The British International School of Houston (BISH), formerly the British School of Houston (BSOH), is a non-sectarian, co-educational college preparatory day school in the

Greater Katy Greater Katy Area is the term often used to refer to a suburban region on the west side of the Greater Houston metropolitan area roughly corresponding to the boundaries of the Katy Independent School District. Many people and businesses in this ar ...

region of the

Houston area Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

. BISH, which opened in September 2000, offers education for ages 3 to 18 (UK Nursery to

Year 13 Year 13 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England and Wales, Northern Ireland and New Zealand. It is sometimes the thirteenth and final year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-compulsory e ...

/US Pre-K to Grade 12). The British International School of Houston is a part of

Nord Anglia Education Nord Anglia Education, commonly referred to as Nord Anglia, is a provider of international schools. The head office is in Nova South, 160 Victoria Street, London. Nord Anglia has 70+ private day and boarding schools which are located in 30 co ...

; previously it was operated by the British Schools of America. It moved to its current campus in fall 2016, and was previously in northwest Houston.

History

The school opened on September 11, 2000 serving children of ages 3 to 13. Each year, the British International School added one additional grade by level, until it covered ages 3 to 18. The original campus occupied by the school had previously housed Houston Christian High School. Grainne O'Reilly-Askew, the school's first headmistress, said that British companies encountered difficulty in convincing their executives to relocate to

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

, since the area previously did not have a school using the British educational system.Baird, Annette.
British school to expand to accommodate demand

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Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. Wednesday December 20, 2000. ThisWeek 2. Retrieved on December 9, 2010.

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

, the former

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

, attended the school's official opening. The school's enrollment grew quickly after it opened, when it had 75 students. By December 2000 the school had 82 students, with 12 on the waiting list for January, when three more teachers were scheduled to begin employment with the school. O'Reilly-Askew said that she was not surprised by the increase of interest in the school, since there are a large number of British citizens living in Greater Houston. Annette Baird of the ''

'' said that, as of December 2000, the number of British citizens in Greater Houston was estimated to be over 40,000. O'Reilly-Askew also stated that several American families showed interest in the school. The school's current campus in

opened in the fall of 2016.Houston international school to develop new campus in Katy area
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Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...

''. November 11, 2014. Updated November 13, 2014. Retrieved on September 11, 2015. The new campus increased student capacity from 850 to 2,000. Mark Wilson is the school's current principal.

Curriculum

The British International School of Houston offers the

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...

(IBDP) for students in Years 12 and 13 (Grades 11 and 12) and the

International General Certificate of Secondary Education The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based examination similar to GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising prior attainm ...

(IGCSE) in Years 10 and 11 (Grades 9 and 10). The Primary School, which includes Nursery to Year 6 (Pre-K-Grade 5), offers the International Primary Curriculum (IPC). Students at the British International School of Houston sit externally graded standardized tests in English, Maths, and Science as recommended by the British National Curriculum (England and Wales) at the end of Years 2, 6 and 9. Optional tests are taken at the end of Years 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 in Maths and English. IGCSE and IB students take external examinations at the end of Years 11 and 13. From 2010 to 2016, 100% of the BISH students who took the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

diploma test passed. There is a Dutch curriculum program for temporary residents from the Netherlands. There is also a program for native French speakers.

Demographics

As of 2016 pupils of more than 50 nationalities attend the school, with the majority of students being British and American. As of May 2014, there were about 850 students. About 60% of the students were British, 7% were American, and the remainder were of other nationalities.

Campus

In December 2014 the school acquired a site in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Harris County, Texas Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas; as of the 2020 census, the population was 4,731,145, making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States. Its county seat is Houston, ...

, in the

area, with a capacity of 2,000 students,The Deal Sheet

Archive
. ''

Bisnow Bisnow Media, also known as Bisnow, is a multi-platform digital media company that produces news and live events. Founded in 2005, Bisnow Media is owned by private equity firm Wicks Group and has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. with 75 ...

''. December 16, 2014. Retrieved on September 11, 2015. located at the southwest corner of Franz Road and North Westgreen Boulevard, east of

Texas State Highway 99 State Highway 99 (SH 99), also known as the Grand Parkway, is a ring road in the U.S. state of Texas. Its first section opened on August 31, 1994. When the route is completed, it will be the longest beltway in the U.S., the world's seventh-lon ...

(Grand Parkway) and north of

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

(Katy Freeway). The developer is Simpkins Group, the designer is Fanning Howey and House Partners, and the construction manager is Tribble & Stephens Construction Ltd. The groundbreaking ceremony was held in February 2015 and the campus opened in September 2016. The school's Grand Opening celebration was held on October 13, 2016. The school's previous campus, the former Houston Christian High School, was on a plot of land in proximity to U.S. Route 290 (Northwest Freeway). This campus had a capacity of 850 students, and the student body there ranged from 450 to 850 students.Kirk, Bryan.
Katy-area campus set to open in fall '16
" ''

''. June 9, 2015. Retrieved on September 11, 2015.

Global Initiatives

has a collaborative programme with the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

, and

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

The British International School also offers students the opportunity to participate in the Nord Anglia Global Campus, a programme that links students attending the 43 schools to one another online for activities, challenges, curriculum and expeditions, helping students gain a global perspective.

Affiliation and Associations

The British International School of Houston is accredited to offer the

(IDBP). BISH is an active member of the European Council of International Schools (ECIS), the Council for International Schools in the Americas (CISTA) and the

Independent Association of Preparatory Schools The Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS, formerly Independent Association of Preparatory Schools) is a schools association, representing around 670 preparatory schools. The majority of IAPS' schools are in the UK, with other locations ...

References

External links

School website

NTC British School of Houston
*
Info in English

British Schools of America
{{DEFAULTSORT:British School Of Houston British international schools in the United States Private K-12 schools in Harris County, Texas Private K-12 schools in Houston Preparatory schools in Texas International schools in Texas Educational institutions established in 2000 Nord Anglia Education British-American culture in Texas 2000 establishments in Texas