St. George's Independent School (SGIS) is a co-educational private school in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

affiliated with the Episcopal Church. Founded in 1959, it educates students from pre-kindergarten (PK) until grade 12 and has three campuses in the

Memphis metropolitan area The Memphis–Clarksdale–Forrest City Combined Statistical Area, TN–MS–AR (CSA) is the commercial and cultural hub of the Mid-South or Ark-Miss-Tenn. The census-defined combined statistical area covers eleven counties in three states, Tenne ...

History

In 1959, St. George's Episcopal Church started a day school in Germantown with 19 students and two teachers in its rectory. In 1979, the parish and the school moved to new facilities on Poplar Avenue. The school expanded during the 1990s and began raising funds for the acquisition and construction of a Middle and Upper School (grades 6-12)in Collierville Around the same time, a group of anonymous donors expressed interest in supporting a second elementary school in Memphis for grades PK-5, for families interested in a private school education, but for whom tuition may be out of reach. As a parish school, the school and parish church shared funds and property. In the case of St. George's, there were concerns the lines were blurred, and the school and church decided to legally separate. The Poplar Avenue site was sold to the school and the parish church moved to another location. In 2004, the school name was changed to "St. George's Independent School" to reflect this change of status. The school administration and board of trustees wished to maintain the Episcopal identity despite not having any legal ties with a parish or the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

. The diocese allowed St. George's continue using the Book of Common Prayer and the school continued to have an unofficial affiliation. In 2016, St. George's officially reaffirmed its status as an Episcopal school.

Organizational structure and campuses

St. George's has four divisions: Early Childhood (grades PK-1), Elementary (grades 2-5), Middle School (grades 6-8), and Upper School (grades 9-12). It also runs "Little Georgies" Infant and Early Learning program for children aged 6 weeks to 2 years at the Lower School campus in Germantown. From 2001 to 2025, St. George's operated two lower school campuses, the original day school campus in Germantown and another campus in Memphis. In February 2025, the St. George's Board of Trustees announced the two lower school campuses will unite on one campus in Germantown, starting with the 2025-2026 school year. The Middle and Upper School is located in Collierville.

Athletics

St. George's competes in the Division II-A (71 Teams 6th-12th grade), West Region A of the

Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA), along with the affiliated Tennessee Middle School Athletic Association (TMSAA), is an organization which administers junior and senior high school sporting events in Tennessee. The TSSAA ...

(TSSAA).

References

External Links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's Independent School Educational institutions established in 1959 Schools in Shelby County, Tennessee Schools in Memphis, Tennessee Private K–12 schools in Tennessee Preparatory schools in Tennessee Collierville, Tennessee Germantown, Tennessee 1959 establishments in Tennessee Episcopal schools in the United States