The school is located on 20 acres (8.1 ha) in the middle of St. Louis's South County suburbs.

Students spend the remainder of the day studying independently, engaged in athletics and other extracurriculars, or consulting privately with faculty members, some of whom live on campus.

They aimed to create a school whose governance rested with the faculty, patterned after the colleges that comprise Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

Robin McCoy, the school's first headmaster, held the job for 34 years; he was replaced by Lawrence Morgan (TJ '53) in the summer of 1980.

The current Head of School is Jane Ballard Roth (TJ '91) who stepped into the role in November 2022.