What has stayed the same is high standards, said David Hudspeth Jr.,
head of school.
"We set the bar high," he said, raising his hand above
his head. "The bar is ever being raised."
The school was born, in large part, out of frustration. With five
children, Susan and Kent Garlinghouse had gotten to know public schools
well.
As their children wound their way through Topeka Unified School
District 501, they started an enrichment program in which community
speakers would meet with children. But when their daughter got to middle
school they became frustrated, especially when a speaker came to middle
schools talking about how little can be taught to adolescents, Susan
Garlinghouse said.
She recalls looking to her husband and saying that kind of thinking
just wouldn't work. They needed something else: "A place where learning
was exciting, where opportunities for learning were everywhere, where
you would walk away from the end of your years there with a sense for
lifelong learning."
Their new school opened in 1982. One of the first students, Alison
Hill Langham, remembers starting with a fifth-grade class of three
children.
"Academically, it was very challenging for me," she said. "I think
that was the point."
Hill Langham now serves as a member of the board of trustees just as
her father did when she was a student.
"When I look back, I don't know that I would send my kid to a brand
new school, but I think they were very excited about the small class
sizes, the high academic standards and also the creativity that the
teachers were allowed to have," she said.
It took years for the school to get on solid footing. Early on, some
parents were encouraged to pay the year's tuition up front so the school
could pay its employees, said Mary Loftus, development director.
This year, enrollment is up to 303 students, although classes remain
small with 12 to 17 students depending on the grade level. The school
even has had to close out some sections as it has filled enrollment
slots in prekindergarten, kindergarten and fourth grade.
"It's a miracle really, the growth we have experienced," Loftus said.
"It was just a new idea for Topeka."
"I think in some ways it still is a new idea for Topeka," Hudspeth
said.
The school prides itself on its diversity, Garlinghouse said. Of the
students, 22 percent are minorities. Fifty-eight percent of students
receive financial aid, representing about 14 percent of the school's
budget.
Today, Topeka Collegiate plans to celebrate its anniversary with
treats and by having students stand together forming the number "25."
The youngest of those students will include Eleese Young's
prekindergarten class. While the school's oldest pupils can look forward
to a trip to sea camp in Florida, Young's students on Thursday were
plenty entertained by paper butterflies they had decorated, tied to a
straw with yarn and taken outside to blow in the breeze as they ran.
As Young said goodbye to the students Thursday, one girl caught her
eye.
"Did you know I love school?" she asked.