The Bishop's School

The Bishop's School is an elite independent college preparatory Episcopal day school located in La Jolla, California.[1] Bishop's is known for its reputation in academics, arts, and athletics as well as its sizable endowment.[2] The school offers courses for students in the sixth through twelfth grades and has an 8:1 student-teacher ratio.

The Bishop's School
Bell tower of The Bishop’s School
Address
7607 La Jolla Boulevard

La Jolla
,
California, 92037

United States
Coordinates32°50′28″N 117°16′45″W
Information
TypePrivate, day, college-prep
DenominationEpiscopal Church
EstablishedBishop's: 1909
San Miguel: 1951
Fully Merged: 1971
Head of SchoolRon Kim
Faculty201
Grades6–12
GenderCoeducational
Enrollment800
Campus size11 acres (45,000 m2)
Campus typeUrban
Color(s)Maroon & Gold   
MascotKnights
AccreditationWASC
YearbookEl Miradero
Websitewww.bishops.com

History

The Bishop's School was founded in 1909 by Ellen Browning Scripps and her half-sister (Eliza) Virginia Scripps, with gifts of land and funding, at the request of the Right Reverend Joseph Horsfall Johnson, at that time Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.[3] Originally, it was a boarding school for girls only[4] and Anna Frances O'Hare Bentham was appointed the inaugural headmistress.

The earliest parts of the campus were designed by architect Irving Gill, responsible for a multitude of buildings in La Jolla. The current tower building was designed by Carleton Winslow as a replacement for the original Gill tower.

In 1915 Margaret Gilman was appointed headmistress serving until Marguerite Barton was appointed in 1918. In 1921, Caroline Cummins was appointed headmistress, serving until she retired in 1953. In 1953, Rosamund Larmour Loomis was appointed headmistress, serving until 1962 when Florence Stowell Bill was appointed. In 1963, Ruth Jenkins was appointed headmistress and served until 1971.

Bishop's became co-educational after merging with the nearby San Miguel School in 1971 under the leadership of headmaster Philip Perkins, who served until retirement in 1974 when Dorothy Anne Williams was appointed headmistress. The boarding department was closed after the 1982–1983 school year,[5] and later that year Michael Teitelman was appointed headmaster.[6]

The school expanded to include sixth grade in the fall of 2009,[7] with the first cohort graduating in 2016.[8] That same year, headmaster Michael Teitelman retired[9] and Aimeclaire Lambert Roche was appointed head of school.[10] During her time as head of school, Roche served as the President of the Association of Independent Schools.[11]

In 2012, the school was amongst the first to have a purpose-built iPhone application,[12] created by Jake Chasan (‘16).[13] The school transitioned to a six-day rotating schedule that year,[14] and Chasan designed the app to manage the student, teacher, and parent schedules.[15]

In 2018, longtime Bishops’ administrator Carol Barry was appointed interim head of school when Aimeclaire Lambert Roche retired.[16] In 2019, Ron Kim was appointed the permanent headmaster,[17] previously he was Dean of Faculty at Exeter, having been the youngest person appointed to the position in school history.[18]

Campus
The Quad and surrounding buildings: Bentham Hall, St. Mary's Chapel, and the Tower

The Bishop's School's 11-acre campus[19] is located in the heart of La Jolla, only one block away from the beach with views of the Pacific Ocean.[20] At the center of the campus is a grassy quadrangle, where tradition prohibits anyone from setting foot on “the quad” before noon.[21] The quadrangle also serves as the site of the school's annual charity auction, an annual themed event which historically has netted the school millions of dollars annually for financial aid.[22] The campus also has an exclusive lounge for seniors, which is remodeled annually based on the design desires of the graduating class.[23]

The original campus surrounds the quad and includes buildings dating back to the turn of the twentieth century with many original buildings designed by famed architect Irving Gill, one of the pioneers of the modern movement in architecture.[24] The school has been acquisitive of the surrounding real-estate, expanding the initial campus significantly over more than a century.[25] Additions have included a science center,[26] a football and field athletics center, and an aquatic center.[27] The school has further plans to expand the campus.[28]

