Oregon Episcopal School
Oregon Episcopal School (OES) is an American private, coeducational, college preparatory, day and boarding school in the Raleigh Hills area of Portland, Oregon. History. Oregon Episcopal School (OES) was established in 1869 in Portland, Oregon, by the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Wistar Morris, Bishop of Oregon, and is "the oldest Episcopal school west of the Rocky Mountains." Known as St. Helen's Hall at the time of its founding, it was originally a boarding and day school for girls. OES's original site at 4th and Madison is now the location of Portland's City Hall. The school  moved several times during its first century to different locations in downtown Portland. It was located at 13th and Hall Streets before moving to its present location in the Raleigh Hills neighborhood of Portland in 1964. The Bishop Dagwell Hall was soon added, expanding the academic program to boys. In 1972, St. Helen's Hall merged with Bishop Dagwell Hall to become Oregon Episcopal School. Currently, the school serves children from prekindergarten through 12th grade and includes day-school and boarding programs. A number of facilities have been added over the years. Meyer Hall was built in 1996 as a  new facility for Middle School students; the Drinkward Center for Math, Science and Technology opened in 2003; and in 2016 a 45,000-square-foot Lower School facility opened for Pre-K through 5th grade students. Today, approximately 870 students in Pre-K through Grade 12 attend OES. Academics. The Beginning, Lower, and Middle schools consist entirely of day students, but the Upper School includes a boarding program. Approximately one-fifth of the Upper School's student body resides on campus, and around three-fourths of those boarding students hail from outside the United States. In 2007, "Portland Monthly" magazine named  the school as one of the best in Oregon. In 2014, Oregon Episcopal School was ranked the best high school in the state of Oregon and the 13th best private school in the United States. OES ranked #2 on Oregon's 25 Best K-12 Schools for 2018, according to the "Portland Business Journal". Science research. OES's research-based science program has a long history of success in science research competitions. Over the years, many students have placed highly in prestigious competitions such as the Intel Science Talent Search, the Siemens Competition, the Davidson Fellows Scholarship, the Google Science Fair , the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, the International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Environment Project Olympiad, the BioGENIOUS Competition, and the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. Since 1995, 19 students have been named Intel National Semifinalists and National Finalists with one senior National Finalist contestant placed 2nd nationally among 40 national finalists in 2003 and one senior National Finalist contestant placed 3rd nationally in 2004. Since 2002, 36 students have been named Siemens National Semifinalists, Regional Finalists and National Finalists. In 2010, Akash Krishnan and Matthew Fernandez placed 1st nationally in the team category  and won the Siemens Competition. Also in 2013, Ajay Krishnan was named the recipient of a prestigious $10,000 Davidson Fellows Scholarship, the top honor in the engineering category. He was also named a regional finalist in the Google Science Fair. In 2021 OES's aerospace team won the national Team America Rocketry Challenge. Facilities. OES's 59-acre campus lies in the hills of Southwest Portland. Facilities include: Athletics. Mascot. OES's official mascot is an Aardvark, chosen by the student body to replace their previous mascot, a falcon. At one time an eagle was also a mascot at  the school. In 2013, the mascot placed second in the West in "USA Today's" High School Sports' Best Mascot competition. Disaster on Mount Hood. One of the worst climbing accidents in U.S. history occurred in May 1986 when seven sophomore students and two faculty froze to death during an excursion on Mount Hood. Of the four survivors, three had life-threatening injuries. One had his legs amputated. The OES disaster spurred the development of the Mountain Locator Unit, an inexpensive transmitter which helps searchers find climbers in distress.