Indian Springs School

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Indian Springs School
Motto	"Discere Vivendo," or "Learning Through Living"
Established	1952
Type	Independent, boarding and day, secondary
Gender	Coeducational
Founder	Harvey G. Woodward
Director	Dr. W. Lee Pierson (interim)
Faculty	40
Students	300
Grades	8 - 12
Location	190 Woodward Drive, Indian Springs, AL 35124, Indian Springs Village, Alabama, USA
Campus	350 acres with an 11 acre lake
Colors	Maroon and Grey
Athletics	Boys' and Girls' Cross Country, Basketball, Tennis, and Soccer Boys' Baseball and Golf Girls' Volleyball and Softball Student organized Ultimate Frisbee
Mascot	None
Yearbook	'Khalas'
Choir	160 (53% of the student body)
Website	http://www.indiansprings.org/

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.

1 History of the School
2 Present-Day Indian Springs School
3 Notable alumni
4 Notes
5 External links
6 See also

[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 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.^[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.

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.

[edit] Present-Day Indian Springs School

In 2007, ISS had 300 students from 12 U.S. states and 7 countries, 71% of whom were day students and 29% of whom were boarders.^{[citation needed]}

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.

[edit] Notable alumni

George A. LeMaistre, Alabama civil rights activist
John Badham, director
John Green, author
Daniel Alarcón, author
Neely Harris, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine, mental_floss
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
Charles I. Plosser, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Howard Cruse, cartoonist