John Burroughs School (JBS) is a private, non-sectarian

college-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher educati ...

with 631 students in grades 7– 12. Its 49-acre () campus is located in

Ladue, Missouri Ladue is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 8,989. Ladue has the highest median household income of any city in Missouri with a population over 1,000. G ...

(US), a suburb of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. Founded in 1923, it is named for U.S. naturalist and philosopher

John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bio ...

. John Burroughs has long had a school philosophy of liberal and progressive education. It has been recognized as one of the nation's premier preparatory schools. In 2007, the ''Wall Street Journal'' ranked it among the top 50 schools in sending graduates to eight top universities. As of 2020, the faculty includes 96 full-time and 32 part-time members. Since 2009, the

Head of School A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

has been Andy Abbott, formerly an English teacher and the school's head of college counseling. He replaced Keith Shahan, who held the job for 23 years.

History

In 1923, the school's founders wrote, "Burroughs was established upon the conviction that each child has latent possibilities of power, and that it is the chief purpose of the school to cooperate with parents in discovering, fostering and developing that power so that in adulthood he shall make his contribution to the improvement of human society. The child’s mind is not a tablet to be written upon or a cistern to be filled, but a living, growing entity to be guided, developed, trained and inspired." In the 1930s, JBS participated in the Eight-Year Study, an experiment that tested how American

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy pa ...

secondary schools would prepare their students for college when released from the curricular restrictions of college admissions requirements. In April 2020, the school received $2.5 million in federally backed small business loans as part of the

Paycheck Protection Program The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a $953-billion business loan program established by the United States federal government during the Donald Trump administration in 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CAR ...

. The school received scrutiny over this loan, which was meant to protect small and private businesses, and returned the money to the Treasury Department the following month.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

The Bombers football team won the state championship in Division 2A in 1975, 1980 (tie), 1985, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1995 (tie) and 2001; and won the 3A title in 2015. Former NFL kicker Neil Rackers is an assistant coach on the football team. Former NFL quarterback

Gus Frerotte Gustave Joseph Frerotte (; born July 31, 1971) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the seventh round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tulsa. Frerotte, who was selected t ...

was head football coach from 2011 to 2013. In 2016, the program was inducted into the

Missouri Sports Hall of Fame The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is located in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1994 by Springfield businessman John Q. Hammons, the Hall of Fame is housed in a two-story, 32,000-square-foot building. On display are more than 4 ...

Notable alumni

Government and politics

Todd Akin William Todd Akin (July 5, 1947 – October 3, 2021) was an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2001 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republ ...

, 1966: U.S. Congressman (R) for the 2nd District of Missouri (2001–2013) * Brittany Packnett, 2002:

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brut ...

activist, appointed in 2015 by President Barack Obama to the President's Commission on Twenty-first Century Policing, a White House task force for police reform. *

Laura Stith Laura Denvir Stith (born October 30, 1953) is a former judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri. She served from 2001 to 2021. She was elected by her fellow Supreme Court justices to serve a two-year term as Chief Justice, from July 1, 2007, to Ju ...

, 1971: Chief Justice of the

Missouri Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to giv ...

* John A. Terry: Judge of the

District of Columbia Court of Appeals The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest court of the District of Columbia, in the United States. Established in 1970, it is equivalent to a state supreme court, except that its authority is derived from the United States Cong ...

* Andrea R. Wood, 1991:

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois ar ...

Journalism and literature

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

, 1914: novelist * Gabe Fleisher, 2020: journalist and author of the ''Wake Up To Politics'' newsletter *

Martha Gellhorn Martha Ellis Gellhorn (8 November 1908 – 15 February 1998) was an American novelist, travel writer, and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century. Gellhorn reported on virtually every major worl ...

, 1926: combat journalist, novelist, and

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

's third wife. He dedicated ''

For Whom the Bell Tolls ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigne ...

'' (1940) to her * Vicki Goldberg, 1954: novelist and photographer *

Jane Smiley Jane Smiley (born September 26, 1949) is an American novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992 for her novel '' A Thousand Acres'' (1991). Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a s ...

, 1967: Pulitzer Prize-winning (1992) novelist, ''

A Thousand Acres ''A Thousand Acres'' is a 1991 novel by American author Jane Smiley. It won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1991 and was adapted to a 1997 film of the same name. It was premiered as an ...

