History
The Lamplighter School was founded in 1953 in a North Dallas farmhouse by Natalie Murray and Marieta "Sandy" Swain. Natalie and Sandy envisioned a school that would celebrate children and encourage a path of lifelong learning.
There were just twenty-three students and two teachers the first year, and classes were offered only in Kindergarten and first grade. Along with a rich educational program, children learned to square dance and sang together in school-wide Hootenannies. Today, those beloved traditions continue. You can still find us gathered together in the Klyde Warren Auditorium for monthly Hootenannies, singing some of the same songs as we did in the 1950s, and our students still learn to swing their partners as part of their square-dancing study in Kindergarten.
Today, more than 70 years later, much has changed, but so much has remained true to our founders’ vision. Learn more about the school traditions that are part of Lamplighter today.
Explore Our History Through the Decades
