Why St. Edmund's
Welcome to St. Edmund’s Academy! As the materials posted on this website will make clear, we are a vibrant, child-centered community which focuses on early elementary and early adolescent education. Our mission for education is broad: we believe in our Core Values; we believe that learning takes place in the classroom, in the studio, in Chapel, on the playing fields and at home; we believe that a focused elementary and middle school experience is the best beginning to a long and successful academic career. Throughout our history, we have believed in a strong partnership between home and school, and we work together with one goal in mind: what is best for your child. Our commitment to diversity is not a politically correct contingency, but vital to our essential culture and foremost in our Core Values. Because of our PreKindergarten through Eighth Grade structure, we are experts in these crucial formative years where, if we do our work well, the benefits will last a lifetime.
Please take a few moments and browse through our website and then visit us on Darlington Road to sense what words cannot express: the community of St. Edmund’s Academy.
Susan Miller
Associate Head of School
Mission
“St. Edmund's Academy provides an exceptional independent school experience for PreKindergarten through Eighth grade students combining rigorous academic curriculum with enduring core values and rich tradition in a nurturing environment.”
Philosophy Statement
St. Edmund's Academy is a coeducational day school enrolling students in PreKindergarten through the Eighth Grade. With historic roots in the Episcopal tradition, the school welcomes families from all faiths and backgrounds. Character formation and intellectual preparation are woven into the experiences of the students on a daily basis. The school is both challenging and nurturing, as it seeks to provide each child with an academic, emotional, social, physical, and spiritual foundation upon which to grow. Within the context of a traditional core curriculum that incorporates a wide variety of teaching strategies, students become genuinely involved in their own education. Students leave St. Edmund’s Academy well-prepared for secondary schools and for serving as contributing and productive members of a broader community.
Core Values
A St. Edmund’s Academy education is best understood through its six core values, which are woven into the daily life of the school. These values articulate the high expectations of St. Edmund’s Academy students and help build a strong sense of self for its students.
- Understanding and appreciating the differences among people
- The worthiness of service to others
- Respect for the needs and feelings of others
- The importance of taking responsibility for one’s own conduct
- The value of setting high standards in all endeavors
- The central role of honesty in relationships
History
St. Edmund’s Academy was founded in 1947 by a group of mothers and the Church of the Ascension. In 1952 Pauline Seeley Mudge, widow of Edmund W. Mudge, Pittsburgh industrialist and civic leader, donated land adjacent to the Church of the Redeemer, which became the new home of the school. The school was named in honor of Edmund Mudge and the boy king of East Anglia in the 10th century. What began as an Episcopal school for boys evolved into a co-educational school for all faiths, united by the core values of the school.
PreK – 8th Grade
St. Edmund’s Academy’s PreK through Grade 8 program has many benefits, starting with the social interaction among its students. We believe—and research shows—that it’s good for younger students to have older role models in the building every day to help them grasp the purpose and progression of their education. Upper School students, meanwhile, experience being leaders with special opportunities and a sense of accountability.
Research also demonstrates that eighth graders in PreK through 8 schools post
higher test scores, display higher grades in ninth grade, and are less likely
to succumb to negative peer pressure. This doesn’t surprise us. Our faculty
and administrators, trained in child development and elementary/middle school
education, form strong bonds with our students. Those relationships help drive
home to our students that their ideas and actions matter.
The limited scope of a PreK through 8 school also helps supports a warm community
atmosphere with plenty of parent involvement.
Commitment to Diversity
St. Edmund’s Academy believes that diversity is an educational imperative. Our educational mission is to promote personal growth in the areas of social interaction, self-awareness and self-confidence, and respect for others in the community of which the school is a part. We will accomplish our educational mission by enabling students to understand, respect and celebrate differences while recognizing our common goals of character formation and intellectual preparation.
We believe that diversity provides richness and meaning, not merely difference. Our race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, culture, intellect, family structure, physical ability and social economic circumstances help define us as individuals. Students, parents, faculty, and administrators, all of whom bring different backgrounds, perspectives and talents to St. Edmund’s Academy, contribute to a varied and comprehensive learning experience. We are committed to increasing diversity among students, faculty and administration. St. Edmund’s Academy actively seeks ways to promote understanding and appreciation of diversity and to honor the contributions of all peoples.
Chapel
The weekly, 45-minute service, held in the adjacent Church of the Redeemer, is a cherished school tradition. With song, a talk from the Chaplain, and a celebration of the many ways that the students demonstrate the school’s core values, it’s a warm and meaningful gathering of the school community. Parents and friends of all faiths are welcome. Students needn’t participate in any parts of the service that differ from their own beliefs.
(Adopted by the St. Edmund’s Academy Board of Directors: June 2000)