HIES was founded by Innocents' Episcopal Church, and our Episcopal identity remains an important part of life at The 805. It's fitting that the celebrations of our 65th Founders' Day have overlapped with Episcopal Schools Week, a time when we honor what it means to be a parish school and live out our mission of loving and serving. Here are just some of the ways we celebrated this special week and our longstanding relationship with Holy Innocents' Episcopal Church.

The week began with a meaningful Episcopal School Sunday service at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church. Many Golden Bears participated in the service by serving as acolytes, readers and musicians. The Rev. Dr. Stefanie Taylor gave the message, and Mr. Barton unveiled a portrait of Fr. Hugh Saussy who was rector at HIEC during the founding of the school. This was a special ceremony where school administration, students, families, our chaplaincy team, faculty and staff all worshipped with our church family. What a way to kick off 65 years!

The fun continued throughout the week with our Founders' Day Quad party on Monday, and special visits from the beloved Father John Porter, retired Episcopal priest and former HIES faculty member. On Wednesday, students donned their favorite liturgical colors: white for celebration, purple for repentance, blue for hope, green for growth, red for the Holy Spirit or rose pink for joy. The community also enjoyed a special exhibit in the Humanities Gallery about the history of the church and school.

Students have also been giving back to the community with divisional service projects. Primary School students have been collecting breakfast items for Solidarity Sandy Springs, helping those facing food insecurity get the "Best Start" to their day. Our Lower School, Middle School and Upper School students have brought in food and personal items that will be donated to Malachi's Storehouse, a food pantry ministry of St. Patrick's Episcopal Church. We're proud of the way our students represented Holy Innocents' this week!