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History of All Saints’ Episcopal Day School
A Message from the Head of School
About the School
Classes and Times
How to Apply
Tuition Downloads
Application Download
2008-2009 Calendar
Birthday Book Program
One Big Family Form Download
Parent Signature Page for Handbook Download
Early, Late Care Registration
2008 Enrichment Registration
Sweetish Hill Lunches

HISTORY OF ALL SAINTS' EPISCOPAL DAY SCHOOL

St. Margaret’s Guild was organized in the fall of 1939 at All Saints’ Episcopal Chapel to interest young mothers of the parish in the spiritual welfare of their children. These ladies first focused on Sunday school and then in the fall of 1945 they met at the home of the rector and after much discussion, adopted as their major objective the establishment of a nursery day school. They contacted faculty members of the University of Texas, people in the community who were known for their knowledge of work with preschool children, and national association resources. Over a period of six months of thorough investigation, the founders prepared to establish a nursery school unit of twenty students.

In January 1946, a Board of Trustees was elected by the members of the All Saints’ Parish at its annual meeting. The Board of Trustees was charged with the administration and policy making of the School. Financial obligations for the founding and operation of the School were undertaken by St. Margaret’s Guild. The School was separately incorporated as a non-profit educational institution, and, in the beginning, tuition payments were spent exclusively on Faculty salaries and operating expenses. Permanent improvements and equipment were supplied by the Guild. The School opened with a short session, March through May of 1946. In the fall of 1946 the first full semester of school began with two nursery units of ten students each.

According to William James Battle, author of The Story of All Saints’ Chapel Austin, Texas 1900 – 1950, “The school prospered from the start, due to the enthusiasm and sound sense of the Guild leaders.” In 1947, the Vestry of the Chapel approved the expansion of the School’s program to include a Kindergarten and First Grade. It was not long before parents were interested in their children continuing with an Episcopal school education, and so St. David’s Episcopal Church and Good Shepherd Episcopal Church joined All Saints’ Episcopal Church in the formation of a new lower school in 1952, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. Also in 1952, the Guild that had been instrumental in establishing the School was dissolved, and the School then became a ministry of All Saints’ Church. The fall of 1955 saw the fulfillment of a dream when the School moved into a space designed especially for preschool children in the beautiful new Gregg House.

Five women and two men are listed on the School’s Charter. Eleanor Gammon and Elinor Doty are two of the women listed on the charter; they are also founders and are still parishioners of All Saints’ Episcopal Church. Mrs. Gammon’s great granddaughter, Evelyn Berry, is currently a student in the School’s Pre-KI class. Evelyn’s grandmother (Eleanor) and her father (Matt) also attended All Saints’ Episcopal Day School. Another founder was JA Eidson McKay. Mrs. McKay’s great granddaughter Jali is also a Pre-KI student and Jali’s sister Gabbie attended the School.

The School was the first stand-alone preschool to be accredited by the Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools (SAES) and was also the first preschool to be awarded the Ken Bastian Award from SAES for outstanding community service.

The School is mission-driven and culturally sensitive. The essentials of the Christian faith are accurately and authentically taught at Chapel services and other programs and lived out at the School. That is not easy to accomplish when trying to be respectful, inclusive and mindful of encouraging diversity.

Perhaps the reason the Church and School have continued to have an outstanding relationship for 60 years is because the School has remained true to the mission that its founders saw for it when it opened in 1946. The culture of the School community has trusted that changes were carefully studied before being implemented and were done for the benefit of all students, not just for individual ones. As a result, the Parishioners and School Parents have offered the School a kind of support that is not often seen.

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A MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

We are building a house. It has been fascinating to watch the workers prepare the site for the foundation; rough in the electrical and plumbing; pour the concrete; frame the walls; and weather in the structure. Because we designed the house specifically for our needs, have chosen everything from door knobs to wall colors, and have seen the progress on a regular basis, we are confident of what it will look like when finished.

When I was pregnant, I had a vision of how my child might look based on the physical characteristics of my family and Jerry’s family. Yes, Marcus has blue eyes, and if he lets his hair grow long it does curl, but the red hair we thought he had inherited from my dad gradually turned to light brown. Unlike a home, it’s harder to predict what our children will be like inside. What I do know though is that whether it be a home or a child, what is visible to the eye is not nearly as important as the strength of the foundation on which both sit.

When I visit with parents looking at the Day School for their children, I am often asked how our school compares to others, both public and private. I can only tell them what I know about who we are. We are a community of faith small enough to have an intimate relationship with our families; we laugh and cry together, and in private and public offer each other support through actions and prayer. Teachers and Assistants serve as educational guides here – they prepare the environment so that it provides stimulating learning experiences for our students. They observe students closely to determine what the students understand while continually posing additional challenges to push their thinking further. We delight in reporting and celebrating a child’s success, but are also honest enough to lovingly discuss concerns we have about a child’s behavior or learning style. Community service projects are not seasonal; our young students embrace the belief that it is important to love one another at all times. This is truly a safe place for children to learn, acquire a real understanding of give-and-take, and grow into the person that God created them to be. This school is as close to home as your child will probably find. And, of all the things you could give your child, few are as valuable as they time they will spend here.

My prayer for us in this season of light is that we will work together, shoulder to shoulder, to support the School’s mission of encouraging the development of the whole child. And if we do, the foundation and framework that makes “our” children who they are as individuals will support them in the future through their most difficult emotional and intellectual challenges and greatest temptations.

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ABOUT THE SCHOOL

MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of All Saints’ Episcopal School is to encourage spiritual, intellectual, emotional, physical, and social development in children through a nurturing and guiding relationship with teachers and family, and to provide a developmentally balanced curriculum that fosters a love of learning and the teaching of Christian values and traditions.

