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St. John's School is a coeducational independent school in the Upper Kirby district of Houston, Texas. The school is a member of the Houston Area Independent Schools, and has no religious affiliation. The school has been coeducational since its founding in 1946.

The Brown (South) Campus hosts the Lower (K-5) and Georges Middle (6-8) Schools as well as the Virginia Stuller Tatham (VST) Fine Arts Center and the Smith athletic center. The Cullen (North) Campus, separated from the South Campus by Westheimer Road, houses the Upper (9-12) School. Two tunnels run underneath Westheimer Road, and connect the North and South Campuses. The school also maintains two athletic fields across Richmond Avenue for field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse.

St. John's mission statement is to "provide the community with a school of exacting standards in the development of individual, spiritual, ethical, intellectual, social and physical growth."

St. John's receives no state or federal funding. Tuition is $15,050 for Upper School students, $14,200 for Middle School students, and $11,975 for Lower School students. Many students receive partial to full need-based scholarships, as the school has a need-blind admissions policy.

History

St. John's was established in 1946 with just 344 students and six acres of land. Founding headmaster Alan Lake Chidsey served as headmaster of both the Pawling School (today Trinity-Pawling School) and the Arizona Desert School before World War II and as Assistant Dean of Students at University of Chicago after the war. The school was originally affiliated with St. John the Divine Episcopal Church nursery school. Today the school has no affiliation with the church, although it does provide non-denominational Judeo-Christian Chapel services at the church. In recent years, the Chapel program has branched out to offer more multicultural services, occasionally hosting speakers from other faiths or non-religious backgrounds. The school's seal is nearly exactly the same as that of Trinity-Pawling.

In 1998, alumnus Wes Anderson filmed the loosely autobiographical Rushmore at St. John's. Like protagonist Max Fischer, Mr. Anderson staged numerous action epic plays in the auditorium of his alma mater, with titles like The Five Maseratis and The Battle of the Alamo. Anderson co-wrote the movie with Owen Wilson, who had attended a St. John's rival, St. Mark's School of Texas, in Dallas.

In 2000, St. John's made news when Vanity Fair magazine reported that, as a child, George W. Bush (who, in 2000, was the governor of Texas and running for the U.S. presidency) had been rejected for admission by St. John's. According to the article, Governor Bush consulted with his parents (the former president George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara) on this issue and was able to confirm that he had, in fact, been rejected by St. John's decades before, which had led to his enrolling at Phillips Academy, his father's alma mater.

Today, the school covers 28 acres at the corner of Westheimer and Claremont, the school has an enrollment of 1,225 students supported by over 200 faculty and staff.

The school has worked diligently to have a diverse student body. The school's orignial composition mirrored the deed restrictions of its affluent River Oaks neighborhood. These restrictions, dating back to the 1930s stipluated that houses could only be sold to Caucasian Christians. Since that time, however, St. John's racial and demographic make-up has evolved to include not only affluent white students, but also students of color as well as students of more modest means.

In 2005, Sandra Day O'Connor, then a current Supreme Court Justice, visited St. John's School. Other notable visitors to St. John's over the years have included former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Italian mezzo-soprano Cecila Bartoli (whose first U.S. performance was at St. John's in 1993).

Mascot change

The St. John's mascot has a controversial history. The original mascot, The Crusaders, lasted only three years due to its religious connotations. The Rebels was selected as a replacement in 1949, with Confederate symbol Johnny Reb as the mascot. In 1990, the Upper School students voted to discontinue the mascot and nickname, under the leadership of their African-American Head Prefect (student body president). A year later all symbols of the Confederacy were disassociated from the school, although the nickname "The Rebels" was retained with the hopes it could be connected with the American Revolution or more generally as an ambiguous invocation of nonconformity and independent thinking. In the spring of 2004, by a unanimous vote of the Board of Trustees, St. John's School officially changed its mascot to The Mavericks in order to further distance themselves from any Confederate connections. Although the change was supported by a majority of faculty, a number of students and alumni opposed the change.

Academics

St. John's Upper School students graduate having completed at least three courses in mathematics, three courses in a foreign language, four courses in English and writing, two courses in science, three courses in history, two years in physical education and a year in the arts (music, fine arts, theater, or dance). Each year, the graduating senior class of St. John's sends 100% of its students to college, with the largest numbers of students matriculating at schools such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Penn, Rice, Duke, Vanderbilt, SMU, and the University of Texas.

