An online survey at
Cofo.edu will run through Sept. 30 to help Point Lookout-based College of the Ozarks determine whether there is enough interest among area families to warrant the addition of an on-campus preparatory lab school.
“We see (a lab school) as a great opportunity to provide a unique school environment, one that has small class sizes, a biblical worldview and an emphasis on character education and patriotism, coupled with a rigorous curriculum,” said Sue Head, feasibility study coordinator and dean of character education at the college.
The Bible also would be threaded throughout the lab school’s curriculum, along with other areas of focus, including classical literature. At least initially, Head said the lab school would be for high school students who would not live on campus.
Head said nearly 200 responses to date show a healthy interest in a lab school at C of O, which is located near Branson.
“People from as far away as Aurora, Republic, Nixa and Omaha [Ark.] – all over this area – have expressed interest in enrolling their children here,” Head said.
Head has been exploring what resources might be available for a lab school and visiting other schools, including Greenwood Laboratory School at Missouri State University, to identify best practices. She is slated to present survey results and her findings to the C of O board of trustees in late October.
Head said it would be at least a year before a school could open, though a definite timeline has not yet been set.
For more on this story, look to the education section of the Sept. 26 Springfield Business Journal print edition.[[In-content Ad]]