The campus in its entirety was designated a historical landmark in 1998,[29] with several buildings gaining individual historical standing of significance over the years starting in 1994: Bentham Hall (Irving Gill, 1909), Scripps Hall (Irving Gill, 1910–11), Gilman Hall (Irving Gill and Louis Gill, 1916), St. Mary's Chapel (Carleton Winslow, 1916), The Tower (Carleton Winslow, 1930), Wheeler J. Bailey Library (Carleton Winslow, 1935), and gardens.

Rankings

The Bishop's School has consistently been named a top private school both nationally and in California. As of 2023, the school continued to hold its long-time ranking of no. 1 Christian High School in California by Niche.[30] The school was also named the best private high school in San Diego, within the top 5 Christian High Schools nationally, within the top 20 private high schools in the nation. In 2019, the school was recognized as one of the top 20 sought-after private high schools in the country[31] and Niche ranked the school 30th best private high school nationally.[32]

The Wall Street Journal recognized Bishop's in 2007 for its high matriculation rate to eight selective American colleges,[33] and CBS recognized the school in 2011 noting Bishop's had higher matriculation rates to east-coast selective colleges than Deerfield Academy.[34] The College Board's Advanced Placement program ranked the AP Biology program the strongest in the nation for two consecutive years (2004 and 2005), as Bishop's achieved the highest rate of achievement for medium-sized schools (300–799 students).[35][36]

Student life

The Bishop's School offers a wide selection of student activities spanning across the arts, athletics, and science.

Arts

The school offers physical arts programs in drawing and pottery as well as performance arts in theater, musical instruments, and choir. One of school's Choirs, known as The Bishop’s Singers, have performed in New York's Carnegie Hall and in Chicago's Symphony Hall, as well as on The Today Show.

Athletics

The school (known in competition as the "Knights") has 36 upper school and 31 middle school teams, with 80% of upper school students play on at least one sports team.[37]

Bishop's is known for its athletics prowess, holding more than 118 California Interscholastic Federation titles.[38] The school has won numerous state titles in men's water polo (2002-2006, 2008, 2010, 2019–2021), women's water polo (2000-2002, 2004–2007, 2011–2018, 2020–2022), men's football (1997, 2010). The school also holds many local titles across various sports.[39]

After graduation, 20% of students continue to play sports in college.[38] Notable alumni of the athletics program include McDonald's All-American Destiny Littleton (University of South Carolina women's basketball, winner of the 2021-2022 national championship),[40] America's top lacrosse recruit Isaiah Dawson (Harvard University),[41] and football quarterback Tyler Buchner (University of Notre Dame and University of Alabama).[42]

Spirit

The Bishop's School does not have a cheerleading squad but has a spirit team called "The Dungeon." The Dungeon is a co-educational spirit team that cheers at various "Knights" athletic events. The Dungeon is responsible for attending all of the athletic events and raising crowds of students to support their peers. Community and school spirit is a fundamental part of the curriculum, and The Dungeon serves as a co-educational spirit team to further student involvement in school life.

Academic League

The Bishop's Academic League team participates in the Northern division of the City League.[43] Overall, the Bishop's Academic League team has placed first in San Diego County for several years including in 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2023.[44]

Mock Trial

The Bishop's Mock Trial team won the San Diego County championship in 2010–2012, 2014, and 2015. The team is made up of AP U.S. Government students who are completing a class project as first-year players. Numerous graduates have continued to participate in mock trial at the collegiate level at schools such as Duke University, Princeton University, University of Illinois, George Washington University, and Tufts University.

