Our Mission and Values
The mission of The Children’s School is to enrich minds and inspire dreams.
We are a highly engaged, compassionate, courageous and diverse community of student and adult learners. In keeping with the progressive vision of our founder, Lila McDill, we honor every member of this community as their authentic self. We embrace play in everything we do because it is essential to the intellectual, social, emotional, physical and cultural development of our young children and young adults. Our joyful and nurturing campus in the heart of Midtown Atlanta supports students, challenging them to take risks and encouraging them to make a positive impact on our ever-changing world.
Our Philosophy
The Children’s School’s vibrant community is passionate about unlocking the potential of children from early childhood through eighth grade. Our caring, experienced and collaborative faculty foster a warm, nurturing environment in which students are challenged to develop their skills and attributes to become the best versions of themselves. We stress strong relationships among students, faculty, parents and community as a critical prerequisite for deep learning, and encourage an environment where everyone has the right and responsibility to share their ideas, knowledge and feelings with each other.
Amplify Childhood.
We ground ourselves in our name: We are the children’s school.
- We celebrate our children’s right to be children. They run around and get messy.
- We believe in everyone’s right to show up as their authentic self. “I am always all me.”
- Our children experience joy and wonder every day. We nurture that in our adults, too.
- We know that our children will become our teachers. There’s more than one sage or stage here.
- We believe our children learn best by doing. Our campus is not the only classroom our children will experience at TCS.
- “For the strength of the pack is the wolf / And the strength of the wolf is the pack.” I am because we are.
- The antidote to our social ills lies in the imaginative minds and the compassionate hearts of children. Our graduates are passion-driven young adults who lead lives of empathy and purpose in an interconnected world.
We obsess over this kind of a childhood. What so many who visit our campus and describe as “magic” is derived from this obsession. So if you share in our obsession, even know and love the child within you, then you are in the right place.
Welcome to The Children’s School.
Our campus community intentionally reflects the world in which we live. In fact, our community is one of the most diverse among all of Atlanta’s independent schools with 52 percent students of color. Our commitment to inclusion creates an environment where children and adults alike are free to be their authentic selves. Our Midtown location allows us greater access to engage with the broader community, which in turn helps us cultivate the empathy and drive to work toward equity.
We believe that in order for children to fully, sensitively and effectively engage in their communities, they must possess strong local, cultural and global competence. To that end, we learn from and enrich ourselves with multiple perspectives and welcome people of any country of origin, culture, disability, ethnicity, physical appearance, race, religious choice, family structure, sex, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.
Play is serious learning.
Through laughter, play and hard work, we create an environment where children are free to be themselves and where adults remain in touch with their original sense of wonder and joy. Here, learning is hands on, minds on, and all heart.
The greater purpose of knowledge is to better understand and be able to impact the world.
We use immersive project-based learning experiences to inspire children’s’ curiosity and motivate them to action. Students engage with communities beyond the school walls, develop empathy for others, and strive to help create a more equitable world. As a result, our students grow into powerful problem finders and innovative solution builders in the classroom and in their broader communities.
Every child is a unique learner.
Learning should be relevant to the child, and the child’s voice and needs must be at the center of decisions about learning. Academics at TCS include ways for children to engage with and access new learning and for them to express that learning. Our culture is responsive to students’ learning profiles, passions and strengths. We believe adults have as much to learn from children as we have to teach them. Out of this abiding respect, everyone here is on a first-name basis.
Meet Head of School Elizabeth Miller!
Elizabeth has held several leadership roles during her more than 20 years in education, including as head of school at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Florida, Lauralton Hall in Connecticut, and Villa Duchesne in St. Louis. She was also the founding deputy head of school at GEMS Nations Academy in Dubai. She has led the planning and adoption process for strategic plans, and is well-versed in school management. She began her independent school career in Atlanta—her “adult home”—in 2002 as a classroom teacher at Pace Academy, where she taught Chinese and Japanese history, American history, ancient and medieval history, public speaking and journalism.
Prior to working in education, Elizabeth had a successful career in international business based out of Atlanta. She received her bachelor’s in journalism from Ohio Wesleyan University and earned a master’s in Regional Studies East Asia (RSEA) from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences before moving to Atlanta in 1993.
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is the governing body of The Children’s School. The board establishes broad goals and overall school policies and appoints and evaluates the head of school. The board delegates school program management to the head of school, and once policy has been established, does not interfere with the daily operation of the school. Therefore, it directs all inquiries to the head of school and their administration and staff.
