1913-1919


The start of the second year brought rapid growth for the school, including the addition of boarding students. In order to have a boarding department, Miss Hockaday needed someone to run the boarding program and ensure that the girls were well looked after. Who better to look after the girls than Miss Miriam Morgan. Miss Morgan reflected on this in her retirement speech. "Then came the great chance which brought into my life its greatest joy—the opportunity of service. When Miss Ela Hockaday and Miss Sarah B. Trent called on me on my birthday, May 12, 1915, and asked me to join them in establishing a boarding department in their already successful school, I little realized the great opportunity for service that they offered me. Only now as the sun is fast setting for me do I fully realize what a marvelous blessing has been mine to love and be loved by so many dear girls."
 

List of 6 frequently asked questions.

  • Mildred Leibman '15 becomes the first graduate 

    Just two years after the founding of the school, Hockaday had its first graduate, Mildred Leibman. This first graduation set the precedent for a "day of all days" in the life of a Hockadaisy. As Helen Knox Tull wrote in the 25th Anniversary book, "It so happened there was a very pretty pergola on the grounds of the school on Haskell Avenue, and as the Texas weather is usually benign in late spring, Miss Hockaday decided to have an outdoor graduation with the graduate dressed in white, seated under the pergola which is covered in May with Dorothy Perkins roses; and thus from that time until now the thoughts of pergola and diploma always go hand in hand."

     

  • Securing the endorsement of Smith College for Hockaday Graduates

    Miss Hockaday was ahead of her time in how she prepared her students scholastically. She had the forethought to not only prepare the girls for college, but to secure schools that would accept a Hockaday graduate based on the merit of an education from The Miss Hockaday School for Girls. Smith College, a women's college located in Northampton, Massachusetts, was the first to endorse the school.

  • First Yearbook

    In 1917 the first yearbook was published. This book offers a glimpse into the daily life and student humor of the teens. The next yearbook was not published until 1923. The first Cornerstones was not published until 1953, when students pressed for a yearbook, against some faculty wishes. The printer promised to work with them if the students could raise $2,000. The response was tremendous. Miss Grow, who was backing the girls' effort, even got into trouble by giving the girls who had forgotten their money I.O.U.'s. Finally, the opposition had to give in, and the first Cornerstones was published.

  • The end of the "Great War" 

    This was a year that celebrated the end of World War I, or as it was commonly referred to "The war that would end all wars". During the war years, Hockaday students contributed to the war effort by making "Cootie Belts" (an anti-louse program), along with contributions of other gear for soldiers including gun wipes, shot bags, wristlets, and much more. This aid in the war effort is an example of the many community service projects that students would participate in over the years.

  • Formation of the Board of Directors 

    As the school continued to grow and change, so did the organization of the school into a corporation. On August 30, 1919, the newly formed Board of Directors met to establish the school as a private corporation that supported the School until 1942 when the school changed its status to a nonprofit. 

  • Move to the Greenville Avenue Campus 

    This was also the same year that Miss Hockaday decided to move the School to its second location on Greenville Avenue, as the student body had quickly outgrown the first school building. The new campus was a part of the former Caruth family farm of which Miss Hockaday purchased eight acres. The old farmhouse was renamed Trent House and served as one of the boarding houses for the new campus.

The Hockaday School

11600 Welch Road
Dallas, TX 75229
(214) 363-6311
Within the private school community, The Hockaday School is an independent college-preparatory day school for girls from grades PK–12 located in Dallas, Texas. Students realize their limitless potential through challenging academic curricula, arts, athletics, and extracurricular programs so that they are inspired to lead lives of purpose and impact.

The Hockaday School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, creed, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law in the administration of its educational, admissions, financial aid, athletic, and other policies and programs.