Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal School is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

for students aged 2 through

8th grade Eighth grade (or grade eight in some regions) is the eighth post-kindergarten year of formal education in the US. The eighth grade is the ninth school year, the second, third, fourth, or final year of middle school, or the second and/or final ye ...

History

Located in the historic Central Gardens neighborhood in

Midtown, Memphis Midtown Memphis, Tennessee is a collection of neighborhoods to the east of Downtown. Midtown is home to many cultural attractions, institutions of higher education, and noteworthy pieces of architecture. The district is an anchor in Memphis' arts ...

, Grace-St. Luke's (GSL), was founded in 1947. The school's early origins date back to 1919, when Bartow B. Ramage,

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of St. Luke's Church began a

parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...

for the neighborhood. His daughter Ethel Ramage would join as a teacher in 1923 after graduating from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, but closed the school in 1924 upon his retirement. It remained closed until 1947, when Mrs. S. Griffin Walker, who had taught

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

at St. Mary's School, asked Grace-St. Luke's rector Rev. Charles Stuart Hale for space to open a kindergarten. He agreed, and thus began a kindergarten in the basement of the

parish house A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

. Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal Day School began in earnest in 1959 when a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

was issued and the first

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drive began. At that time, the school offered Kindergarten through 6th grade. School leaders broke ground for a new day school building on November 30, 1959.Viser, Barbara M. (1990). ''Grace-St. Luke’s, The First Fifty Years''. Published by Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Library of Congress Catalog Number 90-083968 The original Day School Building was dedicated in May 1960 by Tennessee's Episcopal Bishop Theodore Barth. Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal School continued to grow. Improvements were made, and new buildings were eventually added, including Morton Hall Activities Building (and gymnasium), in 1970, Bratton Hall in 1974, which enabled the addition of 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. But due to continuing space and program needs that were not possible to meet, given the physical location of the school, high school grades were discontinued by 1979 to better focus on educational and leadership opportunities for the Lower and

Middle School A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

students. GSL went on to acquire additional properties (Snowden Athletic Field in 1984 and Miss Lee's

Preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

in 1986). In the early 1990s, Grace-St. Luke's opened the Evans Building, which links the church and school administrative offices to the Middle School and gymnasium. In 2010, the school completed its first major new construction in 20 years, and opened the Anchor Center, a multipurpose building designed to ensure the school's

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, and allow capacity for future growth. It houses a gymnasium, cafeteria, library, light-filled arts and music rooms, after school care space, and Middle School science labs. Grace-St. Luke's School serves about 450 students from age 2 through eighth grade. It is accredited by the

Southern Association of Independent Schools {{Cleanup-spam, date=April 2011 The Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) is a U.S.-based voluntary organization of more than 380 independent elementary and secondary schools through the South, representing more than 220,000 students. ...

, and a number of other regional and national educational organizations. The school celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2022.Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal School website
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References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.gslschool.org/ Schools in Memphis, Tennessee Educational institutions established in 1947 Episcopal Church in Tennessee Episcopal schools in the United States Private elementary schools in Tennessee Private middle schools in Tennessee Private K–8 schools in the United States 1947 establishments in Tennessee