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Dr. Steven Sorrell steps into the role of Head of Schools for All Saints’ Episcopal School, aiming to make a lasting impact on students and the community.

Sorrell comes from Louisiana where he served as the Dean of Students at Ascension Episcopal School for 5 years. However his career in education began in 2005.

“I have been in education for 19 years, all independent schools,” Sorrell said. “I spent the first 13 years of my career at Davidson Academy, a nondenominational private school in North Nashville.”

“I didn’t choose to be an educator, it chose me. Once I got involved in education I fell in love with it and working with students. I love seeing students’ growth and working through difficult periods of their lives.”

After leaving Davidson he went to Ascension Episcopal School in Lafayette Louisiana where he found his love for Episcopal Schools.

“That was my first experience with an Episcopal school and I fell in love with their brand,” Sorrell said. “Episcopal schools are known for very strong academics, rigorous curriculum and excellence in arts and athletics.

“What really drew me to the Episcopal model is the open and welcoming environment. Episcopal schools thrive on welcoming everyone regardless of their faith or background. It’s a Christian school in that they share the love of Christ and love everyone as best they can but there are no expectations. It’s a really open and loving environment. Episcopal schools are the most diverse out of the private schools.

After serving as Dean of Students at Ascension for 5 years, Sorrell decided it was time to move up in his career.

“My wife is a career educator so education has been a big factor in our lives. I felt like it was time to take a big step in my career. I have been a Dean of Students for 8 years and career wise that was a long time to be a dean,” Sorrell said. “Most people are deans for 5 years and they move up to be a Division Head, which is someone who is the head of a high school or middle school.

“I was exploring those options but I had a mentor who encouraged me to not only look for division head positions but also head of schools positions as well.

“I opened myself up and put my resume out there to an administrator head hunting firm and All Saints’ was using that same firm for their search for a new head of schools. I saw that the school was in East Tennessee and I am from Sparta Tennessee so it gets me closer to home. Now instead of my family being 12 hours away they were an hour away. That was the hardest part about moving to Louisiana because family is really important to me. So getting closer to home was a big plus for me.

“I applied and sent my resume to All Saints’ and had an initial interview in December of last year. I was asked for the final round of interviews which was an on campus visit. I was able to visit the campus in January and meet with a lot of different parents, faculty, students and the board of trustees.

After visiting campus he fell in love with the school. As he listened to parents he found that many felt like All Saints’ wasn’t well known in the community.

“I really fell in love with the school right off the bat. One of the things I heard from families was that they didn’t know this school was here and that’s one of my goals, to increase the footprint of All Saints and make it more known around the Lakeway Area,” Sorell said.

Once Sorrell took the helm, leading this school onward, he found his biggest goal is to spread the word about All Saints’ and what the school stands for.

“We are a small school but we are bursting at the seams. We don’t have much room to grow student number wise so there will be some challenges there and that’s another one of my goals, to grow the school further,” Sorrell said. “I want the school to be known for academic, arts and athletic excellence. When people use the word education they only think of the classroom. When I think of education I think of the whole child. It’s their academics, it’s their passions and interests, it’s their emotional health and spiritual growth.

“I want All Saints to be the premiere school of excellence in the area. It’s already that but I don’t know if the community really knows that. One of my first projects starting here was to overhaul our website so it can be a place where prospective families can learn about our school in detail and our current families can learn what’s going on at school.”

Sorrell expressed his dedication in ensuring each student is loved and their interests are at the forefront of their education at All Saints’.

“One thing I want people to know about All Saints is that your kid will be loved, accepted and will grow exponentially,” he said, “I am big on supporting a students’ interest, whatever their passions are and whatever they want to be. If that means a student is interested in multiple things then we will support all of them.”

Sorrell explained that he plans on sticking around for a while and hopes to provide stability at the school and in the community.

“I hope to provide some stability. I’m not going to treat this as a stepping stone. When I buy into something I am all in. I hope to have a long tenure here,” Sorrell said.