BENTONVILLE — A private school supported by the Walton Family Foundation set to open in Bentonville next year will be called the Thaden School, officials announced Thursday.
The school will be located at Eighth and Main streets on a 30-acre site that was formerly the Benton County Fairgrounds. It will open with grades seven and nine in the fall of 2017 and grow incrementally to serve grades six through 12, according to a news release from Mitchell Communications.
Fast facts
Taden School
• School to be named Thaden School in honor of Iris Louise McPhetridge Thaden
• Thaden School will open in the fall of 2017 with grades 7 and 9
• Thaden School will provide full to partial financial assistance to at least 25 percent of the student body
• Jose Leonor and Lisa Herschbach will join the institution as associate heads of school and directors of middle and upper divisions, respectively
• The campus will be located at Eighth and Main streets on a 30-acre site in downtown Bentonville
Development of the campus will start with indoor and outdoor spaces that will support the school during its first two years. During this first phase of operations, the institution will be located on its permanent site.
The design and construction process for the rest of the campus will begin later this year and is expected to be finished no later than the fall of 2019, according to the release.
The school is named in honor of Iris Louise McPhetridge Thaden, a famous avaiator who was born and raised in Bentonville.
The foundation announced last summer it planned to open an independent school in Bentonville. Clayton Marsh, formerly a deputy dean at Princeton University, was chosen as the head of the school.
The school expects to provide full or partial financial assistance to at least 25 percent of its students, according to the news release.