St. Elizabeth of Hungary

A lot of things have changed since St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School opened its doors in 1958. Forty-eight years later, the school has grown from 27 to 369 students, moved from portable buildings to an attractive campus at 4019 S. Hampton, and shifted traditional chalkboards to electronic smartboards. One thing that’s stayed the same? “When the kids walk down the halls, they’re smiling,” reports Christina Clem, the school’s principal.

Home to three decades of Oak Cliff students, St. Elizabeth’s — a Pre-K-8 school — prides itself on its nurturing, Christian environment; the strength of its academics; and its ethnic and economic diversity. “I rank our diversity first,” asserts Clem. “I’ve been working here since 1986 and, even then, our student body mirrored the surrounding community. Our kids here get a realistic view of the world . . . learning to get past a fear of the unknown and interact with different kinds of people.”

Elizabeth Belew, the school’s director of development and the parent of a St. Elizabeth student, also points to diversity as one of the school’s top selling points. “This is definitely an Oak Cliff school,” she states. “My son has gone here from the beginning, and I think he’s color blind.”

The school, which has been recognized as a national exemplary school and cited by the Texas Catholic Conference Education Department as a “model school for Catholic education,” places just as strong an emphasis on academics. “We set our standards high, and then we work to help our kids meet them,” Clem explains. “We know we’re doing something right, because our students go on to do well in some of Dallas’ top high schools and [then on to] strong universities.”

Nearly 80 percent of St. Elizabeth students go on to enroll at Bishop Dunne. The other 20 percent matriculate at schools ranging from Jesuit, Ursuline — “just about everywhere,” Clem says. “We keep up with our former students, and we’ve had valedictorians, salutatorians and National Merit Scholars. Our kids do well in college, so we know we’re giving them a very solid foundation.”

St. Elizabeth’s also offers a strong arts program, comprising music, arts and drama, and a broad variety of weekly after-school electives for its junior-high students. “Over the years, we’ve offered electives in guitar, mosaics, ‘building-a-mousetrap-car’ with the science teachers, Hispanic art, journalism, cooking, dancing. You name it,” Clem says. “We’ve had a music-and-the-movies class, and a ‘John Wayne v. Clint Eastwood’ movie criticism class. The kids really love them.”

The school also prides itself on its strong athletic program, built largely over the last two decades. Last year, the school was named All Sports Lower-School Champions by the Dallas Parochial League. And Clem flags another award they’re just as proud of: “We were also named the friendliest gym in the diocese.”

Must be all those hallway smiles.

Article reprinted with permission form CliffDweller Magazine