Type Private, Coeducational Status Open Faculty 82 Phone +1 904-396-5751 Founded 1966 | Established 1966 Staff 60 Grades 6 - 12 Number of students 839 | |
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Address 4455 Atlantic Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32207, USA Mascot Episcopal High School of Jacksonville Eagle Profiles | ||
Episcopal School of Jacksonville is an independent, coeducational private college preparatory school in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It was founded in 1966 by the Episcopal Diocese of Florida. The school has a middle school and a high school and enrolls about 900 students a year.
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History
Parishioner Mary Packer-Cumming, who died in 1912, willed 28 acres (110,000 m2) of land to St. John's Cathedral. The Episcopal Diocese of Florida operated a boys' home on the site from 1921, but this closed in 1953 due to financial problems. At that time the church made plans to establish a private high school. This finally opened as Jacksonville Episcopal High School on September 4, 1967. The name was changed to Episcopal High School of Jacksonville in 1987 and then to Episcopal School of Jacksonville in 2011.
Today, the school has a middle school and a high school, serving students grade 6 through 12, and enrolled 839 students in 2010. Despite its status in the Episcopal church and its Christian mission, admission is open to students of any religion, ethnic background, and nationality. The school is governed by a board of trustees, which is approved by the vestry of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida. The board is responsible for establishing school policy, managing assets, and selecting a head of school. The dean of St. John's Cathedral is vice-chair and the clergy member of the board.
Episcopal's main campus is called the Munnerlyn Campus and covers 56 acres (230,000 m2). Just a couple of miles away along the banks of the Arlington River is Episcopal's Knight Sports Complex containing the relatively new Walton Boathouse for Episcopal Crew, as well as lacrosse fields. The overall student to teacher ratio is 10:1, with the average class size at around 17. Episcopal offers 21 AP Courses and 19 Honors Courses, and in 2009, 91 students (11%) made a perfect score of 5 on an AP exam. Of Episcopal's 90 faculty members, 94% have 4-year degrees or higher, 31% have graduate degrees, and 1% have a Ph.D. The average tenure is almost 20 years. A major achievement for the school is its 100% college placement rate.
Episcopal School was the site of a school shooting on March 6, 2012, when fired Spanish teacher Shane Schumerth shot and killed head of school Dale Regan before committing suicide. Schumerth, who had been struggling with depression, was fired that morning; he returned to the campus at 1:15 p.m. with an AK-47 assault rifle concealed in a guitar case. He entered Regan's office and shot her multiple times before turning the gun on himself.