OUR MISSION

We are a Christian day school that is a ministry of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. We promote a safe, loving, caring and supportive environment for each individual child, and we strive to have our parents, teachers, staff, and community members actively involved in our students’ learning. We stress the total development of each child: spiritual, intellectual, social, emotional, and physical.

OUR HISTORY

St. Luke’s Weekday Kindergarten was established in 1954. Kate Finn, a graduate of Normal State Teacher’s College was the founding director. Since few public school kindergartens were available the school was organized as a community service of the church. After the first year of operation, three and four year classes were added. All the classes met in rooms under the church sanctuary.

Originally, the school was staffed by members of St. Luke’s Church. In 1961 they moved into St. Luke’s new education building. At that time the school had three large classes of kindergarten students. Additional classes of pre-kindergarten students were added later.

By 1978, families with two parents working outside the home needed quality aftercare for their children. Day Care/Extended Care programs were added. The name of the school was changed to St. Luke’s Day School. As the number of classes grew, additional staffing was required. Many of the afternoon positions were staffed by education majors from the University of Memphis. The fall of 1994 brought additional change. The Tennessee State Board of Education mandated that a child entering the first grade of public school must have attended an accredited kindergarten program. St. Luke’s quickly obtained accreditation. In 2004 St. Luke’s Day School celebrated Fifty Years of dedication to early childhood education.