Company Profile
Episcopal Day School
Company Overview
First and foremost, Episcopal Day School is a community of care. Our mission to nurture the hearts and minds of our students manifests daily– in the tenderness of a teacher’s interactions with a student, in the morning prayers recited by a student, in the special moments an older student interacts with a younger one, in the times of significant need, and in the small expressions of love and concern that happen every day. There is a sweetness to our community.
Episcopal Day School is also a school committed to living its mission to prepare students to lead lives of purpose, integrity, and impact. We want our students to understand their place in God’s world, develop a heart for others, and have the skills to make a difference. We work with intention to lay the foundations for learning, faith, service, character, and leadership and equip our students to make a difference. Our faith-filled community and our academic strength have been the leading reasons our families choose us.
Enthusiasm for the school and among parents, faculty, and students is palatable and stems from a number of efforts in recent years.
The addition of the Flowing Wells campus (50 acres on a separate campus opened in 2019) has opened new opportunities for nature-based learning and athletic participation. The Flowing Wells campus includes a synthetic turf football/soccer field and a baseball complex, as well as 30 acres of natural areas for student exploration. The Nature School now enrolls nearly 50 students in pre-kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First Grade, and they spend 80%-90% of their school day outside. Our Walton Way students have planned activities on the Flowing Wells campus every other week– exploring, conducting experiments, creating art, and working with literature. Our emphasis on nature-based learning opportunities serves as a differentiator in the market, and we continue to lean into those experiences– continually working to refine and add to them while remaining rooted in our Episcopal Identity.
Building on this momentum, the school has undertaken a number of school improvement initiatives in the last two years, including strengthening faculty salaries, expanding professional development opportunities, implementing research-based methods and curricula, and updating and enhancing facilities on both campuses.
Facilities Investments: The school has invested over $2.6 million in its facilities over the last two years to update and freshen spaces and infrastructure. Over $1,000,000 has been raised towards these facilities enhancements in the last two years. Moving forward, the school is poised to launch a modest capital campaign of $2,000,000 for additional projects on our Walton Way Campus to be completed in the next 18-24 months.
Faculty Investments: The Board understands that the faculty is the strength of the school and has dedicated considerable resources to increase salaries, improve benefits, provide funding for extensive professional development, and ensure that we are attracting and retaining talented and dedicated staff. The results speak for themselves as faculty morale is high, their talent is evident, and their care of children is unmatched.
Curricular Investments: The school leadership and faculty have taken on a number of new curricula and approaches– Singapore Math PK-7th, Language Arts from PK-8th, Science K-8th, Orton-Gillingham methods for reading instruction, Developmental Designs for Middle School for student culture, and enhanced programming around our use of the Flowing Wells property. Along with these new programs, the school has provided both personnel and training to support the work of the teachers. The impact of these programs is readily apparent and continues to increase.
Not surprisingly, this enthusiasm and these efforts have led to enrollment increases of 8.5% and 10% in the last two years. The increase for the 2024-25 school year was the largest in the last 20 years. Financial and volunteer support for the school adds to the vibrancy and positive spirit around campus. It is a great time to be a part of this special community.
Company History
Episcopal Day School was founded in 1944 by the Church of the Good Shepherd as a Christian kindergarten and childcare resource for Augusta mothers working in the war effort. In 1962, EDS was the first area school to integrate a decade before court-ordered desegregation. From 1972 to 1988, EDS offered prekindergarten through seventh grades. In 1988, a Middle School was established with the addition of an eighth grade.
Today, as a co-educational day school, EDS serves three-year-olds through eighth grade. Its goal is to provide an excellent education, within a Christian environment, that will help students to be academically prepared, intellectually curious, socially responsible, and spiritually aware as they enter high school.
Our beautiful Walton Way campus is as familiar to many Augustans as the Church of the Good Shepherd, whose grounds and values we share.