About The Area
Auburn Public Schools
US News and World report ranked Auburn High School 77th in the nation in 2006. Much of the success that Auburn City Schools has attained in recent years would not have been possible without the financial support of the community. Local funding accounts for 48% of the over $39 million annual budget, placing Auburn City Schools in the top ten systems in the state in terms of local support. Our students consistently score above the state and national averages in all areas of the Stanford Achievement Test administered in Grades 1-10. Over the years, Auburn High School has averaged seven National Merit Semifinalists, out of approximately 300 students in the senior class. On the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT), Auburn High School students consistently score above the state and national averages, and are regularly in the top five in the state in ACT and SAT test scores. Upon graduation from high school, approximately 80% of Auburn High School graduates continue their education by attending colleges, universities, and technical schools. For more information, go to www.auburnschools.org.
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Medical Services
East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika has won awards for medical services and received a Fairness Award designating it a “Great Place to Work”'
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The Arts
The Jule Collins Smith Art Museum at Auburn University houses an outstanding permanent collection that includes The Advancing American Art Collection, The Louise Hauss and David Brent Miller Audubon Collection, a three-tiered Dale Chihuly chandelier, The Nelson and Joan Cousins Hartman Collection of Tibetan Bronzes, The Helen and Dwight Carlisle Collection of Irish Belleek Porcelain, the monumental mural “Alma Mater” by William Baggett, and the large-scale sculpture “Spinoff” by Jean Woodham. Additionally, the Bill L. Harbert Collection of European Art, a collection that features six works by Marc Chagall, three by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, two by Salvador Dalí and one each by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Henri Matisse. www.julecollinssmithmuseum.com/
A short 50-minute drive south on I-85 to Montgomery is the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the sixth largest Shakespeare festival in the world and attracts more than 300,000 annual visitors from all 50 states and over 60 countries. ASF’s $21.5 million Carolyn Blount Theatre houses two theatres (the 750-seat Festival Stage and the 225-seat Octagon), production shops, rehearsal halls, and administrative work spaces. The 100,000 square foot complex is located on English-style grounds, complete with a lake and black swans.ASF operates year-round, producing 14 world-class productions annually, including three works of William Shakespeare. The remainder are classics of the stage - works by playwrights such as Moliére, George Bernard Shaw, Anton Chekhov, Tennessee Williams, Thornton Wilder, and Eugene O'Neill - along with musicals and new works commissioned by the Festival.www.asf.net/
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