The Orme School

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The Orme School
Address
1000 E. Orme School Road Mayer, Arizona 86333 United States
Coordinates	34°25′55″N 112°04′14″W / 34.4320°N 112.0706°W / 34.4320; -112.0706
Information
School type	Private Boarding School
Motto	Excellence. Tradition. Character.
Established	1929 (95 years ago) (1929)
President	Kris Durow
Enrollment	140 students
Color(s)	Red and white[1]
Mascot	Warriors
Website	www.ormeschool.org

The Orme School is a private college preparatory boarding school serving students in grades 8 through 12 in Mayer, Arizona, United States. The 300 acre campus adjoins the Orme Ranch and is located adjacent to the Prescott National Forest. The students are from around the world and across the country. Programs of note include horsemanship, sustainability, and outdoor education.

In 1929, Charles H. Orme, Sr. and Minna Vrang Orme left their dairy farm in Phoenix and bought a ranch in the high grassland of central Arizona. To educate their three children and those of the ranch employees, they opened a one-room school in an old ranch house that year.^[2] That ranch house, called "Old Adobe", is still in use as an English classroom.^[3]

The school's symbol is the historic brand of the Orme Ranch, which surrounds the school on three sides. Called the "Quarter Circle V Bar", it has been the brand of the ranch and the symbol of the school since their founding. It is a registered brand with the State of Arizona's Department of Agriculture.^[2][4]

In 1987, the school experienced an on-campus shooting incident. After being caught drinking and facing suspension, a student went on a shooting spree, wounding several teachers with a shotgun and another teacher with a pistol which was owned by the school. The student was confronted by police officers while still on campus. After dropping the shotgun, he drew his sidearm and pointed it at police, who shot and killed the student.^[5][6][7]

The Orme School campus, amidst the ranch, is set on 0.5 square miles (320 acres). The campus consists of the Phillips Library, the Willits Gymnasium, Student Commons, Founders' Dining Hall, the Old Main Administration Building, Welcome Center, Buck Hart Horsecollar Theater, Morton Vrang Orme Memorial Chapel, Lecture Hall, Burns Health Center, Mosher Math and Science Center, and seventeen residence halls.^[3]

The school's athletic programs have been within the Arizona Independent Athletic Association of independent and private schools and later in the Arizona Interscholastic Association. The boys' football team won the CAA State Championship in the fall of 2013. The boys' basketball team went undefeated and won the AIA 1A state title in 2011,^[8] with a starting lineup composed of all international players.^[9] The use of international players at Orme and at Westwind Preparatory Academy, another basketball school that won a state title in 2011, resulted in the AIA changing its rules about those students.^[10] In response, Orme left the AIA and joined the Canyon Athletic Association (AZCAA).^[11]