The school reports that the median SAT (New Scholastic Aptitude Test I) score for the Class of 2006 was 2140 out of 2400 (700 critical reading, 720 math, 720 writing).

Student life

Sports

The Maverick football team plays its traditional rival, The Kinkaid School, each year for homecoming at Rice Stadium.

In 2006, both the Men's and Women's St. John's lacrosse teams won the Texas High School Lacrosse League Championship.

The Arts

Students can participate in the arts either in classes, ensembles, or extracurricular organizations. The first arts organization created was Johnnycake, founded by the original headmaster in 1949. It is the oldest continuous service organization at St. John's. Open to all Upper School students, Johnnycake provides opportunities in all aspects of theatrical production from technical crew to performance. St. John's also supports three main shows in the Upper School (as well as other smaller student productions), two to three in the Middle School, and the Spring Fling for the Lower School. Two semesters of Theater are offered for credit.

Students can participate in many choral groups. In Lower School, students can participate in St. John's Singers (4th-5th grade); in Middle School, Cantatores; Upper schoolers have many options, from women's Les Chanteuses, mixed Chorale, and the selective chamber choir Kantorei as well as the volunteer Chapel Singers. Male students, 4th through 12th grade, can participate in the Boy Choir as well. Every other year, Kantorei makes an international tour to perform across the globe, visiting in the recent past Canada, Austria, Italy (including a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica), and the Czech Republic.

There is no formal marching band at St. John's, but there are many ensembles and smaller bands. In Middle School, there is the Beginner Band, open to class seven and eight students who are interested in learning to play a wind instrument and the Intermediate Band, which performs a repertoire ranging from standard band to pop and jazz. Students more adept at string instruments (violin, viola, cello, bass) can join the orchestral group, the Sinfonia. The Upper School features both a Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band as well as the Chamber Strings, and sporting events are frequently cheered on by the Drum Corps.

Student organizations

The Review, an award winning publication, is the Official Student Newspaper of St. John's School.

An informal online newspaper, The Hall Monitor, is created and read by Middle School students.

The SJS Academic Challenge Team, in the past few years, has been successful a quiz bowl team at local, state, and national levels. The SJS Academic Challenge Team, also known as the Academic Team or Nerd Squad, competes in local, state, regional, and national tournaments of academic, intellectual, and sometimes esoteric topics related to anything from mathematics, science, the humanities, or "trash" (pop culture, sports, etc.). The team often attends tournaments hosted by the Texas Quizbowl Alliance and other institutions. Most notably, it won the NAQT High School National Championship in 2002 and placing third in 2003 and 2004 and advanced to the semifinals of the PACE NSC in 2004.

Location

The school is located in the Upper Kirby district adjacent to River Oaks, an affluent neighborhood. While the school draws the majority of its students from River Oaks, other neighborhoods such as Memorial, and the city of West University Place, the school's student body hails from nearly every zip code in Houston and surrounding areas.

The school is next door to Lamar High School, a public secondary school operated by Houston Independent School District.

The Upper Kirby district plans to establish a "teen center" at Richmond at Wake Forest geared towards students at St. John's, Lamar, Lanier, and other Upper Kirby schools and schools near Upper Kirby. Funding issues have delayed establishment of the center.

School uniform

St. John's requires that students wear the school uniform at all times. The uniform, khaki or twill pants and a belt for men and the characteristic plaid or red skirts for girls with white, navy, black or red polo shirts for both genders, depending on if students are in upper school, middle school, or lower school, must be purchased from Sue Mills. Students are required to tuck in shirts, and a 2004 survey conducted by The Review found that untucked shirts accounted for the vast majority of detentions and other disciplinary action.

Notable alumni

• Wes Anderson
• William S. Farish
• Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
• Molly Ivins
• Ken Keeler
• Mike France
• R. Lee Fleming Jr.

References

• History of SJS

External links

• St. John's School Homepage
• Houston Association of Independent Schools (HAIS)
• Satellite Photo of St. John's
• The Review, the Official Student Newspaper of St. John's School
• The Uniform of St. John's School

• Educational institutions established in 1946
• Elementary schools in Texas
• High schools in Texas
• Independent Schools Association of the Southwest
• Middle schools in Texas
• Private schools in Houston
• Preparatory schools in the United States