University.

Rector Stephenson and husband Paul have two sons, Jonah and Jasper, and two dogs, Molly and Stella.