| Rowland Hall | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1867 |
| Type | Independent |
| Grades | PreK–12 |
| Location | Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
| Mascot | Winged Lions |
| Website | rowlandhall.org |
Rowland Hall is a college preparatory school with approximately 1,000 students on two campuses in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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Rowland Hall traces its roots to St. Mark's School, which was founded in Salt Lake City by Episcopal Bishop Daniel Sylvester Tuttle in 1867. In support of newly established public schools in the Utah Territory, St. Mark's School was closed in the early 1890s. However its sister school, Rowland Hall, remained open.
Rowland Hall was founded by Bishop Tuttle in 1880 as a boarding school for girls from ranches in neighboring states; the school opened on the First Avenue campus in Salt Lake City. Rowland Hall is the oldest school in continuous operation in Utah, predating the establishment of public schools in the Utah territory. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the Episcopal Diocese of Utah could no longer afford to support the school, graduates and parents assumed financial responsibility and reorganized Rowland Hall as an independent school.
In 1956, St. Mark's re-opened as an independent day school for boys in two historic houses and a so-called tin shed that were located next door to Rowland Hall, sharing the same city block. St. Mark's merged with Rowland Hall in 1964 to become Rowland Hall-St. Mark's, an independent coeducational school.
The Middle and Upper Schools moved to the Lincoln Street Campus in 1984. The Lower and Beginning Schools moved to the McCarthey Campus on Guardsman Way in 2002. The historic campus on First Avenue was sold to the Madeleine Choir School.
Currently over 900 students attend Rowland Hall, which provides a challenging education for students with a focus on preparation for college and stern behavior and discipline. It encourages its students to develop lifetime interests in skiing, tennis, debate, performing arts and fine arts. The current headmaster is Allan Sparrow. This school has 100 teachers, with around 32 high school teachers.
Rowland Hall's rigorous academic program has traditionally prepared its students for college. Universities and colleges attended by Rowland Hall graduates include Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, and smaller private colleges across the U.S., including Pomona College, Lewis and Clark, Reed, Whitman, Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan and Westminster. Graduates also choose state universities, including the University of Utah. Award-winning teachers include Joel Long, who won the Mayor's Artist Award, and Mike Roberts who won a Hoey Award.
The Rowmark Ski Academy was founded in 1982 by Olle Larsson and Dr. Carl Kjeldsberg as part of Rowland Hall's upper school. It offers a combination of academics and complete year-round competitive ski racing program for its student-athletes, who train at Park City Mountain Resort’s 2002 Olympic Race Arena. Nine Rowmark athletes have been named to the U.S. Ski Team including Erik Fisher, Nick Baker, Roger Brown, Keely Kelleher, Courtney Hammond, Kiley Staples, Jennifer VanWagner, Tague Thorson, Alice McKennis. Other notable alumni include Hilary Lindh, Picabo Street, Kristi Terzian, Ovidio Garcia, Spencer Eccles, Jeremiah Thompson, Alexandra Shaffer, Amber Guaraglia, Rob Saunders, Levi Leipheimer, Adam Cole, and Charles Christianson.
The men's tennis team won 4 consecutive state championships from 2000–2004, also beating many of the larger schools in Utah who often went on to win state championships in the 3A, 4A, and 5A divisions during those years. After a 3 year drought, RHSM tennis rebounded, as the men won 5 consecutive 1A/2A state titles in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011; the first such streak ever for the RHSM boys.
The women's tennis team also enjoys multitudes of success, being successfully coached by Head tennis Coach Timothy Sleeper and Assistant Coach Susan Daynes to 4 consecutive state titles, from 2004 to 2008.
The middle School program is also very advanced. For example, The 2010 A-team girls soccer got first place in the WAC league championship as well as having an undefeated season.
The Winged Lions policy debate team enjoys a good deal of success on the extremely competitive national policy circuit. With a total of 9 bids to the 2010 Tournament of Champions, and 7 bids to the 2008 TOC, the school has established itself as a major player nationally. The RHSM top team reached quarterfinals of the 2008 and 2010 TOC's, the best finish for any Utah team in the state's history. Additionally, the team recorded the best finish ever for a Utah school at NFL Nationals, taking 3rd place in June 2009, and 2nd place in 2010. Two debaters from the school (Andrew Arsht and Mario Feola), lost in the final round of NFL Nationals. The team also features numerous rising prospects, such as Aaron Friedman, Chris Sundquist, Ethan Arsht, Austen Van Burns, Cameron Ballard, and freshman Harry Stone.