Type Preparatory, boarding Founder James Steptoe Johnston Mascot Prima the Panther Founded 1893 | Established 1893 Phone +1 210-698-7171 CEEB Code 446255 | |
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Motto Nihil Supra Mores
Ducit qui Servit Religious affiliation(s) Episcopal Church in the United States of America Chairman of the Governors The Rt Revd Gary R. Lillibridge, DD Address 20955 W Tejas Trail, San Antonio, TX 78257, USA Similar San Antonio Christian, St George Episcopal School, Cornersto Christian Schools, The Christian School at, Lutheran High School Profiles | ||
TMI — The Episcopal School of Texas (in full Texas Military Institute) is a selective coeducational Episcopal college preparatory school with a military tradition in San Antonio, Texas for boarding and day students. It is the flagship school, and sole secondary school, of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas. TMI is the oldest Episcopal college preparatory school in the American Southwest. Founded as West Texas School for Boys, the school was later known as West Texas Military Academy, and popularly nicknamed 'West Point on the Rio Grande', though it is several hours from the Rio Grande itself.
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History
TMI was founded in 1893 by the Rt Revd James Steptoe Johnston, DD, Second Bishop of West Texas in the Protestant Episcopal Church. Johnston was a native Mississippian of the planter class who had participated in twelve engagements in the Civil War. He fought most of these battles with the Eleventh Mississippi Regiment.
Johnston's earliest name for his school in San Antonio was "The West Texas School for Boys," which was quickly changed to "West Texas Military Academy" (WTMA). In 1926, the name was changed to Texas Military Institute.
At the time of the school's foundation, San Antonio lay on the edge of the American frontier, with forts all along the high ground east of the Rio Grande. Though Bishop Johnston wanted his boys to receive as good an education as boys anywhere in America, he knew that a New England-style prep school would not work in West Texas, so he created a premier academic school with a full-fledged military discipline. The specifically Southern boarding school tradition was not often military.
Bishop Johnston saw the need to provide young men with a classical liberal and scientific education that would enable them to go on to careers in business, agriculture and ranching, the Church, the civil service, and the officer corps of the United States Army. He set out to develop "the Christian character amongst the rising generation... for character is the only true wealth." He assumed that "the best use of wealth is to coin it into character." The quotation shows that WTMA was part of the "church school movement" of the nineteenth century, which featured character formation as the means to personal success in many areas, including academic pursuits. Hence, WTMA may be counted among other church schools such as Saint James in Maryland (1842), St. Paul's in New Hampshire (1856), the Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Minnesota (1858), St. Mark's in Southborough MA (1865), Groton School in MA (1884), and St. George's School in Rhode Island (1896).
The first rector and headmaster of WTMA/TMI, the Rev. Allan Lucien Burleson, had been prepared at the Shattuck School, founded by J. Lloyd Breck in 1858. Breck was a protege of the great William Augustus Muhlenberg, "father" of the church school in America. Burleson served as the head of school between 1893 and 1900. WTMA was largely funded by donations from wealthy residents of the eastern seaboard, many of whom had been inspired by speeches Johnston had given on the importance of academic and moral education for all young men. When the school first opened, there were just six teachers and twelve students.
One of the great educators in Texas history took over WTMA in 1926. Dr W. W. Bondurant changed the name to "Texas Military Institute." In 1936 Bishop Capers, feeling the pinch created by the Great Depression, sold TMI to Bondurant, who sold the school back to the Episcopal Church in 1952. Back in 1926 Bondurant had merged the Upper School of San Antonio Academy with TMI. Bondurant was a strong Presbyterian layman, yet the chaplain remained an Episcopal priest and the Book of Common Prayer continued to be used in daily chapel services.
By the 1930s, the school was considered by some to be one of the best schools in America.
Although Bishop Johnston had, in part, intended the school to train young men for seminary and eventual ordination in the Episcopal Church, the school has always been open to students of any religious faith or lack thereof.
The JROTC, or Corps of Cadets, has been optional for girls since their admission in 1972, and for boys since 1974.
Since 2005, the school has presented itself by the current name of TMI: The Episcopal School of Texas.
Three Presidents of the United States have visited the school. The first was William Taft. The next was John F. Kennedy, who visited on November 21, 1963, the day before his assassination. The most recent was George W. Bush. Future President Theodore Roosevelt also visited when he was in San Antonio recruiting for the Rough Riders.
In the summer of 2009, Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, visited the school and gave a speech on the importance of Episcopal schools to the overall mission of the Church.
Campus
TMI has moved three times, each time relocating to the edge of an expanding city. The first campus was on Government Hill, next to Fort Sam Houston; the second was in Alamo Heights; and the current campus, dating from 1989, is in far northwest San Antonio, on the edge of the Texas Hill Country. The campus is modern in architecture and built almost entirely from local limestone. Features of the campus include:
Student life
There are currently around 400 students. Students come mostly from South Texas and Mexico, as well as other areas of the United States, including Michigan and Tennessee, and from foreign countries, including Afghanistan, Australia, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Russia, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
Honor code
TMI had an informal honor system from the beginning, with the current formal system originating in 1908. All students sign their name to the school's honor code at the start of each term, and from then on write the word "pledge" on all their tests and papers, signifying their pledge to uphold their promise. The honor code reads, "Because I believe integrity is essential, I promise not to lie, cheat, or steal." Students suspected of being in violation of the honor code are sent before the Honor Council, an elected body of students that holds confidential hearings and, where appropriate, assigns disciplinary measures, including community service. It can also require that the student write a letter of apology. Repeat offenders may be referred to the headmaster.
Traditions
Like most prep schools, TMI has developed a not insubstantial canon of traditions and idiosyncrasies. These include:
Corps of Cadets
Approximately one third of TMI students are members of the corps of cadets. The TMI corps, under the command of LTC Santiago Bueno (USA, Ret.), MSG Chad Gooding (USA, Ret.) and CPT Micheal Escalera (USA, Ret.), is affiliated with the United States Army's Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps and is ranked as an Honor Unit with Distinction, the highest ranking for a school JROTC program. Due to its high ranking, TMI cadets can apply for places at United States Service academies without the congressional recommendation usually required.
The battalion is organized into four companies: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta. Due to expansion, Delta company was added in the 2014-2015 school year. Companies are completely organized by the students, with each company having a senior company commander and a junior first sergeant. The companies are divided into two platoons, with two or three squads in each platoon. The Corps is run by a staff consisting entirely of junior and senior Cadets. It sponsors a bagpipe band, a color guard, a sabre guard, a drill team and a rifle team.
Academia and science
The arts
Business and Ranching
The Church
Government and politics
Military
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross