Episcopal School of Baton Rouge is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational day school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Founded in 1965, it has approximately 950 students residing in East Baton Rouge Parish and surrounding areas, and has a student/teacher ratio of 11:1. The school serves students in grades PreK-3 through 12. Episcopal is located on a campus located in the eastern section of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The school's mascot is the Knight, and school colors are navy blue and gold. Episcopal is a member of the following organizations: the National Association of Episcopal Schools, the National Association of Independent Schools, the Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools, the Independent School Association of the Southwest, and the Southern Association of Independent Schools. The current Head of School is Dr. Carrie Steakley, who was appointed in 2020. Episcopal High School is an independent school that is fiscally self-sufficient. Episcopal receives no funds from the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, solely relying on funds generated from tuition, fees, capital giving, and the Annual Fund, a yearly fund-rasing program in which all donations made are used for investment in school plans and facilities. The current administrative leadership includes division heads for the Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School.
History
Episcopal High School was founded in 1965 with intentions of bringing an Episcopaliancollege preparatory school to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Founding members of the school include G. Allen Penniman, Henry Klock, Dick H. Hearin, and A. C. Lewis. Originally on the site of St. James Episcopal Church of Baton Rouge and the old Baton Rouge Junior High School, Episcopal served approximately 300 students in grades 1-8. The first headmaster was Reverend Ralph Webster. In 1968, students in grades 5-11 moved to the new campus located at 3200 Woodland Ridge Blvd. Students in grades 1-4 remained at the church until the new buildings were completed. The first senior class of 13 matriculated in 1969. The school's gymnasium was destroyed in 1971 by a tornado spawned from Hurricane Edith, and much of the rest of the campus was heavily damaged. Most recently, Episcopal High School allotted space for pre-kindergarteners in 2005.
Facilities
Facilities at Episcopal include the Visual and Performing Arts Center, the Middle School building, a science building, a mathematical sciences building, the Lower School and Greer Center for the Performing Arts, the Kindergarten building, classroom buildings, a chapel, and a dining hall. Recently in 2010, Episcopal has adopted better nutritional meals thanks to the appointed chef. Episcopal also has computer and writing labs, as well as computers with Internet access in each classroom. The main library was renovated in 2000 in order to make it the technological hub of the campus, servicing a network of Dell computers and a wireless network accessible anywhere on campus. A second library serves Episcopal's Lower School students. A variety of Dell computers are in each classroom. Most of the classrooms at Episcopal have SMART boards that help facilitate the learning process. Athletic facilities include two gymnasiums, a weight room, a football stadium, soccer fields, a softball field, an all-weather track, a heated swimming pool, five tennis courts, a baseball complex, and a newly created athletic field house.
Athletics
Episcopal fields teams in many sports, including softball, soccer, basketball, football, volleyball, baseball, powerlifting, wrestling, swimming, tennis, golf, track and field, and cross-country. The boys' cross-country team has won 24 state AA titles in a row.
