Wisdom | Excellence | Joy
Our Story
Who Was Saint Augustine?
Born in 354 AD in North Africa, Augustine lived during a time of great political upheaval in the Roman Empire. As a student in the Roman tradition, Augustine received training in what we call the liberal arts, with a strong focus on rhetoric, or oratory. Augustine recalls his desire for wisdom first kindled in the reading of a work by Cicero. Over many years, this desire led him to the source of all wisdom and truth–the person and work of Jesus Christ. Augustine spent the rest of his life valiantly defending Christianity and shepherding the people of God
Augustine spoke deeply on a vast number of topics, but he gives much attention to education. For Augustine, the purpose of education is set within the broader purpose of life–to attain happiness. One ultimately attains this happiness through the knowledge and enjoyment of God himself and education enlightens a man’s mind to properly discern the truth of God. Thus, Augustine’s educator strives to produce individuals with rightly ordered souls through the work of acquiring a rightly ordered knowledge of things.
As one of the most important fathers of the church, Augustine sought God’s truth above all else, shaped his loves after God’s ways, and spoke God’s word with clarity and eloquence. Likewise, in our modern era of confusion and despair, we at Saint Augustine School are forming students who seek God’s truth, love God’s truth, and speak God’s truth to a generation longing for happiness that cannot be found outside of God himself.
A Brief History of Saint Augustine School
Once upon a time – and not that long ago – a group of families joined together to form a new educational option for their children. The desires that led them to invest in the hard work of making something new were two-fold. They labored so that they might know and disciple their children more fully than traditional school options allowed – and so that those children would be steeped in the wisdom of the ages, learning to love God’s truth, goodness, and beauty.
In early 2013 Saint Augustine School was born, and in August of 2014 she welcomed her first students. There were fifty-six of them, and they ranged from four years old to sixth grade. Two days a week, they climbed two flights of stairs in an old building in the heart of Jackson. The next year, the school moved to its current location on Highland Colony Parkway, and the new seventh graders began coming three days a week.
Over the first decade of her existence, Saint Augustine School has seen the Lord’s abundant blessings upon her. She has grown to a school of 320 students in K4 through 12th grade and more than 60 faculty from across professional disciplines. Those first sixth graders graduated in the spring of 2021 and headed off equipped with the desire and capability to continue their learning through all their days. All together, we are worshipping in more than 30 local churches and bringing to our place their many strengths and talents. We have expanded our offerings to include a robust athletics program, winning multiple state championships across four varsity sports. Our community is warm and engaged, enjoying one another on the flag football field, in the classroom, and around each other’s dinner tables.
In 2023, we installed our second Head of School, Ann Lowrey Forster. She is working with our entire team to grow Saint Augustine’s depth and breadth for our second decade and beyond. We are grateful to the Lord for his faithful care, and we look forward to what He will do among us next. Whatever that may be, we will give thanks – for it is He who is building it, not we ourselves. And we also know we will laugh, because life is full of joy and it is a privilege to be here together.
