Greenhill School (Addison, Texas)

History

Greenhill School was founded in 1950 as a co-educational option in the bubble of independent schools in Dallas. From 1950-1976, Bernard served as the founding headmaster, and at the time, he introduced the concepts of independent co-education, the primer program, and open-space education while the school grew from 62 students to 1,002. After he retired from Greenhill School, he became the headmaster of Lakehill Preparatory School and later, Fulton Academy in Rockwall, Texas, was named after him as well. On October 20, 1990, Governor Bill Clements declared Bernard Fulton Day “for his dedication to the education of young people in Dallas, in Texas, and in the nation."

From 1955 to 1959, later State Representative Fred Agnich of Dallas was chairman of the board of the Greenhill School and was instrumental in the early development of the institution.

Academia

Greenhill's academic structure consists of each subject having a Division Head while PreK-12 Department Chairs supervise the curriculum. The school is divided into four sections: Preschool, Lower School, Middle School, and finally the Upper School which houses about 433 students (9-12) with about 100 in each grade. In 2001, the school was ranked top 40 in public and private schools in Worth Magazine by the number of matriculants to Harvard University, Princeton, and Yale. Besides these, students in the last four years have been accepted into colleges such as Stanford University, Vassar College, Emory University, Northwestern University, Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, Harvard University, New York University, Rice University, Yale University, Wake Forest University, Dartmouth College, Boston College, Brown University, Duke University, Trinity University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin, Vanderbilt University, and Washington University in St. Louis. The Upper School offers 15 AP courses. The average SAT scores for the Class of 2008 were 675 verbal, 673 math, and 665 writing. The Class of 2008 also had 21 commended finalists for National Merit scholarships, and 10 actual finalists for the scholarship. Academically, only three other private schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have achieved similar levels of prestige: St. Marks School of Texas, the Hockaday School, and Cistercian Preparatory School. In addition to academics, students are also required to complete 48 hours of community service upon graduation.

Admissions

Greenhill has a population of 1279 students; of those students, 433 of them are enrolled in the Upper School. The Greenhill policy “admits students without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, or disabilities.” The admissions process begins in the fall, and applications are accepted one year prior to the year of expected entrance. Applicants take the CATS test in grades Pre-K to Primer and the ISEE test in grades 1-12. Interviews, academics scores, test scores, Teacher Recommendations, Group observation test, extra-curriculars, athletic achievements, citizenship, and service are evaluated by the committee. After these materials have been noted, the applicant is subject to three decisions: invited, waitpool, and non-acceptance. The Financial Aid Committee works to make sure that Greenhill is an affordable option, and families must reapply for financial aid each year.

The Water Tower

Each year, the incoming seniors paint the Water Tower in the parking lot with graffiti. They spray their names on it with an overriding theme and picture to depict their grade.

First Day of School

On the first day of school, students come to school on campus with a painted water tower. The senior class comes to school with females dressed in white and males dressed in black. The whole school also attends an assembly in the Phillips Gymnasium to ring in the new year.

Founder's Day

Founder’s day is the celebration of the day Greenhill was founded, September 11, 1950. The whole school meets in the Phillips Gymnasium for an assembly to commemorate two teachers and honor five faculty members. The Student Council President (a senior) lights the Founder’s Day Candle with the current longest working faculty member. During the assembly, the Service-Learning and Community Service program announces the Estelle Dickens service project for the year. Legacy Heart of the Hill groups are named during this assembly. The Heart of the Hill program brings groups of students from each division—Lower, Middle and Upper—together to help instill a sense of community across the campus.

Senior Breakfast

The Alumni Association holds the annual senior breakfast in the fall for the graduating seniors. During this time, the graduating seniors meet with alumni and are given their senior sweatshirts.

Athletics

Greenhill is a member of the Southwest Preparatory Conference which includes private schools from Texas and Oklahoma. Students start playing athletics for the school when they enter the 7th grade and are able to participate in Basketball, Baseball, Cheerleading, Cross Country, Golf, Field Hockey, Football, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, and Volleyball. Greenhill has had many prominent athletes such as Ashley Rape (Class of 2008) who was featured in Sports Illustrated, and Parade All-America. She currently plays for Duke University and was selected as Gatorade Texas Girl Soccer Player of the Year for 2007-2008. Chelsey Sveinsson (Class of 2011) was selected as SportsDay’s 2007 Girls Newcomer of the Year and was selected as Gatorade Texas Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year for 2007-2008, 2008-2009, and 2009-2010. Sveinsson also won the 2008 Nike National Cross Country Championship.

The following records were found at the Greenhill Website and the Southwest Preparatory Conference Website. Due to the lack of retained information, some championships have not been recorded.

Fine arts

Greenhill offers courses of study in visual arts, photography, band, orchestra, choir, dance, technical theater, debate, drama, and video production. Every year, the Upper School Fine Arts program travels to a different school in the country for the ISAS Fine Arts festival. Brian Donnell, the Upper and Middle School Band director has led the Band program to receive countless awards including awards from the ISAS and Sandy Lake Park festivals.

In 2000, the National Forensic League recognized Greenhill Debate as one of the top programs of the 20th Century. Greenhill holds many wins at the National Tournament of Champions. In addition, Greenhill won the Baker Award, given to the overall top policy team in the nation in 2012. Greenhill also hosts one of the most prestigious high school debate tournaments in the country and is an octafinals-bid to the Tournament of Champions.

Additionally, the school hosts a program called RockTalk which has featured artists such as The Fray, Saving Abel, Simple Plan, Bowling for Soup, Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights, Sorta, and Aranda.

Notable alumni