Indian Springs School

Infobox Secondary school


logo =
name = Indian Springs School
native_name =
motto = "Discere Vivendo"," or "Learning Through Living"
established = 1952
type = Independent, boarding and day, secondary
gender_label =
gender = Coeducational
affiliations =
affiliation =
president =
chairman_label =
chairman =
principal =
asst principal =
vice principal =
campus director =
headmaster =
dean =
rector =
founder = Harvey G. Woodward
chaplain =
head_label = Director
head = Mr. Gareth Vaughan
faculty = 40
teaching_staff =
enrollment =
enrolment =
students = 297
grades_label =
grades = 8 - 12
address = 190 Woodward Drive, Indian Springs, AL 35124
city = Indian Springs Village
state = Alabama
province =
country = USA
district =
oversight_label =
oversight =
accreditation =
campus = convert|350|acre|km2 with an 11 acre lake
colors = Maroon and Grey
colours =
athletics = Boys' and Girls' Cross Country, Basketball, Tennis, and Soccer
Boys' Baseball and Golf
Girls' Volleyball and Softball
Student organized Ultimate Frisbee
mascot = None
emblem =
yearbook = "Khalas"
newspaper =
free_label_1 = Choir
free_1 = 139 (47% of the student body)
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
testname =
testaverage =
National_ranking =
website = http://www.indiansprings.org/
footnotes =
picture =
image_caption =
picture2 =
image_caption2 =

Indian Springs School is an independent grades 8-12 boarding and day school at the base of Oak Mountain in Indian Springs Village, Shelby County, Alabama, USA, near the city of Birmingham.

History of the School

Indian Springs School was founded in 1952 by Birmingham-born, MIT-educated businessman Harvey G. Woodward, who left the funds and instructions for creating the school in his will at his death in 1930. In some ways, his vision was a progressive one. Woodward wanted to make the school available to both upperclass and lowerclass people. He instructed that the school should champion a holistic approach to learning (the school's motto is "Discere Vivendo"," or "Learning Through Living"). During its first years, the school was a working farm which the students tended, although this element was shortly eliminated. However, Woodward also stipulated that the school could only admit Whites, non-Jews, and males, limitations which were all eventually challenged and abolished. The school now is praised for its wide diversity. [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4113/is_200507/ai_n14779024 "Where There's a Will: The Story of Indian Springs School"] by Pam Jones, "Alabama Heritage" Magazine, Number 77, Summer 2005, 26-33.]

Indian Springs opened in 1952 with ten staff members and 60 students. The first director of the school was Dr. Louis "Doc" Armstrong. He made several changes to Woodward's original plans for the school, most notably Woodward's request that the school not be preparatory.

By the 1970s, the school had grown to include equal numbers of day students and boarders. An 8th grade was added, and the school became coeducational in 1975.

Indian Springs School was the first boarding school in America and the first school in the southeast to be recognized by the Malone Family Foundation [ [http://www.malonefamilyfoundation.org Malone Family Foundation ] ] with a $2-million grant to underwrite tuition and other expenses for gifted students whose families could not otherwise afford an independent school.

Campus

Indian Springs' campus is located on 350 acres in northern Shelby County, 15 miles south of downtown Birmingham. Instruction takes place in 7 academic buildings which contain 23 classrooms, a new Science Center, a Concert Hall, a Theater, two student lounges, College Center, a technology lab, a 19,000-volume library, and special studios for chorus, art, photography, and drama. The athletic facilities include two gymnasiums with two basketball courts, two volleyball courts and two weight rooms. The campus offers four tennis courts, a competition soccer field, baseball field, softball field, cross country track, and a practice field/track. A new organic orchard named "Fertile Minds" complements the greenhouse in producing food for the students. In 2006, new dorms for both boys and girls were opened.

Present-Day Indian Springs School

In 2008, ISS had 297 students from 12 U.S. states and 9 countries, 73% of whom were day students and 27% of whom were boarders.Fact|date=August 2008

The school competes in the Alabama High School Athletic Association in all sports except football. It is the only member school whose teams do not have a nickname or mascot.

Notable alumni

*George A. LeMaistre, Alabama civil rights activist
*John Badham, director
*Michael McCullers, director and screenwriter
*John Green, author
*Daniel Alarcón, author
*Russell Williams, one of the chief architects of "Adobe Photoshop"
*Neely Harris, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine, "mental floss"
*Stuart Whitehurst, appraiser on Antiques Roadshow
*Laura Thomas, singer-songwriter
*Phil Stone, Jr., teacher at ISS, novelist, and son of the lawyer on whom the William Faulkner character Gavin Stevens is based
*Alan W. Heldman, developer of the drug-eluting stent
*Joel L. Shin, specialist in international trade matters, government affairs and national defense
*Preston Haskell, construction magnate in Jacksonville, Florida, and part-owner of the NFL "Jacksonville Jaguars"
*Charles I. Plosser, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
*Howard Cruse, cartoonist

Notes

External links

* [http://www.indiansprings.org/ Indian Springs School's Official Site]
* [http://fly.hiwaay.net/%7Emdsmith/iss.htm History of Springs compiled by M.D. Smith (Class of 1959)]
* [http://www.nais.org/ National Association of Independent Schools]
* [http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/51 Boarding School Review: Indian Springs School profile]
* [http://www.privateschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/136 Private School Review: Indian Springs School profile]

ee also