founded in 1941 by dr. thomas burton, the school faced initial problems in securing a permanent location large enough to house its student body; they were eventually solved. by july 1944, the school was able to buy a 2,000-volume library from the aiken school in south carolina. this acquisition qualified country day for accreditation under the guidelines of the southern association of colleges and schools. in september 1960, the school began holding classes on the current site of cannon campus. in 1979, carmel academy partnered with country day, merging with ccds soon thereafter, and its former campus became the bissell campus. grades 5 through 8 are taught at this site. country day became an international baccalaureate world school in august 1992.