Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas

Timeline

"Jesuit High School" opened on September 14, 1942. Located on the former grounds of Holy Trinity College on 3872 Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas, Texas, the school had 195 students registered. September 1, 1955, it was the first school in Dallas to integrate, when sophomore Charles Edmond and freshman Arthur Allen, both African-Americans, enrolled.

On August 1, 1963 the school opened its current campus at 12345 Inwood Road.

Campus

The school has a 28-acre (11 ha, 109,000 m²) campus located on Inwood Road in North Dallas, Texas, adjacent to St. Rita Catholic School, south-west of the intersection of the Dallas North Tollway and Interstate 635 (LBJ Freeway).

Academics

Jesuit's curriculum includes eight academic departments, each with one or two chairpersons.

The fine arts department includes courses in theater arts, stagecraft, filmmaking, ceramics, digital media, and a number of musical offerings. Four languages are offered at Jesuit: Spanish, French, Mandarian Chinese, and Latin. Jesuit requires three years of consecutive study of the same language for graduation. In addition, community service is a central part of the educational model. Students are required to complete 100 hours of community service as a graduation requirement, but nearly every student far exceeds the minimum. Students contribute nearly 100,000 hours of service each year to over 100 agencies in the Dallas area and throughout the world.

Jesuit also offers summer travel studies, including marine biology in Virgin Gorda of the British Virgin Islands and a Close Up government course in Washington, D.C.

Spiritual life

The religious practices of the School are in keeping with the traditions and practices of the Catholic Church. Before the daily morning announcements are read over the PA system, the Jesuit community stands and joins together in prayer. Daily Mass is celebrated every day on campus, although it is not required. School-wide Mass is celebrated on a monthly basis either on Fridays or on Holy Days of Obligation. Three times a week at 1:11 p.m. the whole school stops for five minutes and is led in the Examen of Consciousness, which is a prayer unique to Ignatian spirituality.

Campus ministry

The office of campus ministry offers sacramental ministry, spiritual growth, and retreat experiences through Masses, reconciliation services, prayer services, the Examen, and senior retreats. There are also opportunities for students to minister to each other through Peer Ministry and Mass Ministries. As an integral part of campus life at Jesuit, campus ministry works with various clubs, teams, departments, and parent groups by providing chaplaincy and collaboration.

Retreats

Students experience a minimum of four retreats, one during each year. Retreats provide opportunities for the members of each grade level to gather together for one or several days away from the routine of a normal school day for reflection, prayer, small group discussion, and reception of the sacraments. The retreat model differs over the four years.

Student life

Three-fourths of the students participate in at least one of the 54 varsity, junior varsity, and freshman teams which include 19 sports. In addition, Jesuit sponsors over 80 extracurricular activities, with both instructional and competitive club programs. When all extracurricular activities are included, the participation rate approaches 100%.

Student body

As of the 2016–17 school year, Jesuit enrolls 1108 students in grades 9–12. While Jesuit is a Catholic institution, nearly 20% of the student body is non-Catholic and come from a variety of religious traditions. One-fourth of the students receive need-based financial assistance from the school, totaling more than $1.7 million. The student body is diverse with 28% minority enrollment.

Jesuit Dallas requires uniform shirts, ties, pants, and shoes. Blazers are worn during the second and third academic quarters.

School traditions include Ranger Day, a day-long inter-class competition on the Friday of homecoming weekend, and class-specific traditions of events and privileges.

Athletics

Jesuit in Dallas and Strake Jesuit in Houston are the only private schools in Texas that compete in the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the athletic and extracurricular governing body for the state’s public and charter schools. Jesuit currently competes in District 9-6A, the state’s largest classification.

Jesuit teams have won 113 team state championships dating back to 1954. Most of the titles were won as members of the Texas Christian Interscholastic League (TCIL), a precursor to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) of which Jesuit was a member until 2000. In 2010, the Jesuit Dallas soccer team, which finished the year 25-0-0 and was ranked No. 1 in the nation according to ESPN FAB 50 and the NSCAA, became the first private school team in the history of the state to capture a UIL championship. Also Jesuit's varsity football team won its first outright District 9-6A Championship with an overall record of 10-2 and went undefeated in its district. In the 2015-2016 season, the Jesuit Dallas varsity football team was ranked No. 14 in the state of Texas following their 24-21 victory over Skyline, snapping the Raiders' 49-game district winning streak in the process.

