The public campaign for St. Andrew’s new Lower School officially kicked off in May 2025, and already visionary supporters had contributed an inspiring $16 million to make the new South Campus master plan a reality. Making the Way, the campaign for a new Lower School, was announced to the wider community with a groundbreaking during May Day, a beloved St. Andrew’s tradition. Thanks to the early visionaries, lead donors, and determined campaign cabinet volunteers, new classroom buildings for grades 1-4 are scheduled to open in the fall of 2026.
Patty and Jeff Christie are the parents of two St. Andrew’s graduates, Cadden ’11 and Cody ’15, and are longtime St. Andrew’s supporters. Patty is a former chair of the St. Andrew’s Board of Trustees, but her fondest St. Andrew’s memory is attending Lower School chapel every Friday. When Patty and Jeff learned a campaign to create a new Lower School building on the South Campus was in the works, they reached out to make a generous gift without being asked.
“St. Andrew’s had as much effect on me as it did on our children,” says Patty. “Jeff and I loved everything about it, from what our kids were learning to the people around us. I especially have a soft spot for the Lower School. Those teachers modeled the Golden Rule for our family. It was so impressive to see people living out what Jesus taught every day.
“There’s an invisible thread between St. Andrew’s kids, parents, and teachers that we felt the entire time we were there and that still continues today,” says Patty. “After my kids were grown up and I saw how St. Andrew’s had affected them – how the school had prepared them for college, the lasting friendships they made, the solid foundation they received – I realized more people need to be able to experience this.”
As small business owners, Patty and Jeff Christie see supporting St. Andrew’s as supporting the city of Jackson. “The South Campus is a highly visible, bright spot in the center of the city,” Patty Christie says. “Many St. Andrew’s graduates stay here or move back here. These graduates are people who genuinely care about others and give so much back to our state. St. Andrew’s is recognized not only as a center of education, but for its contributions to the community and to Mississippi.”
Dan Davis grew up, as he describes it, “one pair of pants poor” in Neshoba County, Mississippi. He put himself through college working the night shift at an electrical motor plant and went on to found several successful businesses, but Davis never forgot his roots. Today, he derives his greatest satisfaction from quietly serving others and demonstrating to his children that one person can make a difference.
“I think it’s critical to the whole community that a place like St. Andrew’s exists. It’s important to have a school here in Mississippi where children can learn not what to think, but how to think. One of the things I’m most proud of is that St. Andrew’s is inclusive and opens its doors to students from all walks of life to have that kind of an education,” Davis says. “As a businessman, I’d like to see the Jackson Metro area become a growth area. But if we don’t have a place like St. Andrew’s, the chances of that happening become less and less.”
Dan Davis has three children, Griffin Kennington, Lucy Kennington Seward, and Will Davis ‘20. Dan is proud of his attendance record at Lower School chapel – he missed just one service the entire time Will was a Lower School student.
“Chapel was a continuation of the gentleness of St. Andrew’s. This is a fairly harsh world we live in, and the chapel was a special, peaceful time. Watching the children participate was always the best part of my week,” says Davis.
Davis helped fund the iconic bell tower at the Chapel of St. Andrew the Apostle on the North Campus. He made a leadership gift of $2 million to the Making the Way campaign.
In St. Andrew’s, Priscilla and Dave O’Donnell found a school that offered their daughters rigorous academics, encouraged creativity, and instilled in them a commitment to serving others. Priscilla describes St. Andrew’s as “a wonderful place for our daughters to grow up.” The O’Donnells have five daughters, Brittney O’Donnell, Steffani O’Donnell, Gabriella O’Donnell, and St. Andrew’s alumnae Isabella Rand ‘13 and Meredith Rand ’16. Isabella and Meredith were both St. Andrew’s homecoming queens.
The O’Donnells see supporting the Lower School campaign as an opportunity to share the St. Andrew’s experience with other children and families. The couple is helping make the way with a leadership gift of $2 million. “We believe in the importance of a solid education for the children of this community and the impact those children will have on the future of Mississippi and the world. St. Andrew’s graduates find themselves all over the map, making great contributions in so many careers and vocations,” Priscilla says. “Our hope for the future of St. Andrew’s is that the school continues to produce the well-rounded, open-minded, productive graduates that are so necessary in this ever-evolving world,” Dave continues.
Dave and Priscilla O’Donnell are committed to the future of Mississippi’s children. In addition to their gift to St. Andrew’s, the O’Donnells are also supporters of Children’s of Mississippi, the state’s only pediatric hospital. “St. Andrew’s and Children’s are important institutions for the health, wellbeing, and enrichment of the children of Mississippi,” Dave says. “We believe that one of the most important things we can do is help provide a wonderful, healthy beginning and an outstanding education for generations to come.”
