Established 1966 Enrollment 920 day Phone +1 202-243-1800 School type Independent school | Head of school Clayton Lewis Student to teacher ratio 8.2:1 Mascot Red Devils Founded 1966 | |
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Faculty 90 full-time, 14 part-time Campus Primary School1690 36th Street NWWashington DC 20007Tregaron3100 Macomb Street NWWashington DC 20008 Address 3100 Macomb St NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA Profiles | ||
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.
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Established in 1966, WIS was the first school in the Washington area to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.
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. Popular school ranking website Niche listed it as the 8th best private high school in the DC area.
History
Washington International School (WIS) was founded in 1966 to serve the international community in the DC area. During the post-World War II era, many international schools were founded by a particular community or nationality and were "international" in the sense that students from other nationalities were accepted. From the very beginning, founder Dorothy Goodman envisioned that the school would educate children to become global citizens and the early curriculum reflected her vision. Children were taught several different languages and about world cultures, literature and history. In 1969, with assistance from the Ford Foundation, WIS expanded its campus with the purchase of the former Wendell Phillips School, which had closed a number of years before.
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. Most recently, the boys middle school basketball team defeated both Sandy Spring and St. Anselm's to advance to the PVAC finals vs. Grace Brethren. The game will be played on Monday February, 12 and the team will head to the "cave" in Clinton, MD where the 13-2 boys team will be led by star shooting guard Anders Westermann. His consistent and high level of play was highlighted by a 13-point, 4 assist, 5 rebound outing vs. WCA and a 9-point performance in the first half prior to his minor injury vs. Burke. He must keep up his MVP worthy season (SZN) in order to lead his team to their first boys middle school basketball PVAC championship in the entire history of the school.
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. 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. 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.
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. Due to the international diversity of the student body, the university list includes destinations both in and out of the United States.