During its annual fall meeting Oct. 25, the College of the Ozarks Board of Trustees gave its unanimous approval to a proposed college preparatory lab school that would serve high school students.
The launch for the secondary school, dubbed School of the Ozarks, could be as early as fall 2012, according to a C of O news release. The opening date is contingent on the school’s hiring of a headmaster, and applications are now being accepted, the release said.
“The school will focus on faith, flag and the future by interweaving a rigorous classical education, biblical worldview, character education, patriotism and service learning in a small class setting,” said Sue Head, C of O’s dean of character education, in the release.
The board’s vote came after Head’s presentation of findings from a feasibility study of opening a college-prep lab school on campus. That study included information gathered from site visits to other schools, a review of existing on-campus facilities and a survey that drew responses from 330 families from several towns, including Branson, Springfield and St. Louis.
Findings of the survey show that the families polled identified academics, a Christian education, character education and patriotic emphasis on education as aspects that are important to their children’s educations, the release said.
The secondary school will be a return to C of O’s roots, as the school was founded in 1906 as an elementary school, with a high school added before the school evolved into a junior college and finally, to the four-year liberal arts college it is now, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.
In a
story published in September, Max Ruhl, a 1974 C of O graduate and member of the board of trustees, outlined why he is in favor of a lab school.
“Anything we can do in this country right now to promote character at all levels is only good,” Ruhl said. “I feel like it’s critical to make sure that somebody’s out there with a voice supporting and lauding character development, and I see this as another opportunity to do that.”
In addition to launching the headmaster search, Head is building the framework for the curriculum and determining logistics for facility use for the school.[[In-content Ad]]
