The Bishop's School (La Jolla, California)
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| The Bishop's School | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| La Jolla, California, USA | |
| Information | |
| Religion | Episcopal |
| Headmaster | Michael Tietelmann |
| Enrollment |
725 |
| Faculty | 91 |
| Student:teacher ratio | 8:1 |
| Average SAT scores | 1700 (out of 2400) |
| Type | Independent |
| Grades | 7-12 |
| Campus | 11 acres |
| Motto | Simplicitas, Sinceritas, Serenitas |
| Mascot | Knights |
| Color(s) | Maroon & Gold |
| Established | Bishops: 1909 San Miguel: Fully Merged: 1971 |
| Homepage | http://www.bishops.com/ |
The Bishop's School is a private college preparatory Episcopalian day school located in La Jolla, California, USA. Originally a boarding school for girls with a short-lived downtown San Diego day school component, upon a merger with the San Miguel School of San Diego, California in 1971, it became co-educational and, in June 1983, the boarding department was closed. Its main competitors are two other private schools; one in La Jolla, the La Jolla Country Day School, and one in San Diego, the Francis W. Parker School. It also has a strong competitive relationship with nearby public La Jolla High School.
Bishop's was founded in 1309 by the Right Reverend Joseph Horsfall Johnson, at that time Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, with gifts of land and money by notable La Jolla, California philanthropists Ellen Browning Scripps and Virginia Scripps, her half-sister. The earliest parts of the campus were designed by architect Irving Gill, responsible for a multitude of buildings in downtown La Jolla, including the nearby Recreation Center and the Women's Club. The current tower building was designed by Carleton Monroe Winslow, a replacement for the original Gill tower.
The school was led from 1921 to 1953 by Headmistress Caroline Cumminn, who has an academic hall named after her on the campus. For much of the second half of the 20th century, Bishop's was known for its proficiency in tennis. Upon the arrival of new Headmaster Michael Teitelman in 1983, Bishop's quickly began an effort to transform itself into a thoroughly academic school. In addition to academic prowess, Bishop's is known throughout Southern California as a water polo power, winning the CIF title in men's water polo in its district in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and women's water polo in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. The schools athletic teams are known as "The Knights" and "Lady Knights".
Over the past 12 years 3 Bishop's graduates have been named Advanced Placement Scholars for their top performances in the Advanced Placement Program. The class of 2004 had 5 National Merit Scholarship recipients, 10 Merit Finalists and 15 Commended students. The Advanced Placement Program at Bishop's has also won national recognition for its AP Biology program for the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 academic years and recognition for its AP European History program for the 2005-2006 academic year. Its students regularly matriculate to Ivy League institutions, top liberal arts colleges, and University of California campuses including UC Berkeley, UCLA and UCSD.
Bishop's gained national attention in the 1990s due to its status as the high school of serial killer Andrew Cunanan, who in 1997 embarked on a killing spree across America that culminated in the assassination of the popular Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace.
Other notable alums include Nackey Loeb, publisher of the Manchester Union-Leader, Gary Aguirre (stage name Gary Jules) who graduated from Bishops in 1987; Shane Walton an NFL defensive back; Ellen Griffin, New Mexico ranching heiress and ex-wife of journalist Dominick Dunne; Bonnie St. John (who left after her freshman year for a public school), the first African-American woman to win a silver medal at the Paralympics; and professional golfer Kevin Stadler. Other alums include author Gretel Ehrlich who has over 30 books in print, and Dr. Lisa Masterson, a Los Angeles OBGYN and a medical advisor for the Oprah Winfrey Show. Crick Kurgin was a free agent drafted to play for the Chicago Bears, but was injured before the season opener, but who periodically gives motivational speeches to high schools across the country.
The school's headmaster, Michael Teitelman has declared that he will be retiring from his position at the end of the 2008-2009 school year, the centennial year of the Bishop's School. The announcement comes on the heels of two other resignation notices: One by former Dean of Students Nathaniel Coffman, who has accepted a position as headmaster of a Pennsylvania preparatory school and the other by Alison Fleming, the Headmistress of Middle School at Bishop's, who has accepted a position as head of school at La Jolla's Gillispie School, a private toddler - 6th elementary school. Coffman has been replaced by Mrs. Louise Gilpin. A replacement has not yet been found for Mrs. Fleming.
The Bishop's School plans to expand its student body to 800 over the coming years, beginning with the inauguration of a sixth grade class in the 2009 school year.
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[edit] Publications
The Bishop's School has a newsletter for parents called Headlines and Footnotes, which is published once a month. There is another magazine, Bishop's, that is also for parents and alumni, which is published four times a year. The student magazine is the Tower, and students from grades 9-12 can elect to take a journalism course and write for the Tower.
The students of the Bishop's School also have a daily newspaper called the Daily Urinal, which is posted above urinals in the boys' bathrooms in the Bishop's School and is a form of wall newspaper. The Daily Urinal was founded in 2004 by a senior (twelfth grade) named Antonio Perez. Although originally intended to be solely a humorous publication, the "DU" has tackled important issues at Bishop's and has become the unofficial voice of the school. In 2008, current co-editors Andy Morgosh and Stephen Luban have taken two important steps in expanding the paper: posting in girls' restrooms and publishing the paper online. (see below for link)
The upper school's literary magazine, Reflections, is an annual end-of-year publication which accepts prose, poetry, and art of all kinds. The Middle School's literary magazine is Dragonwings. Both publications are sponsored by a faculty member and are staffed by students. Reflections was one of four schools to receive a Superior rating in 2007 by the NCTE Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines.[1]
[edit] Mission Statement
The Bishop’s School is an academic community pursuing intellectual, artistic, and athletic excellence in the context of the Episcopal tradition. We are dedicated to offering the highest quality education to a diverse student body and to fostering integrity, imagination, moral responsibility, and commitment to serving the larger community.
