Parish Episcopal School

I attended Parish from Pre-K through 6th grade. Please bare in mind that I am now in my early 20s, so this was awhile ago and for all I know the school has changed somewhat. Some of the teachers I had have since retired or moved on to different schools, but I believe Mr. Monaco, the head of school who replaced Gloria Snyder when I was in the elementary school, is still there, so I'm not entirely sure how different the school is. Parish for me was a toss-up when it came to academics: there were some incredibly kind and nurturing teachers who knew how to engage their students, and there were some teachers who should not have been in the classroom at all. What particularly stood out to me about the Parish system, and not in a good way, was how strictly the school wanted kids to adhere to their pace of learning: there was no room for personal intellectual growth. I have a couple examples of this. The first occurred in first grade, when my class had been placed into three distinct reading groups based on how they had scored on standardized tests. Despite being a pretty avid reader at home, I guess I didn't do as well as I should have, because I was placed in the middle-level one. There was a series of chapter books that I had really enjoyed reading at home, so I was overjoyed when my teacher got them for our class library. However, as soon as I pulled one out and started to read, my teacher came over and politely told me that I was not allowed to read those books because my standardized tests had deemed that I wasn't ready. I tried to explain to her that I had read the books at home and had no trouble with them, but to no avail. I don't want to blame the teacher in this instance because looking back, she was one of the better teachers I had at Parish, and I'm sure she was just doing what the school had instructed her to do. Looking back though, I think it's awful that a school would purposely hold a student back from more advanced work and pushing themselves (when they have the full capability to do so) just because a standardized test put them in a specific box. This issue occurred again in sixth grade, when I went to a summer camp for advanced students over the summer that taught me beginning calculus. My mom told my 6th grade math teacher about the camp, and the teacher proceeded to tell her she was wrong in sending me there, as the camp might advance me too much and I would be bored later on. No thought to the fact that I might be ready for more advanced math--just trying to hold me at the level that Parish thought I should be at. In this way, I really felt the school tried to put all its students in boxes of where they "should be" and not allow for individual learning paths. I noticed after the time I left, several kids I knew who were usually at the top of the class ended up transferring to schools like Hockaday and Greenhill, and I can't help but wonder if it was in part for that reason.
Jun 1st, 2020

My kids have been there over a decade. Parish has been a SPECTACULAR experience. The diverse and inclusive community fosters students who are academically strong while being socially and emotionally healthy. I hope one day my grandchildren will be there, too!
Aug 30th, 2018

Aug 5th, 2018

good school
May 30th, 2018

Excited for the spelling bee on Friday. Witness Cooper and Brandon take down the competition!!!
May 23rd, 2018