Wichita Collegiate School

Wichita Collegiate School, known locally as Collegiate, is a private, co-educational, non-denominational, and non-profit college preparatory day school founded in 1963 currently enrolling 966 students from preschool through 12th grade located in Wichita, Kansas, United States. The Head of School is Nathan Washer, who was appointed in July 2019. The school motto is: "Proba te Dignum" (Latin for "Prove Yourself Worthy") 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 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 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 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. Academics 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.