Head of School’s Report

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Little did we know when we sent our first email about COVID-19 that it would dominate our lives as it has for the last nine months. That email followed our interim term China trip last January. From there, we were off and running through the strangest of springs towards the successful, if unique, start to the 2020-2021 year this August in which we welcomed our largest student body ever. At 790 students strong, EHS today continues to thrive.

Our diverse and talented student body is split evenly between boys and girls; 27 percent of our students self-report as students of color; 18 percent are Episcopalian. Our 223 new students, 208 freshmen and 15 new sophomores and juniors, hail from 48 different zip codes and represent 55 different feeder schools. We continue to offer the strongest financial aid program in town, distributing nearly $3.5 million in financial aid and tuition remission across 15 percent of the student body for 2020-2021. It is the largest financial aid program in the city by any measure: per capita, as a percentage of endowment, or as a percentage of tuition revenue. Best of all, our class sizes remain small: This year’s average class size is 14 students, which allows for highly personalized and effective teaching and learning.

Last March we mounted the fastest transition to virtual learning in Houston when campuses around the city closed, and we received national recognition throughout the spring for the quality of that virtual program as well as for the speed of its implementation. We began this new year with distance learning, but we were among the first SPC schools to return students to campus successfully after Labor Day. We welcomed seniors on September 8 and then added one grade per day from there beginning with the freshmen. By Friday the 11th, we were at full strength, and through today EHS remains an island of stability for our community in a sea of uncertainty.

That stability has, since the School’s founding, been ensured by our Board of Trustees, and for the last three years, the Board of Trustees has been led by Executive Chair Randa Duncan Williams. Randa’s clear vision for EHS and her enthusiastic commitment to its mission have seen the successful conclusion of several construction projects, most notably the Underwood Student Center (USC) and the baseball field, as well as the start of a third project, our new field hockey field. Randa likewise oversaw the revision of the School’s Mission Statement and Guiding Principles, a once-in-a-generation undertaking reaffirming our Episcopal identity and charting a clear course for the future. Having served the maximum term allowed under our bylaws and set that course, Randa relinquishes the reins this year to our new Executive Chair Haag Sherman’s capable hands.

The start of the new school year marks another notable board leadership transition. The School’s endowment has, since its inception, been led by one man, Vic Kormeier. In the early years, every dollar donated to the school or the school’s endowment went to operating expenses. In 1998, EHS paid off its mortgage and began to tend to its endowment in earnest. Today the School continues debt free with the endowment valued at $38.5 million; the draw on that endowment provides meaningful financial support to the school’s annual operating budget of over $28.8 million. None of this success would have been possible without Vic’s clear vision and capable, inspired leadership. Vic’s commitment to EHS is unparalleled, and we are thrilled that he will continue to serve on the endowment even as he relinquishes the mantle of leadership to Randa Duncan Williams, a transition from strength to strength.

Episcopal High School stands out in this otherwise topsy-turvy time because we receive such strong support from leaders like Randa and Vic, as well as from our current and past friends and families, people like those of you listed within. Your generosity allows us to remain focused on what we can control: living our mission every day, on and off campus. Whether you participated as a volunteer in one of our many Advancement efforts or as a donor to the annual fund, the Auction gala, or the Lead the Way capital campaign, your support is crucial. Without it, we would not be able to live the mission, regardless of circumstances, as fully or effectively as we do every day. Thank you for it, and Go Knights,

Ned Smith, Head of School