Indian Springs School
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Indian Springs School is an 8th-12th grades boarding and day school at the base of Oak Mountain in Indian Springs, Shelby County, Alabama.
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; however, this was shortly removed.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 prepatory.
By the 1970's, 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)] with a $2-million grant to underwrite tuition and other expenses for gifted students whose families could not otherwise afford an independent school.
Present-Day Indian Springs School
In 2004, ISS had 268 students, 74% of whom were day students and 26% of whom were boarders.Notable Springs Alumni
- George A. LeMaistre, Alabama Civil Rights activist
- John Badham, director
- John Green, author
- Daniel Alarcon, director
Further reading
- "Where There's a Will: The Story of Indian Springs School" by Pam Jones, Alabama Heritage Magazine, Number 77, Summer 2005, 26-33.
External links
- [Indian Springs School]
- [History of Springs compiled by M.D. Smith (Class of 1959)]
- [Article about the history of ISS]
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