The Barstow School


The Barstow School is a secular, coeducational, independent preparatory school in southern Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It was co-founded in 1884 by Mary Louise Barstow and Ada Brann.
The Barstow School enrolls about 668 students from preschool through grade 12.
The school has 41 athletic teams in 12 sports beginning in the sixth grade.
The Barstow School is the oldest independent college preparatory school west of the Mississippi.
Tuition for the 2010-2011 school year ranged from $11,605 for five full-day preschool to $16,000 and higher for grades 9 through 12.
The Barstow School is also the home to the Hybrid Learning Consortium, an online learning community offering a variety of online courses to students around the world. The HLC currently has 19 member schools, both domestic and international. The HLC enables institutions to create a scalable model for diverse course offerings wider than a single institution can support.

History

Mary Louise Barstow and Ada Brann, both graduates of Wellesley College, came to Kansas City in 1884, responding to the need to establish a local school comparable to the outstanding independent schools on the East Coast. With the support of several notable families in the rapidly growing city, they founded the Barstow School at 12th Street and Broadway on Quality Hill in Downtown Kansas City.
As both the school and the city grew and prospered, the school moved several times: first to near Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral on Quality Hill, then to 40th Street and Westport Avenue, then to 4950 Cherry Street in the Brookside neighborhood, and finally in 1962 to 115th Street and State Line Road, a location then on the far outskirts of the city but today well within Kansas City's suburban sprawl. Although originally coeducational, in 1924 Barstow became an all-girls school except at the preschool level. The school resumed coeducation when it moved to its current location.
In 1960, boys were admitted to the first grade, and Barstow became coeducational one grade and one year at a time, until its first coed graduating class in 1972. Although its class sizes often were under ten, Barstow had two famous alumnae during its early days: movie star Jean Harlow and First Lady Bess Truman.
In 2003, Barstow built a new lower school.

Accreditation and memberships

The Barstow School is accredited, authorized, or a member of the following organizations:
The athletic teams are known as the Barstow Knights, and the school colors are green, black and white. Starting with the 2010-2011 school year, the head coach for the Knights basketball team is Billy Thomas, a well known former KU player.
In the fall, teams are girls' tennis, boys' soccer, girls' volleyball, girls' golf, and girls' and boys' cross-country and boys' swimming. The girls' golf team participated in the State Golf Tournament October 18–19, 2010.
Winter sports at Barstow are girls' basketball, boys' basketball, girls' swimming, cheerleading, and the "Knight Starz" dance team. The Knights cheerleading squad has won the class 2 State Cheerleading Competition twice, in 2005 and 2007. The Knight Starz dance team took home a 3rd place finish at the 2009 state dance competition.
In the spring, teams are boys' tennis, boys' baseball, girls' soccer, boys' golf, girls' softball, and boys' and girls' track and field. The boys' baseball team placed second in state in the 2007-2008 season.
In spring 2010, Barstow's Academic Team won the Missouri Class 2 State Championship. All four team members earned All-District Honors and three members earned All-State honors. Also in spring 2010, the varsity girls' soccer team advanced to the Class 1 State Tournament for the first time in school history.
In the spring of 2014, the Barstow boys golf team captured its first Class 2 State Title. The team went back to back by winning again in 2015, with three players earning All-State honors. Head coach Joe Taylor was named Missouri Class 2 Golf Coach of the Year both title winning years. Taylor also currently holds a Class 2 record by attending the state tournament, with team or an individual, every year he has coached the Knights. In 2016, the team extended its five year run as District Champions.

Sports Offered

For boys, Barstow offers:
FallWinterSpring
Cross Country Basketball Baseball
Soccer Cheerleading Golf
Volleyball Dance Team Tennis
Track and Field

For girls, Barstow offers:
FallWinterSpring
Cross Country Basketball Soccer
Golf Swimming Track and Field
Tennis Cheerleading
Volleyball Dance Team

Notable alumni