Education
Lawrence has fifteen public grade schools, four junior high schools, and two high schools. Lawrence’s secondary schools rank 2nd among the nation's 370 metropolitan areas by Expansion Management magazine, a national publication for site location advisors. Lawrence has a higher educational level than most cities in the U.S. Forty Eight percent of Lawrence's residents age 25 and older have a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 24.4 percent nationally.
Lawrence is truly a college town with a vitality and diversity uniquely its own. The city is home to two major universities: the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University. The American Institute for Economic Research has ranked Lawrence ninth on its list of the 75 best college towns.
Parents & Colleges named Lawrence in its Top Ten Best College Towns
The University of Kansas is a highly regarded public university perched atop a high ridge, named Mount Oread that dominates the Lawrence landscape and affords panoramic views of the Wakarusa Valley which is acclaimed as one of the most beautiful in the country. Poet Walt Whitman said of the view from KU's hill: "Stretching out on its own unbounded scale, unconfined...combining the real and ideal, and beautiful as dreams."
Some 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students attend KU, including 1600 plus from 110 countries around the world. KU has more than 43 nationally ranked academic programs, including 26 in the top 25 among public universities. According to U.S. News & World Report. two graduate programs—Special Education and Urban Management — are No. 1 in their fields. Peterson's Guide to Competitive Colleges ranks KU as 'one of America's premier universities'. U.S. News & World Report stated that the University of Kansas ranked as the 18th most popular university in the United States as of 2008. It also ranks 11th in the nation for study abroad involvement with nearly one-third of students participating.
Basketball at KU
Basketball is huge at Kansas. According to the New York Times, “Few American universities have as much basketball in their DNA as Kansas. The game's inventor, Dr. James Naismith, lived in Lawrence and became KU’s first basketball coach in 1898.
The origin of our beloved college sport mascot, Jayhawk, is rooted in the historic struggles of Kansas settlers. The term
"Jayhawk" was coined around 1848, when a party of settlers from Illinois calling themselves "The Jayhawkers of '49" immigrated to Lawrence to fight alongside the anti-slavery forces. The name combines two birds--the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome bird, and the sparrow hawk, a quiet, stealthy hunter. The message here: Don't turn your back on this bird. By the time the war ended, Jayhawks were synonymous with the impassioned people who made Kansas a Free State. In 1886, the bird appeared in KU’s college cheer--the famous Rock Chalk Chant, which arguably is the most famous collegiate chant. President Theodore Roosevelt pronounced it the greatest collegiate chant he had ever heard.
Haskell Indian Nations University
Haskell Indian Nations University is the oldest and only federally supported intertribal university in the U.S. Opened in 1884 as an elementary school, it has evolved into a full fledged university.
Outdoors
Lawrence offers five golf courses. The Alvamar Golf Course, is consistently listed in Golf Digest as among the 100 best public golf courses in the country. The Eagle Bend golf course hosts national tournaments.
Both the Oregon and Santa Fe trails run through parts of Lawrence and Douglas County. The Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department maintains 54 parks in the city. There are 18 walking trails in and around Lawrence which traverses some of the most scenic and rugged territory in the area, and has bird watching areas and prairie observatories. The League of American Cyclists ranked Lawrence as one of the country's most bike-friendly towns in 2005.
Water Sports and Leisure
Extending beyond the southwest periphery of Lawrence, Clinton Lake offers boating, swimming and fishing, and is the site of a popular summer music festival. Boating World has featured Clinton as one of the “The 50 Best Boating Lakes” in the country.
5005 Legends Drive, Lawrence, KS 66049 (785) 840-9555 info_lawrencemontessorischool.com
