Age 3 through 6th Grade
Mission & Philosophy
Community School fosters the intellectual, emotional, and creative growth of young children and encourages their development as the leaders of the next generation.
Our Mission Statement
Nurturing the Gifts of Mind, Body, and Spirit
Our Promises
Engaged Learning in an Environment of Love and Trust
We welcome children in a joyful environment of active, experiential learning rooted in their individual development and dedicated to academic excellence. We are a nurturing safe haven where young minds can make sense of the world as they move between the known and unknown, accompanied by trusted adults who cherish and support them.
An Education Based on Exploration
We believe the world is to be explored, examined, and enjoyed. Community’s approach reaches beyond rote learning, encouraging students to search for the hidden, uncover what gives meaning, and discover what differentiates and unites. Our private elementary school campus in Ladue, MO provides a perfect environment for the early exploration of a child’s world and the development of an appreciation for the concepts underpinning our STEAM philosophy.
Read about our steam philosophy
A Deeply Personal Approach to Learning, Tailored to the Individual Child
From our school’s very inception we have held closely to the belief that each student is an individual with individual differences and an inherent right to develop those differences. Our master teachers focus on individual children, meeting them exactly where they are to chart a path forward in understanding. We personalize our curriculum for every student, making adjustments throughout the school year as the child advances.
Cultivating a Lifelong Love of Learning
At Community School, we hold that education is not an aggregation of knowledge, but a way of observing the world. Our students dig deep into subjects, investigating ideas and the people and cultures that are inspired by them.
Our graduates emerge well equipped to succeed in the very best secondary schools and in life, not because they have amassed data, but because they have fallen in love with the joy of learning.
Our graduates emerge well equipped to succeed in the very best secondary schools and in life, not because they have amassed data, but because they have fallen in love with the joy of learning.
Our Guiding Principles
Our story began in 1914 with a group of intelligent, idealistic women, who have gone down in the school's history as "the Founding Mothers." The Founding Mothers had a dream of a more educationally progressive school than what existed at that time in St. Louis. They felt that the "rigid, formal approach" to education could and should be changed into an exciting adventure where wonder leads. They wrote the ten Guiding Principles that Community School has embodied for over 100 years.
