1. Forsyth Public School
City: Forsyth, MO
Category: Education
Telephone: (417) 546-6384
Address: 178 Panther Rd.
Description: Forsyth Public School, home of the Panthers, is located in the county seat of Taney County and draws students from a 132-square-mile district. It has a central campus but separate buildings for elementary, middle, and high school. It has an enrollment of 1,108 plus 73 tuition-paying students from Taneyville and Mark Twain schools. Its assessed valuation is $71.5 million. The high school offers a dual diploma education (general track and college prep) and requires 25 credits for graduation but 28 credits for the college prep diploma. It offers more than 100 classes for credit. The school also offers adult education classes from time to time in response to community survey needs, and it has a GED program and an early school program for preschoolers. All classrooms and the library have Internet access, and all teachers and students have e-mail access. The school also has a U.S. Marine Corps ROTC program. It has 106 teachers, one-third with advanced degrees. The school prides itself on its student/teacher ratio, with an average of 18 to 1. More than 90 percent of the classes have the state’s desirable teacher-to-student ratio, and all classes meet the required ratio average. The school experienced a great jump in enrollment during the Branson boom, increasing from 800 to 1,000 students in two years, but enrollment has been stable for the last several years. The student mobility rate is high, with about a 33 percent turnover each year. There is a Boys & Girls Club near the campus that provides activities after school and serves the community as a latchkey program.
2. Riverview Bible Baptist Christian School
City: Forsyth, MO
Category: Education
Telephone: (417) 546-4580
Address: 13901 US 160
Description: Founded in 1982, Riverview Bible Baptist Christian School offers a program for grades kindergarten through 12. It uses the Accelerated Christian Education (A.C.E.) curriculum. Sports programs include basketball (boys) and volleyball (girls). Riverview is a member of the American Association of Christian Schools and the Missouri Association of Christian Schools. In 2009 it had an enrollment of 70. Students enjoy a teacher to student ratio of 17 to 1, and tuition can be paid annually or monthly.
3. Taney County Health Department
City: Forsyth, MO
Category: Health Care
Telephone: (417) 546-4725, (888) 707-4725
Address: 15479 US 160
Description: The Taney County Health Department, in cooperation with the Division of Health of Missouri, has both Branson and Forsyth offices and plays a vital role in promoting the general health of the people of Taney County. Its services are offered on a sliding-fee scale or are free of charge. It provides a general immunization clinic and annual flu clinics; family planning (annual physical and pap test and a year’s supply of birth control); a breast and cervical cancer control project; a women’s wellness program; a WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program for supplemental nutrition and education for pregnant/postpartum women and for children up to the age of five; prenatal services (including pregnancy testing); blood pressure screenings; a communicable disease program (tests for HIV, STDs, and TB); a preventative hepatitis A program; and a rabies control program (with annual rabies vaccination clinics). Some of the programs and offerings are specifically for seniors, and all programs are open to seniors (see the Retirement chapter). You may obtain a list of the department’s programs and a descriptive brochure by writing the Taney County Health Department, P.O. Box 369, Forsyth, MO 65653 or calling either the Branson or Forsyth office at the numbers listed above.
4. Bridges Walk-In Clinic
City: Forsyth, MO
Category: Health Care
Telephone: (417) 546-4200
Address: 256 MO Y
Description: Here’s family medical practice taken to new dimensions. Husband-and-wife doctors Leonard and Rachelle Bridges provide medical care in this extended-hours clinic in Forsyth. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
5. Taney County Times
City: Forsyth, MO
Category: Media
Telephone: (417) 546-3305 (home office)
Address: 253 Main St.
Description: Published each Wednesday, the Taney County Times, owned by Ozark Mountain Newspapers, focuses on county government, schools, churches, family news, and what’s happening in the Taney County communities of Bradleyville, Kirbyville, and Taneyville, to name just a few. The staff sometimes profiles interesting people or past events in Taney County, and the feature articles cut right to the heart of what life around here past and present is really like. You can pick up a copy of this newspaper in racks, or you may subscribe.
6. Coldwell Banker First Choice
City: Forsyth, MO
Category: Relocation
Telephone: (417) 546-4766
Address: 16205 US 160
Description: Owner Rick Brown and his team of five brokers cover the area, but they specialize in properties in the Forsyth, Rockaway Beach, eastern Taney County, and Lake Bull Shoals areas. The company prides itself on its personal service and in a decade has established a reputation for reliability.
7. Forsyth Senior Friendship Center
City: Forsyth, MO
Category: Retirement
Telephone: (417) 546-6100
Address: 13879 US 160
Description: Located 2.5 miles north of Forsyth, the Forsyth Senior Friendship Center offers just what the name implies. Friends gather here for activities ranging from billiards to cards to exercise classes. Not only does the center provide a hot lunch each weekday for a suggested donation of $3, but you can also have it delivered to your home hot or frozen. Call the center to find out more about their health-screening workshops and tax-counseling sessions. If you’d like to volunteer, the center always needs people to help community members with transportation or housekeeping chores.
8. Forsyth Library
City: Forsyth, MO
Category: Retirement
Telephone: (417) 546-5257
Address: 162 Main St.
Description: With the exception of one librarian, the Forsyth Library is run entirely by volunteers. From time to time the library hosts guest speakers and special workshops for seniors. The Friends of the Library club operates the Markdown Thriftshop, which is located next to the library just across from the courthouse.