Wichita Collegiate School

History

Wichita Collegiate School was originally conceived in the 1950s as an alternative to Wichita public education. Its name was originally Wichita Independent Day School. The founder and first chairman of Wichita Collegiate, Robert Love, claimed in his book, How to Start Your Own School, that, "Traditional private and parochial schools either eagerly emulate public institutions or are coerced by the state into doing so through acceptance of government accreditation and certification regulations ... Collegiate was independent of both church and state from the beginning for very practical reasons. All of us had already rejected state-run schools as being a restrictive, inefficient way to educate children. To be consistent, we decided against any association with the state in our new education venture. This meant no special legislative favors, no participation in government loan or grant programs, no state accreditation, and no requirement that we hire only certified teachers." Robert Love was also a member of the National Council of the Libertarian John Birch Society but he parted ways with that organization over its support for the Vietnam War.

Contributions

WCS has subsequently received large contributions from John Birch Society philanthropists, including 17 charitable donations totaling $3,343,347 from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation between 1986 and 1997.

In 2008, Wichita Collegiate was selected by the Malone Family Foundation to receive a $2 million endowment to help make the educational opportunities and experiences accessible to academically talented students entering grades 7-12 whose families demonstrate significant financial need. Malone Scholar Schools are selected by the Malone Family Foundation on the basis of academic caliber; quality of the faculty and staff; excellent accommodations for gifted and talented students; strong AP programs; attention to the individual student’s needs, interests, and talents; financial strength and stability; a commitment to need-based financial aid; and an economically, culturally, ethnically, and socially diverse population. The Foundation’s school selection process concluded in 2013 with 50 Malone Scholars Schools across the country. Wichita Collegiate is the only Malone Scholars School in Kansas. Currently, there are seven Malone Scholars at Wichita Collegiate. Additional Malone scholars will be named as current scholars graduate.

Academics

Wichita Collegiate School is an independent, private school. Because it has not sought the requirements for state accreditation, Wichita Collegiate School is listed as a "non-accredited non-public" school by the Kansas Department of Education. Wichita Collegiate School is one of 82 schools that are members of the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS) and the only ISAS member in Kansas. Duke University's Talent Identification Program has designated Wichita Collegiate School as a local partner for its gifted program. The Kansas Board of Regents recognizes Wichita Collegiate School courses as meeting its Qualified Admissions requirements. Wichita Collegiate School has regularly taken 1st, 2nd or 3rd place statewide in the Science Olympiad for Kansas Division C small schools over a period of many years. The Wichita Collegiate School average enrollment is 60 students per graduating class with an average class size of 15 students; 100% of WCS seniors are accepted to college. The mean SAT test score in 2014 was 1828 compared to a national average in 2013 of 1498.

Faculty

The faculty at Wichita Collegiate School have received many honors. Some recent examples include the selection by The College Board of Science Department Chair Janice Crowley as National AP Teacher of the Year in 2008, and Kansas State Board of Education's official recognition of Wichita Collegiate teacher Jenifer Sinsel, the 2006 National Finalist in science at its July 2007 meeting. Sinsel has since left Collegiate. Sinsel is also the 2007 recipient of the National Science Teachers Association Sylvia Shugrue Award. Sinsel was one of only 20 teachers from throughout the United States to be selected by NASA to be in the first class in the Airspace Systems Education Cohort.

Wichita Collegiate School chemistry teacher Janice Crowley received the Milken Family Foundation Educator Pathfinder Award for leading her students in investigating a carcinogenic source of breast cancer in area fast food restaurants. Crowley also was named in Reader's Digest's "America's 100 Best" and has been designated Regional Outstanding Chemistry Teacher by the American Chemical Society.

Athletics

Wichita Collegiate School's teams, the Spartans, have captured numerous state titles. These include four boys' state baseball championships, five boys' state basketball championships, three boys' state football championships, twelve boys' state golf championships and seventeen boys' state tennis championships; as well as one girls' state basketball championship. The girls' tennis team has won seventeen of the state championships in the past eighteen years, missing only the year '99-'00. Collegiate was moved to 4A after winning almost every athletic state championship in 2009, except boys' baseball and girls' basketball, which placed third. They will be moving back down to 3A in the 2014-2015 season. Girls' Soccer was added to the athletic sports group in the 2013 season.

Notable alumni