SCHOOL
All Saints’ Episcopal Day School is an excellent institution that has been serving the community in Austin since 1946. It is one of the oldest established preschools in Austin, and enjoys a reputation based on its years of fine service educating young children. It maintains that superior reputation by continuing to emphasize the “whole” child. It offers many desirable things that other preschools do not, such as a Kindergarten program, Spanish instruction, a before and after school program, a nutritious hot lunch, and after school enrichment classes in cooking, art, science and drama.

The School was the first stand-alone preschool to be accredited by the Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools (SAES). This important external review helps All Saints’ stay focused on continually improving itself. The School was also the first preschool to be awarded the Ken Bastian Award from SAES for outstanding community service.

As a mission of All Saints’ Episcopal Church, it enjoys many perquisites, such as the use of the Church and the involvement of the Director of Religious Education and the Rector. The unique location of the School encourages use of resources at the University of Texas. It has a talented, involved parent base, and children leave the School ready and eager for the elementary years ahead.

PROGRAM
At All Saints’, the curriculum development and implementation are guided by the knowledge that children learn by active exploration. Teachers work to create an environment with stimulating, challenging materials and activities. Knowing that free choice and play are essential components in early childhood learning, each classroom has several “centers” and activities daily, and students have opportunities to move among them. Within these environments, students direct their own activities, while the teachers pose additional challenges to facilitate more complex behavior and to push the individual’s thinking even further.

The School’s program also includes Spanish, Movement, Music and Library. With each special subject, the emphasis is not on formal instruction but rather on active, creative participation. All Saints’ tailors such subjects so that the content is delivered without ideas of achievement or failure, but rather on the enjoyment of learning something new.

The student-centered teaching focuses not just on content areas, but on educating the whole child. Teachers incorporate emotional development and socialization into their planning and instruction, and work hard to foster self-esteem, confidence, empathic behavior and peaceful conflict resolution. In Chapel, spirituality is encouraged in joyful, age-appropriate ways.

GOVERNANCE
The Board of Trustees, Head of School and Church all seek to work in the best interests of the students by providing the necessary leadership, vision and management to run the School well. Each Board position is a three-year term. The Board is committed to following the by-laws to insure their proper role as “governors,” avoiding micro management of responsibilities best left to the administration. This gives the Head the freedom to exercise his/her expertise, with the Board providing a supportive bulwark. The Board evaluates itself annually to insure efficacy and balance.

FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENT
All Saints’ enjoys two great blessings in relation to its finances and development: the Church provides our physical plant at little cost and our parents provide the economic resources to sustain and enhance the School. The Church’s support and the parents’ contributions allow the School to fulfill its mission of providing for the development of the whole child in a Christian environment.

The Board of Trustees, together with the Head, is responsible for the creation and adoption of an annual budget that insures the funds necessary to achieve the School’s mission. Income comes from two principle sources, namely tuition payments and the Annual Fund. The Head, Treasurer, Finance Committee, and bookkeeper oversee the funds available to the School. To enhance its stewardship of the School’s resources, annual audits are conducted by accounting professionals.

FACULTY
All Saints’ Episcopal Day School has long prided itself on having the highest quality Faculty and Staff. Each class is staffed with an experienced, qualified and caring assistant as well as a capable, full time assistant. By hiring skilled Assistants, the School is able to provide a low student/teacher ratio during directed activities as well as more opportunities for small group instruction. All classes also benefit from a part-time Librarian who manages the School’s growing Library and provides support to the Teachers in their reading programs. The School seeks to provide a climate in which members of the Faculty are not only appreciated for who they are, but also encouraged and supported in whom they are becoming.

ADMINISTRATION
The quality of a school is dependent on the quality of the professionals hired to lead the school. The School is committed to retaining a Head who has vision, leadership ability and strong educational and administrative skills. In addition, All Saints’ strives to build on a tradition of recruiting and retaining a caring and highly qualified Faculty to help the Head implement the Mission of the School and maintain its accreditation.

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CLASSES AND TIMES

Download the Classes and Times here.

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HOW TO APPLY

Application: The application form should be completed and returned to the School Office. Parents may apply for admission of their children at any time.

Admissions Fee: A non-refundable fee of $75 must accompany each application.

Financial Assistance: All Saints’ offers a limited amount of financial assistance for partial tuition. Please indicate on the application if you want to be considered for such assistance.

Immunizations: Each child is required to have a Statement of Good Health and an updated record of immunizations from a physician or health personnel on file in the School before the school year begins. Any child whose parent is unable to produce an immunization card by the first day of school will not be allowed to enter school until such a card arrives, by order of the Department of Family and Protective Services of the State of Texas. In compliance with state law, All Saints’ requires a vision and hearing screening for all students who are four years old or older or, are entering the Day School for the first time.

Waiting Pool: Should there be more applicants than space available, the School forms a Waiting Pool. The following “priorities” will be used in admitting students from the Waiting Pool:

Students already in attendance during the regular August – May school year will have first priority.
Siblings of active students will be given second priority.
Children of active communicants of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas will be given third priority.
Children whose families have been closely involved with the Day School will be given fourth priority.
When everything else is equal, the application with the earliest date will be given fifth priority.

Enrollment Contract: Students have been enrolled only when the Contract has been signed by the financially responsible parties and the School. No tuition is refunded and it is understood that the financially responsible party assumes responsibility for the entire year. If for any reason the student must be withdrawn from the School, a letter to that effect should be sent to the Director as soon as possible. If the vacancy can be filled, the financially responsible party will not be obligated to pay for the remainder of the year.

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