St. Andrew's Episcopal School is a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

located in Amarillo,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States, providing education from

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to grade 8. The school was founded in 1951. In December 2010, the ''Plainview (Texas) Daily Herald'' described St. Andrew's as "regarded among the exasPanhandle's finest private schools."

History

St. Andrew’s Episcopal School was founded in 1951History
St. Andrew's School website, accessed January 30, 2011 by Betty and Lee Bivins, who perceived a need for a faith-based

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

. They were the parents of

Teel Bivins Miles Teel Bivins (November 22, 1947 – October 26, 2009) was an American diplomat and politician. He served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member for the Texas Senate, District 31, 31st district of the Texas Senate, and als ...

, born four years earlier, who was later to become a

United States Ambassador to Sweden The United States ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden () serves as the official diplomatic representative of the United States to the Monarchy of Sweden, King and the Government of Sweden, Government of the Kingdom of Sweden. Sweden – United S ...

and a Texas State Senator.Betty Teel Bivins Lovell
''Amarillo Globe-News'', January 19, 2008 The school opened as one kindergarten class conducted in the

basement A basement is any Storey, floor of a building that is not above the grade plane. Especially in residential buildings, it often is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, water heating, ...

of St. Andrew’s Church. Betty Bivins' sister, Margaret Teel, was the first teacher. Additional grades were added in later years, until 1990 when the first eighth grade class graduated. At one time in the 1950s, student transfers from St. Andrew's to the public schools of the Amarillo Independent School District were restricted due to a school district regulation against accepting private school

transfer credit Transfer credit, credit transfer, and advanced standing are the terms used by colleges and universities for the procedure of granting credit to a student for educational experiences or courses undertaken at another institution. This is a subset o ...

s for students who had been taught by a first-grade teacher over 65 years old. By the 1980s the school purchased additional property for a new facility to accommodate its growing enrollment. A new main building was completed in 1985, including

classroom A classroom, schoolroom or lecture room is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other place ...

s, a

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

, a gymnasium, a computer lab, a

cafeteria A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a scho ...

, and other special purpose rooms. A second new building, named The Margaret Teel Early Childhood Building, opened in 1999. An expansion completed in January 2008 added more classrooms, an assembly hall, a new library dedicated to the middle school grades, a commons area, and areas for visual arts, orchestra, and music. Jessica Morris became the most recent

headmaster A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

in July 2023.

Academics

By the time students graduate from the 8th Grade they have accumulated at least five high school credits. Students at St. Andrews do not take the

Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) was the fourth Texas state standardized test previously used in grade 3-8 and grade 9-11 to assess students' attainment of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies skills required ...

(TAKS) that is required by all public schools in Texas but they do take the

Stanford Achievement Test The Stanford Achievement Test Series, the most recent version of which is usually referred to simply as the "Stanford 10" or SAT-10, is a set of standardized achievement tests used by school districts in the United States and in American schools a ...

and the Otis-Lennon Test. In October 2010, the

National Junior Honor Society The National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) is an American international student organization with chapters in middle schools. The NJHS was founded by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and today has chapters in the United Sta ...

inducted 18 seventh-grade and eighth-grade students into the society. To be induced the students must have maintained a 95 average in all subjects and have also demonstrated leadership, character, citizenship and service. St. Andrew’s is a member of the

National Association of Independent Schools The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, board ...

and the

National Association of Episcopal Schools The National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES) is a membership organization, serving the approximately 1200 pre-collegiate schools and early childhood education programs in the United States. Membership is restricted to schools owned, opera ...

. St. Andrew's is fully accredited by the Southwest Association of Episcopal Schools, an organization approved by Texas Private School Accreditation Commission (TEPSAC), and recognized by the Texas Commissioner of Education.

National Middle School Science Bowl

The National Middle School Science Bowl (NMSSB) is a

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

academic competition held in the United States. It includes an academic competition, in which teams of four students compete to answer various

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

-related questions, and for several years it included the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Model Car Challenge, in which students design, build, and race model cars powered by hydrogen

fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...

s. The NMSSB has been organized and sponsored by the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear w ...

since the competition's inception in 2002. St. Andrew's has won regional competitions to advance to the national science bowl in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, and has placed well for several years in the national competitions. In 2005, a St. Andrews team placed second overall in the national competition; in 2008 a team from the school placed third overall.

Sports

St. Andrew's interscholastic teams compete against other junior-high-age teams in the High Plains Christian Athletic Association in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, and track. The school terminated the employment of its athletic director, who also served as volleyball coach, in December 2010 after allegations of improper behavior, but expected to continue its sports program without interruption. The

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

was later arrested and charged with a

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

. In the time span of 2019-2021, the St. Andrews Broncos obtained 7 championships. 2 football, 2 basketball, 2 track, and 1 volleyball.Former St. Andrews coach arrested and charged
ConnectAmarillo (ProNews 7) website, December 17, 2010

Notable alumni

, member of the

Texas State Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives functioning as the lower house. Together, they form the state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate is made up of 31 members, where eac ...

and

References

External links

Official School Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrew's Episcopal School, Amarillo, Texas Episcopal Church in Texas Episcopal schools in the United States Education in Amarillo, Texas Private K–8 schools in Texas Educational institutions established in 1951 Schools in Potter County, Texas 1951 establishments in Texas