The School also competes in sports outside of the UIL’s jurisdiction. Ice hockey has won four state titles (1998, 2008, 2013, 2015), rugby captured three Texas Rugby Union State Championship (2001, 2010, 2015), and cycling won the Texas High School Cycling League State Road Championships in 2015. Following its third state crown in 2013, Jesuit hockey became the first program in the state of Texas to be invited to the USA Hockey High School National Championships. From 2010–2014, Jesuit advanced to five straight Texas High School Lacrosse League (THSLL) Final Fours, and finished the 2011 and 2012 seasons as the top-ranked team in the state. In 2013, Jesuit Dallas became the first lacrosse program in the history of Texas to earn a spot in the high school national rankings.

In 2012–2013, a school-record 37 athletes in eight different sports were recruited to continue athletics at the collegiate level. From 2010–2014, 24 student-athletes in the Jesuit Dallas football program accepted scholarships to continue their athletic career at the collegiate level, topping other Jesuit teams.

The 2015-16 academic year proved to be a historic milestone for the Jesuit Dallas athletic program, with the Rangers capturing eight out of a possible 10 UIL 9-6A District Championships. The Ranger tennis doubles team of senior Campbell Frost and Hayden Kissee became the first duo to advance to the UIL 6A State Championship in program history, and the year was punctuated by a pair of state championships. Lacrosse won the first THSLL state championship in program history, 9-4, over Highland Park on May 15 before baseball embarked upon an incredible run, surviving eight elimination games en route to a 6-2 win over Lady Bird Johnson High School in the UIL 6A State Championship game, winning the first UIL state title in team history.

The 2015-2016 year also proved historic for the Jesuit Crew team, placing 2nd at the prestigious Stotesbury Cup Regatta in Philadelphia, earning them a place at the Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. Jesuit ultimately made it to the quarter-finals, losing to the reigning champ, St. Paul's School from London.

Debate

Debate is one of the oldest and most competitive activities at Jesuit Dallas, and sometime each decade since the 1940s the school’s debaters have usually reached a top 20 ranking in the country. Dallas Jesuit has won four Texas Forensic Association State Debate Championships since 2000, including back-to-back state titles in 2010 and 2011. In addition, Jesuit has finished inside the top 10 at the state championships nine times since 2001.

Medical Society

The Jesuit Dallas Medical Society is one of the largest clubs on campus with over 150 active members participating in a myriad of activities to prepare them for the possibility of a future career in medicine. Mrs. Jan Jones founded the Medical Society, and was successful as its faculty leader until her retirement in 2016. All grade levels are involved in a monthly meeting that features a guest lecturer, another with the Southwestern Explorers Club, and a weekly volunteer program at Dallas Christian Ministries. There are also day trips to UT Southwestern Medical School. Specialized procedures for training and development vary by year:

Selected students before junior and senior year participate in an intensive eight-week summer program through the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in which each student is paired with a professor working in a modern biomedical research laboratory. The annual medical mission trip is open to junior and senior students who have shown dedication and leadership to the Medical Society throughout their time at Jesuit. Previous locations have included Lesotho, Honduras, and Guatemala.

Robotics

Jesuit Dallas has offered a competitive robotics program since 2009. Earning the FIRST Rookie All-Star Award in 2009, the team qualified for the National Championships in its first year as a competitive program. That same year, the program earned top honors at the VEX Robotics Regional Championships. In 2011, the program won the Dallas Regional Championship and secured a 16th-place finish at the FIRST National Championships. In the summer of 2013, Jesuit’s team won the Texas Roundup Off-Season Event and claimed the unofficial Texas state championship. In 2014, Jesuit Dallas was part of the winning alliance at the FIRST World Championship.

Stage & film

The Jesuit stage & film program produces four major productions, including student-directed one-acts in the winter and spring. Nearly 200 students participate in the program through acting, directing, stagecraft, and film. The inaugural Jesuit Dallas Film Festival is scheduled for Spring 2015 and will include submissions from other schools.

Rivalries

Through the years, Jesuit has had spirited rivalries with a number of high schools in the area. The most long-lasting has been with cross-town Catholic school Bishop Lynch High School. Coincidentally, the Most Reverend Joseph P. Lynch – for whom Bishop Lynch High School is named – commissioned the Society of Jesus to found Jesuit High School in Dallas in the 1940s.

Even before its involvement in the UIL, Jesuit rivals included area public schools Plano West, Lake Highlands, Coppell, and Rockwall, among others. According to a Feb. 2015 poll on Jesuit's website, 52% of respondents voted that Jesuit's biggest rival was Highland Park, followed by Bishop Lynch (22%), and Skyline (16%).

Jesuit Dallas Museum

Jesuit Dallas has a gallery and museum with 500 pieces in the visual arts including ceramics, painting, prints, kinetic and stationary sculpture and featuring artists such as Salvador Dalí and Dale Chihuly, as well as some pieces created especially for the school.