The Bodine School

School History

In February of 1970, in cooperation and conjunction with the Board of Trustees from The Mills School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a program was established in the Memphis area in order to provide an educational facility for adolescents with learning disabilities.

The program was conceived as a non-profit, co-educational, non-discriminating facility for students beginning at eleven years of age. Richard and Virginia Bodine founded the school in memory of their only son, Rick. Rick was attending The Mills School in Florida due to the lack of resources for learning disabled students in the Memphis area.

The decision to establish a facility in Memphis was also based on the interest, involvement, and the work of many lay and professional people who recognized the needs of the area students as well as those of the entire country. The geographical location of Memphis and its proximity to other excellent diagnostic and treatment centers were considerations in establishing a facility in Memphis. Additionally, the staff and graduate students of the University of Memphis and the organization would benefit mutually from a working relationship.

In April of 1972, the school opened, operating as The Bodine School under its own charter with determination of the Internal Revenue Service as a non-profit, charitable, educational organization. The organization moved to its present facility in 1979. An addition to the existing facility was completed in 1986. A full elementary program was added in the fall of 1991, thereby increasing the provision of services to include grades 1-12. Due to the increased emphasis on early identification, the decision to discontinue the high school program was made in 2004. The final class of seniors graduated in 2005, and The Bodine School now serves students in grades 1-8.