Board of Trustees for 2025 – 26
- Sarah Scalia, Chair
- Fabienne Lauture, Secretary
- Christy Brown, Treasurer
- David Abusch-Magder
- Mikal Bennett
- Catherine Covington
- Cady Farris
- Vips Kapadia
- John Lanier
- DeMark Liggins
- Latresa McLawhorn Ryan
- Kate Nazarro
- Hope Paga
- Tamara Pearson
- Josh Shepherd
- Sara Shockley
- Sadie Talmadge
Michelle Toma-Harrold
Director of Learning Strategies and Academic Support Services (LSASS)
Our Campus
Tucked into a charming residential neighborhood in the heart of Midtown, The Children’s School is a 10-building, 2.7-acre village sitting directly across 10th Street from Piedmont Park, Atlanta’s “Central Park.” Here, children learn, laugh and play in bright and eclectic classrooms, a dedicated art studio, music space, STEAM lab, and library, as well as across many outdoor spaces, including five playgrounds. Proximity to Piedmont Park provides easy access to one of the city’s largest green spaces for outdoor lessons, fly fishing in Lake Clara Meer, the annual Field Day celebration, picnics and more.
Architecturally distinct buildings give the school a quaint village feeling.
Our Midtown location attracts families from all over the city, from neighbors who walk their children to school to suburban commuter parents who work in town, and provides easy access to the city’s cultural institutions.
Directions
Directions from all points north
Take Interstate 75/85 into Atlanta. Take the 10th and 14th Streets Exit. Crossover 14th Street and bear to your left at the 10th Street Exit. Turn left onto 10th Street. Cross Peachtree Street and Piedmont Avenue and continue straight until you reach Piedmont Park on your left. We are located on the right, across from the park.
Directions from all points south
Take Interstate 75/85 into Atlanta. Take the 10th Street Exit. (Be careful not to take the Route 10 exit.) Turn right onto 10th Street. Cross Peachtree Street and Piedmont Avenue and continue straight until you reach Piedmont Park on the left. We are located on the right, across from the park.
Parking
The Children’s School is located at 345 10th Street, N.E., Atlanta, GA 30309, directly across from Piedmont Park. If you visit after 8:25 a.m. and before 3:15 p.m., you may park in our carpool lane which is directly in front of the school. If the carpool lane is full, other parking options include parking further along Tenth Street (outside of our carpool lane), on the side streets (Argonne and Taft), or on 9th Street (behind the campus). Officers are outside at our front curb to help if you have questions. Our phone number is 404-873-6985.
Employment.
Hayley Lovitt, HR Manager
Thank you for your interest in The Children’s School!
If you have specific job-related questions, you can call 404-873-6985.
The Children’s School is an equal-opportunity employer.
The Children’s School is committed to providing equal opportunity in all of our employment practices, including selection, hiring, promotion, transfer, and compensation, to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to age, race, color, sex, national origin, citizenship status, religion, disability/handicap, sexual orientation or any other protected status in accordance with the requirements of all federal, state, and local laws.
Current Openings
What our Employees Say
“I appreciate the confidence our community has in our educational institution, with a commitment to embracing our mission and fulfilling our goals. I am honored to have the opportunity to be part of a strong and sensitive organization where all of our attempts to become innovative, be it with curriculum, or physical plant, are directed to the needs of what is best for the students. The collaboration among the student, faculty, staff and parent body, at TCS is woven with respect, confidence and compassion. The diversity at our school, on so many levels, is appreciated with curiosity and enthusiasm.”
“This is a true community where each individual is celebrated, supported and encouraged to grow. I love being here every day.”
“I like the community aspect of our school. I love the way we work and respect our students. We all have mutual respect for one another and many of us feel supported and are willing to share ideas and work well together.”
“The community is one that is warm, caring and supportive that results in happy and confident children, teachers who return each year and parents who know this is the best school for their child.”
“I like being part of a faculty comprised of wonderful, strong, creative, supportive individuals who appreciate and enjoy opportunities to share information, insights and an occasional recipe.”
School Blog
November 09, 2025
Inside a Progressive Atlanta School: Chandler’s Journey from TCS to Mount Vernon
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Building a Math Foundation for TCS Preschool, Kindergarten and First Grade Students
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Gallery
