amarillo chamber of commerce - HPN Books

ST. ANDREW’SEPISCOPALSCHOOLAbove: Morning kindergarten students, classof 1963, take part in rhythm band, afavorite tradition of Miss Margaret Teel, theSchool’s first teacher and headmistress.Below: In 1986, St. Andrew’s EpiscopalSchool moved to its current home at1515 South Georgia Street.For the past sixty years, St. Andrew’sEpiscopal School has been a cornerstone ofthe Amarillo community. It has providedlocal students with the very best educationalexperience possible, rich in academics andgrounded in service and faith.The School’s graduates have gone on tobecome outstanding leaders for our community,for the state of Texas and for the country asa whole. St. Andrew’s alumni are now doctors,lawyers, scientists, veterinarians, writers, andteachers, just to name a few. Every year, theygraduate in the top ranks of high schools—both here in Amarillo and at boarding schoolsacross the country—with several former studentsearning titles as valedictoriansand salutatorians.More importantly, St. Andrew’shas touched the life of everystudent with whom it hascome into contact. One recentgraduate said “St. Andrew’snurturing environment, with itsemphasis on academic excellence,afforded me the confidence andmotivation to follow my dreams.”The story of St. Andrew’s is oneof vision, hard work and faith.Betty and Lee Bivins founded theSchool in 1951. They hoped toprovide the children of Amarillowith the opportunity to attendKindergarten in a faith-basedenvironment. As the years passed,the School grew and the decision was made toexpand slowly by adding one grade level eachyear. The School’s first eighth grade classgraduated in 1990, and today, St. Andrew’seducates children as young as age three. Like allinstitutions, it has experienced times of difficultyalong with times of prosperity. But the Schoolhas always advanced its mission with the spiritof progress that was evident in the Bivins’ veryfirst efforts.Initially the School was housed withinSt. Andrew’s Church. But, thanks to widespreadsuccess in the early decades, those facilitieswere bursting at the seams by the early 1980s.In 1984 a handful of administrators, parents,and friends began discussions about a new dayschoolcampus. Within a year, they had raisedthe funds, drawn up the plans and built thebuilding that is today known as St. Andrew’sEpiscopal School. Since then, the School hasundergone two additional expansions. In 1999the Margaret Teel Early Childhood Center—named after the very first Headmistress, MissMargaret Teel—was built. In 2007 dedicatedfacilities were added for middle-schoolstudents, as well as music and art instruction.Academic achievement and leadership havelong gone hand-in-hand at St. Andrew’s. TheSchool has participated in the National JuniorHonor Society Program for many yearsand was recently named as a foundingmember of the National Elementary HonorSociety. St. Andrew’s is well known for itsdynamic science program, and has earnednumerous titles in local and regional sciencecompetitions, as well as First Place at theUnited States Department of Energy’s NationalFuel Cell Car Competition in 2008.All students at St. Andrew’s enjoy a broadarray of enrichment courses as part of theirexperience. Today, in addition to their coreclasses, every student in kindergarten througheighth grade receives regular instruction inSpanish, computer, music, religion, scienceand art. Through these diverse pursuits,students are able to grow into confident,AMARILLO - Faces, Places & Open Spaces200