Thomas Jefferson School (TJ) is a small, coed boarding and day school for students in grades 7-12. We are an intellectual greenhouse for high-ability students who crave a challenging liberal-arts program and the support of a close-knit, international community. TJ is consistently ranked among the top boarding schools in the nation and last year was rated by Niche as the most diverse private school in Missouri. Please learn more about our school by visiting www.tjs.org and referring to our Statement of Philosophy.

Our mission: Thomas Jefferson School gives its students the strongest possible academic background through a classical education. Within a nurturing community, students develop a responsibility for their own learning and a desire to lift up the world with beauty and intellect.

A new statement will be enacted during a June board meeting to approve new language. Our Statement of Philosophy is as follows:

1. Guided by the belief that motivated students with high ability are best served by an excellent liberal-arts program, we will engage students in the process of developing a truly educated mind, one that comprehends clearly and assesses critically the conventions and customs that make up their world.

2. We will help develop in students the qualities that will allow them to succeed at TJ, at the next level of their education, and as adults—independence, honesty, courage, leadership, kindness, the habit of hard work, delight in learning, and a sense of responsibility for themselves and for others.

3. Our students will engage in study and community building with adults who model these qualities both in and out of the classroom.

4. Our students will live and work with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, learning to respect feelings, beliefs, and customs that are different from their own.

5. Honoring our founders’ vision that a learning community is strengthened by the continuous engagement and development of all its members, our faculty and staff will continue to grow as professionals and to participate in the decisions that affect them.