Rowland Hall (formerly Rowland Hall-St. Mark's) is an independent private school of roughly 1000 students from preschool to high school on two campuses in Salt Lake City, Utah. Driven by their vision of developing people the world needs, they believe in a transformational education that gives students agency and purpose, connects them to their global community, and empowers them to make the world a better place for all.[1] Founded in 1867, Rowland Hall is the oldest school in Utah.[2]
History
Rowland Hall traces its roots to St. Mark's School, which was founded in Salt Lake City by Episcopal Bishop Daniel Sylvester Tuttle in 1867. In support of newly established public schools in the Utah Territory, St. Mark's School was closed in the early 1890s. However its sister school, Rowland Hall, remained open.
Rowland Hall has operated as a school continuously since St. Marks was founded by Bishop Tuttle in 1867. Rowland Hall opened in 1880 as a boarding school for girls from ranches in neighboring states; the school opened on the First Avenue campus in Salt Lake City. The historic building was originally a home built by George D. Watt in about 1862.[3] Rowland Hall is the oldest school in continuous operation in Utah, predating the establishment of public schools in the Utah territory. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the Episcopal Diocese of Utah could no longer afford to support the school, graduates and parents assumed financial responsibility and reorganized Rowland Hall as an independent school.
In 1956, St. Mark's re-opened as an independent day school for boys in two historic houses and a so-called tin shed that were located next door to Rowland Hall, sharing the same city block. St. Mark's merged with Rowland Hall in 1964 to become Rowland Hall-St. Mark's, an independent coeducational school.
The Middle and Upper Schools moved to the Lincoln Street Campus in 1984. The Lower and Beginning Schools moved to the McCarthey Campus on Guardsman Way in 2002. The historic campus on First Avenue was sold to the Madeleine Choir School. In 2024, construction began on the Steiner Campus on Sunnyside Avenue, which will unite the school in the fall of 2026.
Campus
Rowland Hall is currently housed on two campuses in Salt Lake City. The Beginning School and Lower School are on the McCarthey Campus, located at 720 Guardsman Way in Salt Lake City, a few blocks from the University of Utah. The Middle School and Upper School are located just over a mile away in a renovated public school building on Lincoln Street.[4]
In 2013, Rowland Hall broke ground on a new campus that will house all divisions: the Richard R. Steiner Campus. Soccer fields on the new campus were finished in the spring of 2014. The 13.2-acre property that will house the new campus for the Middle School, Upper School, performing arts center, and athletics complex is immediately adjacent to the western edge of the existing McCarthey Campus.[5] The Steiner campus is set to open in the fall of 2026.
Academics
The average class size is 15 and student to teacher ratio is 9:1. 70% of faculty have advanced degrees. Faculty members have an average of 19 years teaching experience in the classroom.[6] Rowland Hall has four divisions: Beginning School (grades 3PreK–K), Lower School (grades 1–5), Middle School (grades 6–8), and Upper School (grades 9–12).
Arts
Arts are taught by faculty who are professional directors, dancers, visual artists, musicians, and writers.[7] Visual art and music are integrated throughout the curriculum. The school offers additional formal instruction and training starting in the Lower School. The Middle School and Upper School arts programs include formal dance, dramatic and musical theater, visual art, ceramics, and music opportunities through the orchestra, choral group, jazz bands, and chamber groups.
Rowland Hall offers 16 sports in the Upper School and six sports in the Middle School. Rowland Hall’s Upper School is classified as a Division 2A school in Region 17 of the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) with some sports competing in 3A. Middle School student-athletes compete in the Wasatch Athletic Conference.
The school's Winged Lions have won 73 state championship titles and 141 region titles; the 2017–2018 2A Directors Cup for success in sportsmanship, academics, and state tournaments; and the annual UHSAA Sportsmanship Award.
Debate
Rowland Hall is recognized as a National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) School of Excellence. In the last five years, Rowland Hall Debate has produced seven State Champions, 19 National Qualifiers, and 14 Academic All-Americans, and has sent dozens of students to college on scholarships. NSDA named debate coach Mike Shackelford Utah's Educator of the Year in 2017 and Policy Debate Coach in 2014. The high school team is made up of approximately 50 debaters who participate in a variety of events, styles, and divisions, attending 10 to 12 tournaments a year and may travel all over the country.
The school has a total of 13 bids to the 2015 and 2016 Tournament of Champions, 9 bids to the 2010 Tournament of Champions and 7 bids to the 2008 TOC. The RHSM top team reached quarterfinals of the 2008 and 2010 TOC, the best finish for any Utah team in the state's history. In 2015, 2 RHSM teams made it to the octafinals, making the school the only one to clear two teams at the TOC. In 2019, Rowland Hall reached the semifinals of the TOC, which is the best finish for a Utah school ever. Additionally, the team recorded the best finish ever for a Utah school at NFL Nationals, taking 3rd place in June 2009, and 2nd place in 2010. A similar record was set in the 2015 National Debate Coaches' Association Championship, which ended with RHSM taking 3rd place.
^Clark, Mary R. (Summer 1980). "Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School: Alternative Education for More than a Century". Utah Historical Quarterly. 48 (3): 273.
