Bachman Lake — a little bit smelly, a little noisy, and sometimes a little sketchy — is home to the Dallas Rowing Club and several private schools’ rowing teams. On Saturday, the annual Bachman Shootout Regatta will be held at the lake! Hockaday, ESD, St. Mark’s, Ursuline, and many others will journey to my favorite artificial lake to race their little hearts out. As a member of the Hockaday crew team, I can assure you this will be one very exciting regatta! Everyone should come out and support a school, or possibly just feel a little fancier than normal.

March Madness is an exciting time to follow college basketball, but it’s even more fun when you can cheer on a hometown hero. While last year’s NCAA tournament featured a handful of local legends, this year’s has only one: ESD grad Phil Pressey, who is a dominant force for the No. 2 seed in the south, Missouri. h/t Dallas Morning News.

The Episcopal School of Dallas is hosting two town-hall-style meetings for alumni to weigh in on the selection of a new headmaster. The first such meeting will be held at 6 p.m. tomorrow in the Zachary Bell theater at the Upper School campus, 4100 Merrell Road.

The meeting will be a guided discussion based on the following questions:

1. What do you see as the strengths of our school?

2. What key aspects of ESD should be considered “non-negotiable”?

3. What makes ESD unique?

4. What are the challenges and priorities to be addressed by the new Head of School going forward?

5. What are the most important experiences, qualities, practices, and values of the individual we are seeking as our next Head of School?

A second meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. March 20.

Making reservations might get tricky tonight, thanks to the surplus of well-dressed teen couples that will be filling the seats at your favorite restaurants. Greenhill, ESD, and Hockaday are each hosting their annual Sadie Hawkins Dance tonight. The Sadie Hawkins Dance is a reverse prom, where the girls ask the guys to be their dates. The typical night starts with a photo op filled with camera-eager parents, followed by a fancy dinner and the actual dance. The night often ends with an after party.

Father Stephen Swann, who announced his own retirement on Dec. 20, sent an email to ESD parents late Tuesday stating that chief academic officer Rebecca Royall was retiring for health reasons. Royall has worked at ESD since 1977. Her duties will be absorbed by upper school head Erin Mayo, who has been at ESD for five years.

Royall, Mayo, and Swann were the three administrators who claimed responsibility for forcing Jane Doe II to withdraw from the school two months after it was discovered she was in a sexual relationship with teacher J. Nathan Campbell. In September, a jury found the school liable for gross negligence and fraud for how it handled the student’s exit and awarded the family $9.2 million.

For more on this development, pick up the Jan. 6 edition of Preston Hollow People or subscribe today.

January 3 ESD Parent Letter