Students Return to Campus

On the morning of Wednesday, October 30, Marksmen returned to 10600 Preston Road for the first time since an EF-3 tornado touched down on campus nearly two weeks earlier.

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am to see each and every one of you this morning,” Eugene McDermott Headmaster David Dini said at a special all-school assembly. “I am so proud of the strength of our community and how all of you have pulled together, supporting your neighbors, your friends, and those in need. The past few days and weeks have been a challenge, but I know there is great opportunity ahead. I am excited for the rest of this year and know it will be filled with more opportunities for all of you to be your best selves.”

While the tornado left campus closed and inaccessible, Marksmen offered their time and resources to help each other and their communities. Boys met up with classmates, organized cleanup efforts in affected neighborhoods, worked at the HEB Mobile Kitchen at Preston-Royal, and even provided lunch to the crews on campus.

“There have been so many examples of people wanting to help and make a difference,” Student Council President Taylor Hopkins ’20 told his classmates on Wednesday morning. “We need to keep up this same spirit going forward. Keep reaching out to one another and asking how you can make a difference, not just to the people in our community, but across Dallas. That’s what it means to be a Marksman.”

The tornado on October 20 caused widespread destruction throughout North Dallas and struck a direct blow to the St. Mark’s campus. In addition to the Hicks Athletic Center, which unfortunately was completely destroyed, several other buildings were damaged, including the Chapel, Decherd Fine Arts Center, and Nearburg Hall. In the days and weeks following the tornado, a team of contractors and utility workers, together with the St. Mark’s physical plant and security teams worked around the clock to repair buildings and, more important, prepare the campus for the boys and faculty to be together again.
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    • Eugene McDermott Headmaster David Dini addresses students in Spencer Gym.

St. Mark’s School of Texas

10600 Preston Road
Dallas, Texas 75230
214-346-8000

About Us

St. Mark’s School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys’ day school for students in grades 1 through 12, located in Dallas, Texas. St. Mark’s aims to prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.

St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.