A Modern-Day Wheelock in Ohio

Not many Dartmouth men have the urge, or the chance, to help found a school, but Scribner Fauver '53 had both and as a result the Lake Ridge Academy, now in its fourth year, exists in North Ridgeville, Ohio. Fauver, one of the school's founding trustees, is now in his second year as board president.

Lake Ridge Academy is an independent, nonsectarian day school 25 miles west of Cleveland. Its present enrollment of 225 boys and girls, from Elyria and other suburbs west of Cleveland, encompasses kindergarten through the ninth grade. One grade is being added each year and 1969-70 will see the full development of the school all the way through high school.

Fauver tells an interesting story of Lake Ridge's struggles and successes:

In 1962 a group of parents in Elyria and other Cleveland suburbs decided there was a need for this type of education in their area. One of their advisers was Dr. Richard Day, then Headmaster of Hawken School in Cleveland, now Headmaster of Phillips Exeter.

The summer of 1963, the five trustees selected a headmaster, received a substantial donation from an individual "who recognized more than we the financial problems involved in our enterprise," opened an office, and installed a phone. In August they met with their new headmaster to discuss enrollment for that fall and their budget. They had received eight completed applications; financial commitments for the full school year amounted to $60,000. "That particular evening is still remembered as the gloomiest of our short history."

An open house held the same month prompted more to enroll and Lake Ridge began classes on schedule in a Methodist church with 40 pupils. Sixty students were attending by the end of the school year.

1964's fall enrollment more than doubled, and the next summer they acquired a 35acre tract. Lake Ridge's main building containing seventeen classrooms was completed in 1965. There is now a separate gymnasium, and an additional classroom building will be constructed this summer. Next year's predicted budget is $200,000. Tuitions range from $525 per year to $975. Approximately 265 students are expected and an extra third grade will be added. There are already two first and two second grades. In 1977 there will be double grades in each class and ah enrollment of about 450 students.

"There is really nothing revolutionary or unique about the school's approach to education," Fauver says. "The total environment is one in which each child is given an opportunity and encouragement to develop to the maximum of his ability and proceed at his own speed. In the upper grades considerable emphasis is placed on the development of critical and independent thought as well as the ability to express oneself in an organized and logical way."

Normal class size for primary grades is 18, high school is 25. All applicants are tested and slow learners are not accepted. French is introduced in kindergarten. Latin and other languages are offered in the high school years.

Fauver says of the curriculum and teaching methods: "The result is a stimulating, truly excited group of students and teachers. Possibly this is more a matter of returning to fundamentals than of introducing new concepts. No matter — it works."

His two boys are students at Lake Ridge and his daughter will probably go when she is old enough. "My wife and I are very enthusiastic about the quality of education that our boys are getting."

Very shortly the school will be faced with the problem of college admissions. But Fauver says, "I am confident that our record will be a good one and I look forward to the day when the first Lake Ridge graduate enters Dartmouth."