Parish Episcopal School

The Parish Episcopal School is a co-educational preparatory day school located on two campuses in Dallas, Texas, USA. The school enrolls students in grades Pre-K-12 and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest.

History

The Parish Episcopal School was originally founded as the Parish Day School in 1972 enrolling students between Pre-kindergarten through the 6th grade. It was founded by Mary Loving Blair, who served as the first head of school until 1980, when she was replaced by Gloria Snyder. It was under the administration of Gloria Snyder that the school would be expanded up to grade 12 and renamed to "The Parish Episcopal School" in 2002 (source). It was during this expansion that the school also purchased their second campus on the intersection of Midway Road and Alpha Road in Farmers Branch, Texas, which would house students from grades 3 to 12 (source). The current head of school is Dave Monaco, who replaced Snyder in 2009 (source).

Parish graduated its first high school class of approximately 46 students in May 2007; it graduated a second class of 75 students May 2008. From 2003 to 2008, the Upper School had grown from 50 students to 380, and from 5 teachers to more than 45. The Upper School curriculum includes basic college preparation classes in math, English, history, the sciences, world languages (Spanish, French, and Latin), fine arts and computer science. Honors and AP courses are also provided for students who wish to learn at a more accelerated pace. Students are expected to take a course of study which meets the entry requirements of major colleges and universities.^[1]

Campus life

The Parish Midway campus is centered around a 337,000-square-foot (31,300 m²) academic building designed by the renowned architecture team of I.M. Pei & Henry N. Cobb. A former ExxonMobil office complex, the building and its 50 acres (200,000 m²) have transformed from research center to independent elementary and secondary school. The building’s atrium has become the cafeteria. Many of the classrooms overlook Farmers Branch Creek that flows along the north side of the campus. The two-story library has been retrofitted to better fit the needs of a student population. The new Upper School includes science labs, a teaching darkroom, Smart Boards in most all classrooms, world languages labs, and a counseling center. Each faculty member enjoys an individual office. Surrounding this central building are new athletic facilities complete with a gymnasium, playing fields, and a stadium. The original Hillcrest Campus is located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Midway Road on the grounds of The Church of the Transfiguration. The Hillcrest campus houses the school's pre-k through grade 2 program.^[2]

Traditions

Senior privileges are never the same between graduating classes, and are always proposed and negotiated by the senior class student government before every school year. Almost all classes requested off-campus lunch and the privilege for boys to wear a tie of their choice instead of the plaid school tie and a pastel color dress shirt on Thursdays.

School Colors

The school colors are red, white, and blue.

Religious life

A Christian school rooted in the Episcopal tradition, Parish makes numerous efforts to be an inclusive community grounded in respect and honor for each of its members. The religious pluralism of the school community provides an opportunity to foster the spiritual formation of its students from a variety of faith traditions. The phrase a “Christian community of service and worship” is incorporated into every aspect of student life and community service is required of each student. There are daily enriching chapel services and a weekly formal Eucharist service every Thursday. This service is complete with dress uniform, choral offerings from the Upper Elementary, Middle School and High School choirs and student servers who help to provide the communion. The chapel services at the Hillcrest campus take place in the Church of Transfiguration. Beginning in eighth grade there is a world religions study which is required. Lower grades take part in age-appropriate religion classes.^[3]

Visual and Performing arts

From pre-kindergarten through high school, Parish students are encouraged to express themselves through a variety of visual and performing arts. In a competition sponsored by The Dallas Morning News, Parish students won six awards for major productions in 2009-10. Class of '10 Meredith Moore (now at Barnard College) had her review of Mame printed in The Dallas Morning News. Parish offers its lower school students a chance to explore music, colors, art materials and techniques, shapes, patterns, and textures. As students move into the upper elementary and middle school grades, they are introduced to art and music from different cultures, as well as theory concepts. Students also receive continued choral training and are encouraged to audition for school productions. Middle and Upper School students learn photography, ceramics, studio art, sculpture, and theatre. Some productions include The Curious Savage, Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Taming of the Shrew.

Speech/Debate

The Parish debate program is surprisingly new but has had success beyond its years. The team began competing in 2009 and by 2010 was competing in National Forensics League events by 2010. In 2013, Cyrus Ghaznavi set a record for winning by the largest margin at the 4th Annual Capital City Extemporaneous Speaking Round Robin. At the 2013 TFA State competition, Ghaznavi and Sahil Vanjani took first place in Public Forum debate. Ghazhavi also took first in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking. Parish took 7th place in overall sweepstakes, an impressive finish considering only five students competed.

Achievements

Parish's fourth graduating class had two National Merit Scholars and its 96-member graduating class went to colleges across the country ranging from UVA to Pepperdine. In spite of its young years, the Upper School has realized significant achievement from its students. Seven of the 2007 seniors received recognition through the National Merit Scholarship competition. Student performance has been rewarded with successful achievement on 81% of AP exams.^[4] In athletics, teams won championships in golf, tennis & swimming/diving through TAPPS state competitions.^[5] Numerous district and regional championships have also been won. Middle school students received an article in the Dallas Morning News for their performance of the play, The Diviners. Student leadership is a high priority at the school with Student Government, Honor Council, the Community Service Leadership Board, yearbook, the student newspaper (The Pen), the student literary and arts magazine (P.A.W. Print), Multicultural Club, Parish Singers, and National Honor Society among the many formal offerings to students.

References

External links

• Parish Episcopal School website