'' * Mary Wiltenburg, 1994: journalist, Little Bill Clinton project

Arts, sciences, and education

Leon Burke III Leon Burke III is an American musician, singer, and conductor from St. Louis, Missouri. He began his musical studies at age 12 and by age 16 was conducting orchestras. Personal life Leon Burke III is a native St. Louisan, where he attended ...

, musician, singer, and conductor *

Sarah Clarke Sarah Clarke (born February 16, 1972) is an American actress, best known for her role as Nina Myers on '' 24'', and also for her roles as Renée Dwyer, Bella Swan's mother, in the 2008 film ''Twilight'', Erin McGuire on the short-lived TV sho ...

, 1989: actress, '' 24''. * Heather Goldenhersh, 1991: actress, nominated for a

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

( Featured Actress in a Play) for playing Sister James in ''

Doubt Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, unable to be certain of any of them. Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertaint ...

''. *

Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televisio ...

, 1989:

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

-winning actor who starred in ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its ...

.'' *

Ellie Kemper Elizabeth Claire Kemper (born May 2, 1980) is an American actress and comedian. She has been nominated for a Critics' Choice Movie Award, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Satellite Awards, and seven Scree ...

, 1998: actress, '' The Office (US).'' * David D. Clark, 1962: computer scientist and internet pioneer * Edward T. Foote II, 1955: president,

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

(1981–2001); dean of

Washington University School of Law Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private university in St. Louis, Missouri. WashULaw has consistently ranked among the top law schools in the country; it is ...

(1973–1980); helped design St. Louis'

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

plans. * Tom Friedman, 1983: conceptual artist *

John Hartford John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country, and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive k ...

, 1956:

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning folk musician, '' Gentle On My Mind''. *

Terry Karl Terry Lynn Karl (born November 21, 1947) is the Gildred Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Political Science specializing in comparative politics in the Political Science Department at Stanford University.

, 1966: professor of Latin American Studies at Stanford University. *

James Peniston James Peniston (born 1973) is an American sculptor whose monumental works in bronze include ''Gregor Mendel'' (1998), ''Keys To Community'' (2007), and ''American Pharoah'' (2017). Peniston worked on the 2004 National World War II Memorial ...

, 1992: sculptor. *

Thomas H. Stix Thomas Howard Stix (July 12, 1924 – April 16, 2001) was an American physicist. Stix performed seminal work in plasma physics and wrote the first mathematical treatment of the field in 1962's ''The Theory of Plasma Waves''. History Born in S ...

, 1941: Plasma physics pioneer,

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

professor. *

Erinn Westbrook Erinn Veronica Westbrook is an American actress, singer, dancer and model. She is known for portraying Bree in ''Glee'', Gabby Richards in the MTV series ''Awkward'', and Magnolia Barnard in the Netflix series '' Insatiable''. As of 2022, she ...

, 2006: actress. *

Beau Willimon Pack Beauregard Willimon (born October 26, 1977) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He helped develop the American version of the series '' House of Cards'' and served as showrunner for the first four seasons. In 2018, Willimon created t ...

, 1995:

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Sports

* Fran Charles, 1986: television football reporter/host. *

Ezekiel Elliott Ezekiel Elijah Elliott (born July 22, 1995) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he earned second-team All-America honors in 2015. Ell ...

, 2013:

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

running back. *

David Lee (basketball) David Lee (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Florida Gators before he was drafted 30th overall by the New York Knicks in the 2005 NBA draft. He was a 2-time NBA All-S ...

, class of 1997 (alum non-grad):

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

basketball player. * Foye Oluokun, 2013: NFL linebacker. *

Dave Sisler David Michael Sisler (October 16, 1931 – January 9, 2011) was a professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from through . Early in his career, Sisler was a starting pitcher, starter, then later was used a ...

, 1949:

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

baseball player. *

Dick Sisler Richard Alan Sisler (November 2, 1920 – November 20, 1998) was an American player, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball. The son of Hall of Fame first baseman and two-time .400 hitter George Sisler, Dick Sisler's younger brother Dave wa ...

, 1938:

baseball player. * Scott Van Slyke, 2005:

baseball player for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

. *

Jay Williamson Justin Arch "Jay" Williamson IV (born February 7, 1967) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. Williamson was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Trinity College and was a member of the Di ...

