Washington International School

For the school in Pakistan, see Washington International School, Karachi.
Washington International School aka WIS
Location
Washington, DC
USA
Information
Type Independent
Established 1966
Head of school Clayton Lewis
Faculty 90 full-time, 14 part-time
Enrollment 920 day
Student to teacher ratio 8.2:1
Campus

Primary School
1690 36th Street NW
Washington DC 20007

Tregaron
3100 Macomb Street NW
Washington DC 20008
Website www.wis.edu

Washington International School (also known as Washington International or simply WIS; Spanish: Colegio Internacional de Washington; French: École Internationale de Washington) is a coeducational international school for day students in grades preschool through 12. The school is located in northwest Washington, DC.

Established in 1966, WIS was the first school in the Washington area to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.[1]

The school has two campuses: the primary school (grades PK-5) in Georgetown, and the upper school (grades 6-12) in Cleveland Park. The upper school’s campus is located on the grounds of Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Tregaron (estate).

The Washington International School's high school was ranked as the 73rd most challenging high school in the country and the 1st most challenging high school in the Washington, DC area by the Washington Post's "Ranking America's most challenging high schools" article in 2016.[2][3] Popular school ranking website Niche listed it as the 8th best private high school in the DC area.

History[4]

Washington International School was founded in 1966 by Dorothy Goodman to meet the educational needs of Washington’s international community and American families seeking a rigorous international education.

In the post-World War II years, international schools were established throughout the world to serve the growing number of families, mostly from developed countries, posted abroad by governments and commercial firms. These schools usually were founded by a community of families of a particular nationality and followed the educational system and curriculum of their country. They were international primarily in the sense that they accepted children of other nationalities.

When Goodman founded WIS with three pre-school students in the basement of a Washington, DC house, she had a clear vision for the school. Informed by scientific research on the capacity of the human brain to acquire multiple languages, especially in the early years, and marketing research that focused on the educational needs of international families in Washington, she imagined a school in which children could become functionally multilingual and at the same time well informed about world history, geography, literature, and cultures.

From the beginning, WIS has offered a range of subjects for study within a common curriculum. The school aims for high academic standards and enables students to master at least two major modern languages. The program equips students to enter university in their own country or any country of their choice.

The school’s founding was followed shortly by the incorporation of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), which itself grew from International School efforts to establish a common curriculum and university entry credential for geographically mobile students. WIS was among the first 60 schools to adopt the IB Diploma curriculum.

In 1969, with financial assistance from the Ford Foundation, WIS purchased the Wendell Phillips School building on Olive Street in Georgetown. The Olive Street campus served the school for 29 years, first as a space for the whole of the school, and, in subsequent years, as its Lower School site. In 1998, the lower grades moved into a newly built facility at Reservoir Road and 36th Street NW. For the first time, this location enabled Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 5 to be in the same Primary School Campus. The Tregaron Campus, acquired with assistance of the Ford Foundation in 1980, is the site of the Middle School (Grades 6 through 8) and the Upper School (Grades 9 through 12).

Athletics

The Washington International School has a strong athletic program and has excelled in the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference (PVAC) for many years. WIS competes in a variety of sports such as Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, Swimming (club), Softball, Baseball, Track and Field, as well as Cross Country running.

Due to the strong international background of the students, WIS usually has a strong soccer program and has won the PVAC league banner and tournament trophy many times. In 2009, WIS won the regular season banner and beat the Field School in the tournament final. In 2010, WIS was able to derail Sandy Spring Friends School's unbeaten run in the finals of the PVAC tournament in a 2-0 win.[5] However, the next year they lost to Sandy Spring in the final 3-1, as Sandy Spring swept both the regular season and playoff banners. In 2012, WIS returned the favor by also winning both banners, while defeating Sandy Spring 1-0 in the final for their third playoff banner in four years.[6] They were the third seed in the inaugural version of the DCSAA, but they were upset in the quarterfinas. In 2013, Washington International finished second place in the regular season but rebounded to defeat Sandy Spring 3-0 in the final for their fourth tournament title in five years. However, the season ended with a loss to eventual winners Sidwell Friends School in the DCSAA Quarterfinals.

In 2014, the team had another extremely successful year. They finished the regular season with a record of 14 wins, 1 loss, and two ties, including an undefeated conference record. However, they were upset in the PVAC Championship game by rival Sandy Spring. Despite this, they were the first seed in the DCSAA tournament. They lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Gonzaga. At one point during the season, they were ranked No. 7 in the metropolitan area by the Washington Post for their highest ranking in school history. The varsity team followed up the 2014 season with arguably their best season in school history. They finished the regular season with a record of 15 wins, 1 loss, and one tie eventually winning both the PVAC regular season and playoff championship. Once again they were the first seed in the DCSAA tournament but lost to St. Albans in the final in overtime, finishing the season with a record of 17 wins, 2 losses, and one tie.

Building off of last year's incredible run, WIS once again won both the PVAC Regular Season and Tournament Championship. Seeded #2 in the DCSAA tournament, they beat both Gonzaga and St. Albans on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. In the Championship match, WIS beat Bell Multicultural 1-0 in overtime for their first DCSAA Boys Soccer Championship. They finished the season with a record of 17 wins and one tie and were ranked No. 2 in the area by the Washington Post.

Furthermore, the Girls Soccer team won the PVAC double four years in a row before losing in the semi-finals in 2013.

In 2008, the WIS boys basketball team upset Jewish Day School to win the PVAC basketball championship. In 2013, the WIS varsity girls basketball team beat Hebrew Academy to win the PVAC basketball championship.

The girls volleyball team has won two straight PVAC championships.

Their boys soccer successes in the PVAC and DCSAA (which began in 2012) are:

Affiliation

For over a decade Washington International School has enjoyed an affiliation with KIS International School in Thailand. Sharing a vision and philosophy, and with identical mission statements, WIS and KIS maintain an active and mutually rewarding relationship with frequent visits and consultations.

In addition, WIS is affiliated with the National Association of Independent Schools, the Council of International Schools, and the European Council of International Schools.

[7]

College destinations

The institutions written in bold have been destinations for at least one student of the Class of 2013; the numbers written in the parentheses depict the number of WIS graduates (Class of 2010 through Class of 2013) matriculated at a given school.[1] Due to the international diversity of the student body, the university list includes destinations both in and out of the United States.

Notable alumni

Trivia

References

  1. 1 2 "Colleges Attended". Washington International School. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "Ranking America's Most Challenging High Schools" The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  3. ↑ "Washington International School" The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  4. ↑ "History" Washington International School. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  5. ↑ "WIS derails Sandy Spring unbeaten run in the PVAC final" from the Washington Post
  6. ↑ "Washington International boys’, girls’ win Potomac Valley Athletic Conference soccer titles" from the Washington Post
  7. ↑ 'About WIS' page on the Washington International School website http://www.wis.edu/about-wis
  8. ↑ "Class of 2011 - MacArthur Foundation". www.macfound.org. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  9. ↑ http://www.nasonline.org, National Academy of Sciences -. "Sarah Otto". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  10. ↑ "Newly Elected Fellows". www.amacad.org. Retrieved 2016-11-17.

External links

Coordinates: 38°56′02″N 77°03′42″W / 38.9338°N 77.0617°W / 38.9338; -77.0617

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.