Academics
Indian Springs Academics
At Indian Springs, educational excellence starts with a culture of respect.
From the earliest writings that brought our school into being, we have referred to ourselves as the “school community,” conspicuously linking teachers and students into a passionate and welcoming academic village. We celebrate Learning through Living and seek to instill in students a lifelong love of learning and creativity, a sense of integrity and moral courage, and an ethic of participatory citizenship with respect for individuality and independent thought.
From the earliest writings that brought our school into being, we have referred to ourselves as the “school community,” conspicuously linking teachers and students into a passionate and welcoming academic village. We celebrate Learning through Living and seek to instill in students a lifelong love of learning and creativity, a sense of integrity and moral courage, and an ethic of participatory citizenship with respect for individuality and independent thought.
As members of a vibrant boarding community in Alabama where nearly half of the faculty live on campus, our students and teachers can continue inspired conversations beyond the classroom. Because our Student Government is set up like a town council, run by students with the guidance and support of the faculty and administration, our students build on these important relationships as they practice balancing freedom and responsibility in community life.
Bonds created at Indian Springs among boarding and day students and students and teachers often last a lifetime. In and outside the classroom, we inspire our students to reach their potential by learning to think creatively, ask meaningful questions, make honorable choices, learn from mistakes, respect one another, and participate in their world. We invite you to explore the seven key relationships our faculty identified at the heart of good teaching.
Statement on Good Teaching
Harvey G. Woodward, whose bequest and vision made Indian Springs possible, and Dr. Louis Armstrong, our first director, shared the belief that young people could thrive best in an intellectual environment where their growth would be nurtured through the strength of the relationships among teachers and students. From the earliest writings that brought our school into being and through later texts that framed its constitution, we have referred to ourselves as the "school community," conspicuously linking the two essential cultural elements — teachers and students— into a single entity.
The strong bond that joins school and community in this collegial atmosphere invites students to create and maintain rapport not only with their peers but also with their teachers. In many cases, these are lifelong friendships, stretching beyond graduation, because we recognize that each individual is both learner and teacher and that learning and sharing are neither bound by time nor distance.
Our school’s motto, Learning through Living, achieves its deepest and fullest meaning in the context of the school community. Our student government, led by the student mayor, is set up much like a town council: our assemblies are called town meetings. With the guidance and support of the faculty and administration, all Indian Springs students, even those who never hold a student-government office, pass through an apprenticeship of self-governance to learn about balancing freedom with responsibility in community life. We also practice these same principles of democracy in the classroom, where students are intellectually and socially nurtured through vibrant and relevant discussions.
As we are a collegial and intellectual village, our beliefs about good teaching at Indian Springs are predicated primarily on the relationships that exist among the members of our school community: teacher to community, teacher to class, teacher to student, teacher to parents, teacher to teacher, teacher to self, and student to student.
The strong bond that joins school and community in this collegial atmosphere invites students to create and maintain rapport not only with their peers but also with their teachers. In many cases, these are lifelong friendships, stretching beyond graduation, because we recognize that each individual is both learner and teacher and that learning and sharing are neither bound by time nor distance.
Our school’s motto, Learning through Living, achieves its deepest and fullest meaning in the context of the school community. Our student government, led by the student mayor, is set up much like a town council: our assemblies are called town meetings. With the guidance and support of the faculty and administration, all Indian Springs students, even those who never hold a student-government office, pass through an apprenticeship of self-governance to learn about balancing freedom with responsibility in community life. We also practice these same principles of democracy in the classroom, where students are intellectually and socially nurtured through vibrant and relevant discussions.
As we are a collegial and intellectual village, our beliefs about good teaching at Indian Springs are predicated primarily on the relationships that exist among the members of our school community: teacher to community, teacher to class, teacher to student, teacher to parents, teacher to teacher, teacher to self, and student to student.
Key Relationships
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Teacher to Community
Embodying Learning through Living, our faculty engages with students in and out of the classroom.Read More -
Teacher to Class
Classes are both a collective and a group of individuals with a range of abilities, personalities, learning styles, learning preferences, and cultural backgrounds.Read More -
Teacher to Student
Good teachers help students grow by encouraging curiosity, resourcefulness, diligence, and appreciation for a field of study.Read More -
Teacher to Parents
Guided by Indian Springs’ philosophy of Learning through Living, faculty members understand that their relationships with students and parents are dynamic.Read More -
Teacher to Teacher
Indian Springs faculty and administrators work together toward the betterment of the school.Read More -
Teacher to Self
An essential relationship within the school community — one often overlooked — is the relationship teachers have with themselves, both in terms of professional responsibilities and personal well-being.Read More -
Student to Student
As part of a community of scholars, students impact the educational experiences of others around them, both in and out of the classroom.Read More
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Our Classrooms
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190 Woodward Drive, Indian Springs, Alabama 35124
Phone: 205.988.3350
Indian Springs School, an independent school recognized nationally as a leader in boarding and day education for grades 8-12, serves a talented and diverse student body and offers admission to qualified students regardless of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Located in Indian Springs, Alabama, just south of Birmingham, the school does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.
© 2023 Indian Springs School. All Rights Reserved.
© 2023 Indian Springs School. All Rights Reserved.