Indian Springs School

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

1 History of the School
2 Present-Day Indian Springs School
3 Notable Springs Alumni
4 Further reading
5 External links

[edit] 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 Alabama's elite and rural poor. 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.[1]

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. It has a longstanding rivalry with the Altamont School (with Altamont's having a substantial margin of victories in sports; and "Springs" (as it is affectionately known), in academic achievements, such as Scholar's Bowl).

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[2] with a $2-million grant to underwrite tuition and other expenses for gifted students whose families could not otherwise afford an independent school.

The school has had the highest AP exam scores in the nation for the previous 5 years.

[edit] Present-Day Indian Springs School

In 2005, ISS had 274 students from 12 U.S. states and 7 countries, 76% of whom were day students and 24% of whom were boarders. There were 136 girls and 138 boys.