The 1950s
In the spring of 1953 – a mere six years after the establishment of St. John’s Episcopal Church in East Dallas – members of the church petitioned the Parish Council to form a school for their young children. They wanted a school in which their children and others could “receive instructions in pre-school work, but also to receive this instruction in a Christian environment.”
At a special meeting of the Vestry on April 26, 1953, Mrs. Marie Moseley, then-director of Christian Education at the church, asked the Vestry to consider the request. After some discussion, the Vestry unanimously passed the motion to add a parochial school to its parish life.
Despite city zoning issues and financial concerns, the school opened in September with three teachers and 35 students between the ages of three and five. Church rector Fr. McCrea later wrote in his 1953 Annual Report, “One great stride made this year has been the establishment of a Week-Day Parish School. We have wanted such a school for a long time, but only last spring realized that it was possible.... We feel extremely fortunate in the competence, enthusiasm and love for the children which our teachers have revealed. You may have no hesitancy whatsoever in recommending this school very highly to your friends.”
Sixty years later, the love bestowed by those first three teachers lives on in the halls and classrooms shared by almost 500 students and a faculty of nearly 100. And while the tools of teaching have changed, the core values set forth years ago remain the same and are revealed each day as we work in fulfillment of our mission “to provide a program of academic excellence designed to train the mind, strengthen the character and enrich the spirit of each student in a Christian environment.”