Carden Memorial School was first established in an old red brick house at 288 North Main St. in 1969 by Donald and Anna Lou Jeffs with a student body of forty. The school is today, in 2006, entering its 40th year with an enrollment of nearly 400 students in grades Junior Kindergarten through the 8th grade in the former Highland Park School located at 1452 East 2700 South.
Although endowed with a headmaster, James Taylor, and assisting administrators, Mrs. Jeffs is still involved with the curriculum and training of teachers. Mr. Jeffs, while no longer headmaster, still oversees the maintenance of the building and grounds while also conducting the annual 8th grade American History tour to Virginia, Washington D.C., Gettysburg, Valley Forge and Philadelphia’s historic sights.
Carden Memorial School is a traditional day school which is based upon the philosophy and teaching techniques of the late Mae Carden who conducted training courses in California over a period of several years which the directors and teachers attended. She also made annual visits to the school for the purpose of demonstration teaching until shortly before her death in 1977 at the age of 82. At this time the school's name was changed to Carden Memorial School. We still have on the faculty, teachers who attended Carden courses or were students who remember Miss Carden's annual visits.
The school is sustained primarily through tuition. While having received a few gifts over the years, it functions primarily independent of monetary contributions. The school operates without the controls imposed on public and charter schools. For this reason, it has never sought state accreditation.
Carden Memorial School was first established in an old red brick house at 288 North Main St. in 1969 by Donald and Anna Lou Jeffs with a student body of forty. The school is today, in 2006, entering its 40th year with an enrollment of nearly 400 students in grades Junior Kindergarten through the 8th grade in the former Highland Park School located at 1452 East 2700 South.
Carden Memorial School is a traditional day school which is based upon the philosophy and teaching techniques of the late Mae Carden who conducted training courses in California over a period of several years which the directors and teachers attended. She also made annual visits to the school for the purpose of demonstration teaching until shortly before her death in 1977 at the age of 82. At this time the school's name was changed to Carden Memorial School. We still have on the faculty, teachers who attended Carden courses or were students who remember Miss Carden's annual visits.