St. Mark's School of Texas

The St. Mark's School of Texas is a nonsectarian preparatory day school for boys located in Dallas, Texas, USA. The school runs from first grade to twelfth grade.

The school today

St. Mark's has become one of the preeminent private schools in the country. The school was historically fairly homogeneous and geared towards the sons of doctors, lawyers, and affluent businessmen. St. Mark's has made significant gains in terms of financial aid and minority recruitment, and now 25% of the school is composed of "students of color." While the demographics have shifted, St. Marks remains most comfortable for boys who are smart, competitive, and at least somewhat athletic.

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Eighty percent of the 106 faculty members have advanced degrees, while 25% have been at St. Mark's for more than twenty years. There are twelve endowed teaching positions, including nine endowed chairs.

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Neatly organized across its forty acres are an array of buildings, most of which are named after well-known Dallas families. For example, cofounders of Texas Instruments (Cecil H. Green and Eugene McDermotthttp://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:hsLSzQJHHRYJ:www.mssu.edu/seg-vm/bio_eugene_mcdermott.html+%22St.+Mark%27s%22+Dallas+graduate&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) donated the math/science quadrangle, the main library, the greenhouse, the planetarium and the observatory. The Roosevelt family gave a carillon, Ralph Rogers http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:-MG3MNyqRvQJ:dev.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/TT/dqt1.html+%22ralph+b.+rogers%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 provided the natatorium, the Lamar Hunt family donated a football stadium, and Tom Hicks, the owner of MLB's Texas Rangers and the NHL's Dallas Stars, funded a new gymnasium. Its arts facilities are also impressive. Time magazine once called St. Mark's the "best-equipped day school in the country."

Related Topics:
Texas Instruments - Cecil H. Green - Eugene McDermott - Greenhouse - Planetarium - Observatory - Roosevelt - Carillon - Ralph Rogers - Natatorium - Lamar Hunt - Tom Hicks - Texas Rangers - Dallas Stars - Gymnasium - Time

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St. Mark's has long resisted efforts towards coeducation, though there are a half dozen courses that students can take with Hockaday students. Its uniform has remained unchanged for decades: grey pants and white shirts, with seniors getting the privilege of wearing blue shirts. The mascot is a lion, and the school colors are blue and gold.

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