, 1985: Professional golfer on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

Philanthropy

* Leo Drey, 1935: timber magnate, conservationist, philanthropist. Was Missouri's largest private landholder until 2004, when his $180 million gift of land to a conservation foundation made him the U.S.'s sixth-most generous benefactor. Leases land to JBS for

outdoor education Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place in the outdoors. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or journey wilderness-based experiences in which students participate in a variety of adventurous challenges and ou ...

Business

Sam Altman Samuel H. Altman ( ; born April 22, 1985) is an American entrepreneur, investor, programmer, and blogger. He is the CEO of OpenAI and the former president of Y Combinator. Early life and education Altman grew up in St. Louis, Missouri; his mo ...

, 2003: President of

Y Combinator Y Combinator (YC) is an American technology startup accelerator launched in March 2005. It has been used to launch more than 3,000 companies, including Airbnb, Coinbase, Cruise, DoorDash, Dropbox, Instacart, Quora, PagerDuty, Reddit, Str ...

Maureen Chiquet Maureen Chiquet (born 1963) is an American businesswoman who was CEO of fashion house Chanel from 2007 to 2016. She is the author of ''Beyond the Label: Women, Leadership & Success on Our Own Terms'' (Harper Business, 2017). Early life Chique ...

, 1981: CEO of

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel i ...

* Joe Edwards, 1964: owner,

Blueberry Hill "Blueberry Hill" is a popular American song published in 1940, best remembered for its 1950s rock and roll version by Fats Domino. The music was written by Vincent Rose, the lyrics by Larry Stock and Al Lewis. It was recorded six times in ...

; founder, the St. Louis Walk of Fame; booster, Loop Trolley. * Timothy Luehrman, 1974: Professor,

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

; widely cited expert in corporate finance. *Charles Steven Duncker, 1977: former

New York Racing Association The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) is the not-for-profit corporation that operates the three largest Thoroughbred horse racing tracks in the state of New York (state), New York, United States: Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Quee ...

chairman, partner at Goldman Sachs. *

Danny Meyer Daniel Meyer (born March 14, 1958) is a New York City restaurateur and the Founder & Executive Chairman of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG). Background and early career Meyer was born and raised in a reform Jewish family in St. Louis, ...

, 1976: NYC restaurateur; Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern,

Shake Shack Shake Shack is an American fast casual restaurant chain based in New York City. It started out as a hot dog cart inside Madison Square Park in 2001, and its popularity steadily grew. In 2004, it received a permit to open a permanent kiosk wi ...

. * Edward N. Ney, 1942: CEO of

Young & Rubicam VMLY&R is an American marketing and Marketing communications, communications company specializing in advertising, Digital media, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the merger of ...

, U.S. ambassador to Canada. * Andrew C. Taylor: CEO and chairman of Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company.

Military

James H. Howard James Howell Howard (April 8, 1913 – March 18, 1995) was a General officers in the United States, general in the United States Air Force and the only fighter pilot in the European Theater of Operations in World War II to receive the Medal of Ho ...

, 1932: fighter pilot who flew with the

Flying Tigers The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States ...

and later became the only fighter pilot in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground Fo ...

to receive the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor ...

. * Roslyn L. Schulte, 2002: Killed in action on May 19, 2009, she became the first woman to receive the

National Intelligence Medal for Valor The National Intelligence Medal for Valor, formerly the Intelligence Community Medal for Valor, is a decoration of the United States Intelligence Community awarded by the National Intelligence Awards Program led by the Office of the Director o ...

Faculty

* Raymond Beckman, a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic soccer team. Coached at JBS from 1949-2000. * Ron Charles, taught at JBS in the late 1990s. Now a book critic at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

''. *

(Class of '89): For one year in the early 1990s, after he graduated from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded ...

, Hamm was a teaching intern in the Drama Department. Among his improv students was

, later his costar in ''

Bridesmaids Bridesmaids are members of the bride's party in a Western traditional wedding ceremony. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman and often a close friend or relative. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony. Traditi ...

''. * John L. Loos: American historian who specialized in the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

, taught history at JBS from 1953 to 1955.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burroughs, John School Educational institutions established in 1923 1923 establishments in Missouri High schools in St. Louis County, Missouri Private schools in St. Louis County, Missouri Private high schools in Missouri Private middle schools in Missouri Buildings and structures in St. Louis County, Missouri