History

A school bus rests on a tranquil North Campus in the late afternoon.

The idea of a small, coeducational, independent day school in the Jackson area was first conceived by Sherwood Wise, a young naval officer returning to Jackson with his wife and family after World War II. Mr. Wise sought a school where students could achieve academic excellence through individual attention while benefiting from a Christian environment. It was determined that affiliation with the Episcopal Church, whose historical commitment is to an ecumenical theology deeply respectful of the faith of others, would guarantee fairness and openness essential to intellectual excellence. At the same time, such an affiliation would provide the rock-solid foundation of religious and moral teachings, which would assure the school stable and continuous Christian values.

Dr. Vincent C. Franks, new Rector of St. Andrew's Church, immediately embraced the idea of a day school. Mr. Wise, Dr. Franks and Reynolds Cheney obtained a charter of incorporation, and on September 8, 1947, St. Andrew's Episcopal Day School opened in the Parish Hall to 45 students in grades 1 through 4. Mrs. Adele Franks, wife of the new Rector, was the first headmistress. Ideally suited to organize and lead the School, she devised its curriculum, sought out distinguished faculty members and with the founding trustees gave the school its direction and purpose. Under Mrs. Franks' inspiring leadership, the School's academic reputation and enrollment grew steadily. After grades 5 and 6 were added, the School found more spacious accommodations in the stately old Marcellus Green home on North State Street. In 1955, St. Andrew's was chosen "model school" from the hundreds of Episcopal day schools throughout the nation.

Mrs. Franks retired in 1958, but the School's growth continued. After grades 7 and 8 were added, the School acquired a new site at the intersection of Old Canton Road and Meadowbrook Road. In 1966, the School, now including kindergarten through grade 9, moved into its new building, described in the local newspaper as "an architectural and education wonderland."

The 1960s saw many changes, as painful and emotional racial tensions engulfed the South and the city of Jackson, The Church of St. Andrew, now the Cathedral Church of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, took an active role in advocating racial justice and reconciliation. In 1967, the first black student who applied was admitted to St. Andrew's Day School. No qualified black applicant has ever been turned away, and today 14 percent of the student body is composed of minorities.

In the early 1970s, grades 10, 11, and 12 were added, and the first class of seniors graduated in 1974. By 1980, despite the addition of new middle and upper school buildings, St. Andrew's had once again outgrown its home. In 1983, 74 acres of land along the historic Natchez Trace Parkway were purchased, and a building program was begun. The first two phases of that program have been completed with the construction of an observatory, playing fields and buildings housing the Upper School, Middle School, commons, gymnasium, resource center and administration.