Great Grades

3 best private high schools in Texas are right here in Dallas

St. Mark's is at the top of the class.

For students at three private high schools in the Dallas area, it’s really cool to go to school.

Niche.com, a website that provides rankings, reviews, and statistics about schools and communities, puts St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas at the head of its class — No. 1 among private high schools across the Lone Star State. Also, Niche.com places St. Marks, an all-boys school, at No. 17 among all private high schools in the U.S.

Niche.com used these factors to come up with its report card for private high schools: overall grade on Niche.com, academics, diversity, teachers, college prep, clubs and activities, health and safety, administration, sports, food, and resources and facilities.

“An education at St. Mark’s doesn’t revolve solely around academics. St. Mark’s aims to educate the whole boy, and for this I wouldn’t want to have gone to high school anywhere else,” an alumnus wrote in a review on Niche.com.

Another St. Mark’s alumnus wrote: “St. Mark’s takes young boys and turns them in to men ready to move into their collegiate years. I would definitely go to St. Mark’s again, given the broad array of extracurricular activities, intense and rewarding academics, and incredible support for students.”

Holding down the No. 2 spot on Niche.com’s list of the best private high schools in Texas is Dallas' The Hockaday School, followed by Addison’s Greenhill School at No. 3. Hockaday is a boarding school for girls, and Greenhill is a coed campus.

St. John's School in Houston and St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin round out the top five on this prestigious list.

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E-Cigarette News

Dallas City Council places restrictions on vaping in public

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Man vaping

Vaping will now be banned exactly like smoking, thanks to a new ordinance from the Dallas City Council.

At their December 11 meeting, the council passed an ordinance to ban vaping in all the same areas where smoking is not allowed. It'll go into effect on December 11, 2025 — giving everyone a year to get into compliance.

Proposed by City of Dallas Environmental Commission (EVC) and the Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability (OEQS), the ordinance amends the definition of “smoking” in the Dallas City Code to include the use of vaping devices.

The ordinance does not ban vaping — it only bans where you can vape: no vaping in all indoor and enclosed spaces; within 15 feet of building entrances; and on park property. The ordinance also bans marijuana smoking in those same places.

In addition, the amendment requires restaurants, hotels, fitness centers and other businesses to update their signage to clearly state that both smoking and electronic smoking devices are prohibited.

The ordinance already earned widespread support from health organizations such as the Dallas County Health and Human Services, the American Lung Association, and the American Heart Association. These organizations, along with the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Surgeon General, have all raised concerns about the health risks of direct and second-hand exposure to vaping aerosols, particularly for vulnerable populations such as children and older adults.

Dallas is not the first city to impose such a ban: San Antonio enacted a similar ban in October. Theirs goes into effect on January 1, 2025.

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