Parish Episcopal School is a co-educational day school located on two campuses in Dallas, Texas, USA. The college preparatory school enrolls students in grades Pre-K-12. As of the 2015–2016 school year, 1,130 students were enrolled, making Parish the 3rd largest private school in Dallas County.
History
Parish Episcopal School was founded as 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 expanded up to grade 12 and was renamed "Parish Episcopal School" in 2001. After adding additional grades, Parish purchased a second campus on the intersection of Midway Road and Alpha Road in Farmers Branch, Texas, which would house students from grades 3 to 12. The current head of school is David Monaco, who replaced Snyder in 2009. Monaco was previously at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, North Carolina. 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 grew 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, 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.
Campus life
The Parish Midway campus is centered around a academic building designed by the renowned architecture team of I.M. Pei and Henry N. Cobb. A former ExxonMobil office complex, the building in North Dallas was acquired in 2002. Its 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. A new performing arts center was added to support theater and performing arts programs. The new Upper School includes science labs, a teaching darkroom, Smart Boards in almost 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 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.
In 2012, Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration restructured, giving up ownership of Parish Episcopal School. The decision allowed Parish to maintain accreditation as an independent private school, while keeping the values and heritage of the church. Parish Episcopal School is now governed by a board of trustees, a percentage are members of the church. There are daily 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.
Visual and performing arts
Parish students won six awards in a competition sponsored by The Dallas Morning News for major productions in 2009–10.
Athletics
Parish has over 450 students participate in 21 different sports and over 500 events every year. Those sports include football, basketball, baseball, cheerleading, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer and track & field. Since 2006, there have been 300+ student-athletes have won All-District or All-State honors, 104 student-athletes with Academic All-State honors, 47 district and regional championships and 62 collegiate-student athletes.
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 the University of Virginia to the University of Southern California. 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. In athletics, teams won championships in golf, tennis, football and swimming/diving through TAPPS state competitions. Numerous district and regional championships have also been won. Middle school students received recognition in an article in the Dallas Morning News for their performance of the play, The Diviners. Student organizations at the school include Student Government, Honor Council, the Community Service Leadership Board, yearbook, the student literary and arts magazine, Multicultural Club, Parish Singers, National Honor Society, and a ping pong and philanthropy organization.
