River Oaks Baptist School
River Oaks Baptist School is a private Baptist K-8 school school located in River Oaks, Houston. The school serves students in Discovery (2-year-olds) through the 8th grade. The official school mascot is the Raider.
The school's headmaster is Leanne B. Reynolds.
Location
ROBS is centrally located in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston. Students from approximately 40 different zip codes attend ROBS.
Steve Brady of Texas Monthly stated that the Williams Tower (formerly Transco Tower) is "part of the everyday landscape" of R.O.B.S.[1]
History
River Oaks Baptist School was founded by River Oaks Baptist Church in 1955. The School began as a weekly preschool and kindergarten, with two teachers and 30 students. Demand for more classes prompted the gradual expansion of the School. In 1979, the School celebrated the graduation of its first eighth grade class. In 1980, with 527 students in Preschool, Lower School, and Middle School, the significant enlargement of the School’s campus began. The campus master plan was completed in 2006, and the School now serves approximately 850 students from age two to eighth grade. Justise Winslow, a current NBA basketball player for the Miami Heat, attended River Oaks Baptist.
Accreditations[2]
ROBS is accredited by the following organizations:
- Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS)
- Accreditation Commission of the Texas Association of Baptist Schools (ACTABS)
- Praesidium Inc., an organization that specializes in abuse prevention)
Memberships[3]
ROBS is a member of the following organizations:
- National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)
- Education Records Bureau (ERB)
- Independent School Management (ISM)
- Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
Awards[4]
- ROBS was the only school in the nation to receive the prestigious Melba Woodruff Award for Exemplary Elementary Foreign Language Program in 2008 from the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
- ROBS was one of 10 schools to be recognized as a National School of Character in 2004 by the Character Education Partnership.[5]
- ROBS was the only independent school in Texas to receive the Texas Arts Basic Award from the Texas Commission on the Arts in 1997.
- ROBS received the Blue Ribbon Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Education in 1991.[6]
School uniforms
River Oaks Baptist School requires school uniforms for students in lower and middle school. Girls wear white or red shirts and plaid or navy skirts, jumpers, or pants. Boys wear white or red shirts and navy shorts or pants. Eighth graders may wear navy shirts and khaki skirts, shorts, or pants. More formal chapel uniforms are required on Wednesdays.
Sports
River Oaks Baptist School competes in the Houston Junior Preparatory Conference along with 10 other schools. ROBS fields teams in basketball, cross-country, football, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.
In the 2012-13 school year, ROBS won conference championships in the following:
- Division 2 football
- Girls volleyball
- Boys volleyball
- 7th and 8th grade girls cross country
- 6th grade boys cross country.
- 8th grade boys track and field
- 8th grade girls track and field
- 7th grade girls track and field
- 7th grade boys track and field
- 6th grade boys track and field
In the 2011-12 school year, ROBS won conference championships in the following:
- 8th grade boys volleyball
- 8th grade boys soccer
- 8th grade boys track and field
- 8th grade girls track and field
- 7th grade girls track and field
- 6th grade girls cross country
- 6th grade boys track and field
Library
The 9,000 square feet (840 m2) ROBS school library opened was built in 1997. It includes an open area that functions as a storytelling space and an area for school receptions.[7] The library, designed by Kirksey Architects,[8] also houses a large central reading room, an after-school study area, the office of the head librarian, a work area for other library employees, and a work area for volunteers. The library originally opened with relatively few computers; more were added later.[9]
ROBS holds an annual Reading Festival to promote reading and to expand the library's collection of books. Authors of children's books visit campus to talk with students about writing, illustrating, and publishing and to conduct writing workshops with older students. Past visiting authors have included Willy Claflin, Kelly Milner Halls, Grace Lin, Ken Oppel, and Rick Riordan. During the 2012 Reading Festival, the School received book donations worth more than $26,000.
High Schools
River Oaks Baptist School students apply to and continue on to several Houston-area high schools.[10]
Private schools include:
- Duchesne Academy (Houston)
- Episcopal High School (Bellaire)
- Houston Christian High School (Houston)
- The Kinkaid School (Houston)
- Saint Agnes Academy (Houston)
- St. John's School (Houston)
- St. Thomas High School (Houston)
- Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (Houston)
- Second Baptist School (Houston)
Houston ISD public schools include:
- Bellaire High School (Bellaire)
- Carnegie Vanguard High School (Houston)
- Debakey High School for the Health Professions (Houston)
- High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Houston)
- Lamar High School (Houston)
Spring Branch ISD public schools include:
Memorial High School (Hedwig Village)
Boarding schools include:
See also
References
- ↑ Brady, Steve, "Tower Play." Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications. October 1985. Vol. 13, No. 10. 163. Retrieved from Google Books on January 30, 2011. ISSN 0148-7736.
- ↑ "About Us". River Oaks Baptist School. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
- ↑ "About Us". River Oaks Baptist School. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
- ↑ "About Us". River Oaks Baptist School. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
- ↑ "River Oaks a National School of Character." Independent School 64, no. 3 (Spring2005 2005): 11. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 4, 2011).
- ↑ "HONORS & AWARDS." Education Week. Retrieved on January 28, 2011.
- ↑ Brown, Carol R. Interior Design for Libraries: Drawing on Function & Appeal. ALA Editions, 2002. 39. Retrieved from Google Books on January 30, 2011. ISBN 0838908292, 9780838908297.
- ↑ Brown, Carol R. Interior Design for Libraries: Drawing on Function & Appeal. ALA Editions, 2002. 40. Retrieved from Google Books on January 30, 2011. ISBN 0838908292, 9780838908297.
- ↑ Brown, Carol R. Interior Design for Libraries: Drawing on Function & Appeal. ALA Editions, 2002. 40. Retrieved from Google Books on January 30, 2011. ISBN 0838908292, 9780838908297.
- ↑ "River Oaks Baptist School". Retrieved February 19, 2013.
External links
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Coordinates: 29°44′42″N 95°26′35″W / 29.744889°N 95.442979°W