Speech and debate team

The Bishop's School Speech and Debate team competes in Congressional debate, Parliamentary debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate, and various individual speech events. The team consistently sends several qualifiers to the California State tournament each year and has won awards.[45] Over the course of the 2017–2021 school years, Schuyler Capita (‘21) became the first student to qualify for the California State tournament four years in a row.[46]

Advanced Topics in Economics

The Bishop's School began offering advanced economics classes in 2015, with students placing in numerous local, state and national competitions. The work product of the class relating to the consumer price index across income levels was presented to the Dallas Federal Reserve. In 2017, members of the class won first place in the country at both the Harvard and Stanford Pre-collegiate Economics Competitions.[47]

Model UN Team

The Bishop's Model United Nations team has participated in regional and national Model UN conferences for over two decades. The Bishop's Model UN Team has won numerous awards, most recently at the Columbia Model United Nations Conference and Exposition, the UCSD Triton MUN conference and the USD MUN conference. The Secretariat of the Bishop's MUN team also hosts an annual conference for other high schoolers, dubbed KnightsMUN, every December. In 2019, over 150 participants from 20 schools across Southern California attended the conference.[48] Due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the 2020 KnightsMUN conference was virtually hosted on Zoom.[49] But, in December 2022, the school hosted the KnightsMUN conference in-person for the first time since 2019. In January 2023, the school sent numerous delegates to Columbia University's CMUNCE MUN conference. More recently, the school also participated in the T&T MUN 2023 conference.

Publications

School Publications

The School publishes its magazine, Bishop's, twice a year. The school also publishes several monthly, daily, and quarterly publications.

Student Publications

Bishop's has several student publications. Noteworthy publications include:

  • The Tower – Bishop's official student newspaper and magazine, published monthly. It covers a variety of topics, but all of them are designed to have some link to Bishop's.
  • The Daily Urinal – an independent daily newspaper which was founded in 2004 and received its moniker after being posted in campus restrooms. Although originally intended to be a humorous publication, the "DU" has tackled both important and controversial issues at Bishop's. It is distributed daily via email.
  • Globe – a student-led magazine, is an annual publication with the purpose of sharing the global and cultural experiences of students and faculty through word and art.
  • Reflections – the Upper School Literary Magazine, is an annual publication that accepts prose, poetry, and art of all kinds.
  • Dragonwings – the Middle School literary magazine.
  • Quanta – a science publication, was established at Bishop's in 2010.
  • Spectrum – a student diversity newsletter, distributed monthly via email, was established at Bishop's in 2016.
  • Eye on Visual Arts – an art publication established at Bishop's in 2019.

Heads of school

Since the School's inception, the following have served as Head of School or Headmaster:

  • Anna Frances O'Hare Bentham (1909–1915)
  • Margaret Gilman (1915–1918)
  • Marguerite Barton (1918–1921)
  • Caroline Cummins (1921–1953)
  • Rosamund Larmour Loomis (1953–1962)
  • Florence Stowell Bill (1962–1963)
  • Ruth Jenkins (1963–1971)
  • Philip Perkins (1971–1974)
  • Dorothy Anne Williams (1974–1983)
  • Michael Teitelman (1983–2009)
  • Aimeclaire Lambert Roche (2009–2018)
  • Carol Barry (interim; 2018–2019)
  • Ron Kim (2019–present)

Notable alumni
The Tower at sundown

The school is known to have educated the children of famous executives and athletes, such as Steve Kerr (Coach of the Golden State Warriors),[50] Joseph Tsai (co-founder of Alibaba and owner of NBA’s Brooklyn Nets),[51] Ralph Whitworth (Chairman of Hewlett Packard),[52] Doug Manchester (American financier and owner of The San Diego Union-Tribune),[53] Junior Seau (American football player).[54]

Famous alumni include:

Notable faculty

The school appeared in Twentieth Century-Fox’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace.[1][56]

