John Burroughs School


John Burroughs School is a private, non-sectarian preparatory school with 631 students in grades 7–12. Its 47.5 acre campus is located in Ladue, Missouri, an affluent suburb of St. Louis. It is named for U.S. naturalist and philosopher John Burroughs.

Overview

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. The school ranked among the nation's top 50 in sending graduates to eight top universities in a December 2007 survey by the Wall Street Journal.
In April 2020, the school received $2.5 million amount in federally backed small business loans as part of the Paycheck Protection Program. The school received scrutiny over this loan, which meant to protect small and private businesses. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tweeted that the schools should return the money, but the school stated they were keeping it, despite having a $50 million endowment.

Academics

The faculty includes 96 full-time and 32 part-time members. Since 2009, the Head of School 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.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

The Bombers football team has won the state championship in Division 2A in 1975, 1980, 1985, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1995 and 2001. They won the 3A title in 2015. Former NFL kicker Neil Rackers is an assistant coach on the football team. Former NFL quarterback Gus Frerotte was head football coach from 2011 to 2013. In 2016, the program was inducted into the Missouri Hall of Fame.

Notable alumni

Government and politics