Cistercian Preparatory School is a private school for boys located in Irving,
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 ...
. The school follows the Cistercian tradition.
History
Cistercian was founded by a group of monks from Hungary's
Zirc Abbey, who had fled
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
from ongoing Soviet pressure following WWII. In 1948,
Cistercian
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
secondary schools in Hungary had been closed and in 1950, their monasteries had been confiscated. Zirc monks began immigrating, with many of them ending up in Dallas, where they created
a new abbey and found leadership and teaching roles at the
University of Dallas
The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas, United States. Established in 1956, it is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Southern Associat ...
. Cistercian monks had been involved in secondary education in Europe since the 18th century, and by 1962, they founded the Cistercian School in Dallas.
Current program
Evan.The graduating class of 2021 had 46 students, and there were 355 total students in grades 5-12. While community service is not required, the typical class averages 8000 hours of volunteer contributions. All graduates attend 4-year colleges. In 2021, 19% of the students received financial assistance. Of the 53 faculty members, 30% are Cistercian monks and 85% have graduate degrees.
Cistercian's academic program has been highly rated, both regionally and nationally, for many years.
For example, Cistercian was ranked among the 50 “Smartest Private High Schools in the United States” by one independent group
and, in 2021, was named the 3rd best Catholic high school in the country.
Athletics
Students are encouraged to participate in sports in every season. Cistercian fields teams in nine varsity sports in three athletic seasons: football and cross country (fall); basketball, soccer, and swimming (winter); baseball, track & field, tennis (spring). The school is a member of the
Southwest Preparatory Conference, which hosts championship tournaments and meets at the end of every season. The school's mascot is the hawk. Its colors are black and white.
Notable alumni
*
Will Arbery (2007), playwright, author of
Heroes of the Fourth Turning;
2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist, winner of
2020 Whiting Award in drama
*
Will Ford Hartnett (1974), former member of the
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...
(1993–2013)
*
Geoff Marslett (1992), independent filmmaker and professor
*
Andrés Ruzo (2005), geoscientist, conservationist, author, science communicator and educator, who studied the Boiling River of the Amazon
*
Ryan Sitton (1993), member of the
Texas Railroad Commission
The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC; also sometimes called the Texas Railroad Commission, TRC) is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and s ...
(2015–2021)
Notable faculty
* Fr.
Bede Lackner, theologian and historian
* Fr.
Denis Farkasfalvy, Abbot of
Our Lady of Dallas Abbey
The Abbey of Our Lady of Dallas is a Cistercians, Cistercian monastery founded in 1955 in Irving, Texas. The monks of the abbey operate Cistercian Preparatory School for boys. As of 2018, it is currently the only Cistercian monastery left in Nort ...
from 1988 to 2012, theologian, and historian; Headmaster of Cistercian from 1969 to 1981 and longtime math teacher at the school
* Fr.
Roch Kereszty, theologian
References
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Irving, Texas
Independent Schools Association of the Southwest
Catholic secondary schools in Texas
Educational institutions established in 1962
Boys' schools in Texas
Private high schools in Dallas County, Texas
1962 establishments in Texas