See also

References
  1. Chan, Sewell (2018-03-15). "'The Assassination of Gianni Versace' Episode 8: Prince Andrew". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  2. Lebron Kuhn, Jen (2012-08-23). "Bishop's School celebrates opening of new library". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  3. "The Republican Experiment and The Bishop's School". San Diego History Center | San Diego, CA | Our City, Our Story. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  4. McClain, Molly (2009). "The Bishop's School, 1909-2009" (PDF). San Diego Historical Society.
  5. "History - The Bishop's School". www.bishops.com. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  6. "Timekeeper" (PDF). La Jolla Historical Society. Fall 2009. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  7. "The Bishop's School marks its centennial". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  8. "The Bishop's School celebrates Class of 2016". SD News. 2016-06-25. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  9. "Bishop's grad to produce NFL Net games". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2009-06-04. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  10. "Bishop's welcomes new head of school". La Jolla Light. 2009-09-23. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  11. "Cranbrook Educational Community names Cranbrook Schools director as new president". Crain's Detroit Business. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  12. Chasan, Jake. "The Bishop's School". App Store. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  13. "The Tower Issue 3 MMXVIII". The Bishop's School. p. 26. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  14. "Bishop's Magazine Spring". The Bishop’s School. 2018-05-30. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  15. The Bishop's School App v6 for iOS New Feature Highlights, retrieved 2023-05-06
  16. "People in Your La Jolla Neighborhood: Meet Bishop's Interim Head of School Carol Barry – Chicago Tribune". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  17. Email (2019-09-05). "Ron Kim: Bishop's new Head of School in La Jolla suggests Ellen Scripps at a Lincoln/Douglas debate in 1858". La Jolla Light. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  18. "The Bishop's School appoints Ron Kim as 12th head of school". SD News. 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  19. "The Bishops School". La Jolla Real Estate | Compass. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  20. "Bishop's School to dedicate new library on Aug. 22". La Jolla Light. 2012-08-17. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  21. "Admissions Brochure". The Bishop’s School. 2019-10-24. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  22. "Bishop's School gala's Spanish theme has guests shouting olé in La Jolla". La Jolla Light. 2018-06-08. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  23. Carlyle, Amy. "Seniors After Summer". The Tower. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  24. Holland, Nicole; Chang, Ashley; Stougaard, Pieter. "Irving Gill's Vision for The Bishop's School" (PDF). The Journal of San Diego History.
  25. "Bishop's School buys Jack in the Box property in La Jolla; plans for its use to be determined". La Jolla Light. 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  26. "The Bishop's School names new science center". La Jolla Light. 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  27. Staff (2005-03-16). "Despite delays due to rain, Bishop's continues to grow". La Jolla Light. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  28. Light, Elisabeth Frausto Elisabeth Frausto is a reporter for the La Jolla (2022-12-15). "Expansion plan for The Bishop's School gets support from La Jolla DPR Committee". La Jolla Light. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  29. "Historical Landmarks Designated by the San Diego Historical Resources Board" (PDF). 1998-02-15.
  30. "2023 The Bishop's School Rankings". Niche. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  31. "San Diego private high school among best in the country". KGTV. 2019-02-18. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  32. "2019 Best Private High Schools in America". Niche.
  33. "WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  34. O’Shaughnessy, Lynn. "A West Coast Ivy League Hook". CBS News. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  35. "Masters of their subjects". usatoday.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  36. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-09-07. Retrieved 2017-07-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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  41. "2017 Top 100 Young Gun Senior Rankings". Insidelacrosse.com. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
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  45. "Sultan of Sway: La Jolla student named San Diego County debate champ". La Jolla Light. 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  46. "Tabroom.com". www.tabroom.com. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
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  49. "KnightsMUN". KnightsMUN. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
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  51. Leonard, Todd (2019-01-17). "Billionaire Tsai cheers for Seals lacrosse while pondering prospects of new sports arena". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  52. Staff (2013-07-03). "Rancho Santa Fe residents receive graduation awards/graduate from The Bishop's School". Rancho Santa Fe Review. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  53. "The Bishop's School Nears Goal With $2M Gift". San Diego Business Journal. 2001-09-23. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  54. "Jake Seau blazing own trail on lacrosse field". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  55. "Versace Killer's Yearbook Quote Foreshadowed His Murderous Rampage". Town & Country. 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
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