Best Private Schools in Dallas – 2023

If you are raising kids in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area and find yourself considering private school, you are lucky to have dozens of quality options. For the teen in your family, selecting the right private high school will be of particular importance. In the end, your decision will need to balance your teen’s academic, emotional, and social needs with financial and logistical considerations. However, College Transitions’ list of the Best Private Schools in Dallas will focus primarily on our area of expertise—college admissions. As such, we will highlight the job that each of the schools fare at sending their graduates on to the region/nation’s premier 4-year schools.

Please note that inclusion on our Best Private Schools in Dallas list is a selective and criteria-based process. However, the order in which the schools appear is not representative of any further ranking; the numbering is solely intended to enhance the ease of navigating this resource.  All of the schools profiled below have a history of sending graduates to the top colleges in the country. For each of the 10 best private high schools in Dallas, College Transitions will provide you with each school’s:

• Location
• Tuition (9-12)
• Enrollment (9-12)
• Average SAT Score
• Average ACT Score
• Senior Class Size
• College Admissions Highlights
• Academic Highlights

Without further ado, let’s look at the best private schools in Dallas.

1) Cistercian Preparatory School

Location: 3660 Cistercian Rd, Irving

Tuition (9-12): $23,800

Enrollment (9-12): 47

Average SAT Score: 1403

Average ACT Score: 31

College Admissions Highlights:

From 2017-21, students have enrolled at each of the following colleges: Boston University, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, NYU, Pomona, Princeton, Rice, Stanford, the US Military Academy, the US Naval Academy, Penn, USC, UVA, Vanderbilt, WashU, and Yale.

Academic Highlights:

• 83% of faculty have master’s degrees; 16% possess doctorates.
• 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio
• Students take an all-honors curriculum; no AP courses are offered.
• 100% of graduates attend 4-year colleges.
• 45% of students identify as students of color.

2) St. Mark’s School of Texas

Location: 10600 Preston Rd

Tuition (9-12): $35,821

Enrollment (9-12): 413

Median SAT Score: 1530

Median ACT Score: 35

College Admissions Highlights:

In one recent five-year stretch, 10 or more students enrolled in Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, UChicago, Penn, USC, UT Austin, and Vanderbilt. More than five entered Brown, Columbia, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, UVA, and Yale. St. Mark’s college matriculation is—in short—jaw-dropping.

Academic Highlights:

• Students took 730 AP tests in 2022 and 78% earned a 4 or 5.
• Of 127 teachers, 86 hold master’s degrees and 11 earned doctorates.
• The average class size is 15.
• 49% of those enrolled are students of color.
• 8:1 student-to-teacher ratio.

3) The Hockaday School

Location:  11600 Welch Rd

Tuition (9-12): $35,465

Enrollment (9-12): 505

Mid-50% SAT Score: 1370-1550

Mid-50% ACT Score: 30-34

College Admissions Highlights:

From 2020-2022, Hockaday grads have attended Brown, Claremont McKenna Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Colby, Cornell, Duke, Emory, MIT, NYU, Northwestern, Pomona, Rice, Stanford, Tufts, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UChicago, USC, Vassar, WashU, Wellesley, Williams, and Yale.

Academic Highlights:

• Hockaday is an all-girls school.
• 63 of 121 teachers possess master’s degrees; 21 hold doctoral degrees.
• 49% identify as students of color.
• 100% of students enroll in 4-year institutions.
• 91% of AP test-takers score a 3 or better.

4) Greenhill School

Location: 4141 Spring Valley Rd, Addison

Tuition (9-12): $36,240

Enrollment (9-12): 486

Mid-50% SAT Score: 1295-1535

Mid-50% ACT Score: 30-34

College Admissions Highlights:

The Classes of 2019-2022 sent multiple students to UT Austin (33), WashU (18), UMich (13), Northwestern (12), USC (12), Penn (8), Duke (8), Cornell (6), Barnard (6), Harvard (5), Emory (5), Brown (3), Carnegie Mellon (3), and Georgetown (3).

Academic Highlights:

• The average class size is 18.
• 17% of students receive financial aid.
• 59% of faculty hold advanced degrees.
• 80% of students enroll in out-of-state colleges.
• 18 AP courses are available.

5) Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas

Location: 12345 Inwood Rd

Tuition (9-12): $23,175

Enrollment (9-12): 1,100

Average SAT Score: 300+ points above the national average.

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

Many students go on to enter some of the nation’s top colleges each year including Jesuit institutions such as Boston College, Georgetown, the College of the Holy Cross, Loyola Marymount, and Santa Clara University.

Academic Highlights:

• This is an all-male institution.
• 64% of teachers hold advanced degrees.
• 250 students have received National Merit recognition in the last five years.
• Colleges from all over the country attend their annual College Night.
• 24 AP courses are offered.

6) Parish Episcopal School

Location:  4101 Sigma Rd

Tuition (9-12): $34,510

Enrollment (seniors): 110

Mean SAT Score: 1281

Median ACT Score: 28.5

College Admissions Highlights:

Students from the Classes of 2018-2022 went on to matriculate into Berklee College of Music, Boston University, Bowdoin, the University of Chicago, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Kenyon, Middlebury, NYU, Pomona Rice, Stanford, Tufts, WashU, and William & Mary.

Academic Highlights:

• The Class of 2021 attended 64 different colleges.
• 15 students will become college athletes.
• 31% identify as students of color.
• 19% earned a GPA of 4.0 or above; 32% earned between a 3.5 and 3.99.
• Last year, students collectively netted $8.8 million in scholarship offers.

7) Fort Worth Country Day School

Location: 4200 Country Day Ln, Fort Worth

Tuition (9-12): $27,430

Enrollment (9-12): 362

Mid-50% SAT Score: 1190-1400

Mid-50% ACT Score: 24-31

College Admissions Highlights:

Multiple members of the 2019-2022 graduating classes are now attendeding UT Austin (32), Tulane (12), UGA (8), Washington & Lee (7), the University of Chicago (5), Yale (4), George Washington (3), Harvard (3), Purdue (3), USC (2), and UMiami.

Academic Highlights:

• 54% of faculty members hold advanced degrees.
• 21 AP courses are on the menu.
• 19 members of the Class of 2022 achieved some degree of National Merit status.
• 10:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
• Last year’s graduates were awarded $14.2 million in merit-based scholarships.

8) The Episcopal School of Dallas

Location: 4100 Merrell Rd

Tuition (9-12): $35,410

Enrollment (seniors): 108

Average SAT Score: Over one-third scored 700 or better on each section of the exam.

Average ACT Score: Roughly 50% of students score 31 or above.

College Admissions Highlights:

In one recent four-year span, students enrolled at the likes of Amherst, Babson, Boston University, Bowdoin, Brandeis, Colgate, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, Hamilton, Harvard, JHU, NYU, Northeastern, Princeton, Rice, Stanford, Tufts, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Notre Dame, Penn, UVA, and Vanderbilt.

Academic Highlights:

• 92% of students score 3 or better on AP tests.
• No classes are larger than 18 students.
• The school offers an exceptional 32 AP courses.
• In recent years, the school has averaged 8-10 National Merit award winners.
• 100% of students attend 4-year colleges.

9) Trinity Valley School

Location:  7500 Dutch Branch Rd, Fort Worth

Tuition (9-12): $25,800

Enrollment (seniors): 75

Mid-50% SAT Score: 1140-1410

Mid-50% ACT Score: 25-32

College Admissions Highlights:

From 2020-2022, multiple grads have matriculated into Barnard, Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Harvard, NYU, Northwestern, Pomona, Princeton, Rice, Tufts, Notre Dame, Penn, UVA, Vanderbilt, and Wake Forest.

Academic Highlights:

• 81% of AP test-takers scored a 3 or better.
• The average weighted GPA for a member of the Class of 2023 was 3.77..
• 9:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
• 43% of faculty possess master’s degrees and 9% hold doctorates.
• The average faculty member has been teaching for 20 years.

10) Alcuin School

Location: 6144 Churchill Way

Tuition (9-12): $36,591

Enrollment (Pre-K-12): 575

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

Class of 2022 college acceptances included Amherst, Barnard, Claremont McKenna, Columbia, Cornell, Emory, Macalester, NYU, Swarthmore, UChicago, Notre Dame, USC, UT Austin, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and Wesleyan.

Academic Highlights:

• 51 staff members possess advanced degrees.
• Alcuin offers the full IB Programme.
• The Alcuin Edge Internship Program connects students to hands-on learning opportunities in their field of interest.
• $250,000 in college scholarships were offered to the Class of 2022.
• The language program includes Mandarin.

Best Private Schools in Dallas – Additional Resources

We hope you found our blog on private schools in Dallas to be helpful. All high school students and families may wish to explore further information regarding the college search and admissions process at our Dataverse, Blog, and List-Building Tool.