The Washington International School (abbreviated as WIS; es, Colegio Internacional de Washington; french: École Internationale de Washington) is a private

international school An international school is an institution that promotes education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterized by a multinational student body a ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. Established in 1966, WIS was the first school in the Washington area to offer 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 ...

(IB) program. The school has two campuses: the primary school (grades PK–5) in Georgetown, and the middle and upper school (grades 6–12) in

Cleveland Park Cleveland Park is a residential neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It is located at and bounded approximately by Rock Creek Park to the east, Wisconsin and Idaho Avenues to the west, Klingle and Woodley Roads to the so ...

. The middle and upper school campus is located on the grounds of

Marjorie Merriweather Post Marjorie Merriweather Post (March 15, 1887 – September 12, 1973) was an American businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist. She was also the owner of General Foods Corporation. Post used much of her fortune to collect art, particularly Im ...

's Tregaron Estate. The Washington International School's upper school was ranked as the 73rd most challenging high school in the country and the most challenging high school in the Washington, D.C., area by the ''Washington Posts "Ranking America's most challenging high schools" article in 2016. Popular school ranking website Niche listed it as the eighth best private high school in the D.C. area.

History

Washington International School (WIS) was founded in 1966 to serve the international community in the D.C. area. During the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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 The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, WIS expanded its campus with the purchase of the former Wendell Phillips School, which had closed a number of years before. In 1980 the Tregaron country house and estate was purchased and has been the site of the Middle (grades 6–8) and Upper Schools (9–12) ever since. The Elementary School moved out of the former Wendell Phillips School building in 1998 and the property was sold and developed into private housing.

Athletics

In 2010, WIS won finals of the soccer PVAC tournament in a 2–0 win."WIS derails Sandy Spring unbeaten run in the PVAC final," ''Washington Post'

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Affiliation

Washington International School is affiliated with the

National Association of Independent Schools The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boar ...

, the

Council of International Schools The Council of International Schools (CIS) is a membership organization aimed at international education. CIS was formed in 1949. It has over 1,360 institutional members consisting of over 740 schools and 610 colleges/universities, located in 122 ...

, the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional educational accreditation, accreditation of public and priva ...

, and the

European Council of International Schools European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

.'About WIS' page on the Washington International School website http://www.wis.edu/about-wis

Notable alumni

* Sarah "Sally" Otto '85: Evolutionary Biologist, 2011 MacArthur Fellow, Member of the US National Academy of Sciences *

Molly Neuman Molly Neuman (born June 18, 1972) is an American drummer, writer and publisher, originally from the Washington, D.C. area who has performed in such influential bands as Bratmobile, the Frumpies, and the PeeChees. She was a pioneer of the early-t ...

'89: Musician *

Julia Vogl Julia Vogl is an artist originally from Washington, D.C. who lives and works in London, England. She is a social sculptor, and primarily makes public art. Through a process of community engagement, her works build bright color into existing ar ...

'03: Artist

Filming at WIS

*The mental hospital scene in the Pelican Brief was filmed in the mansion of the Tregaron Campus. *The humor coach scene in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was filmed in the Mansion (Room 205) of the Tregaron Campus. *Several scenes in

Advise and Consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previo ...

were also filmed in the mansion of the Tregaron Campus.

References

External links

* {{authority control Cleveland Park Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) Private K-12 schools in Washington, D.C. International schools in the United States International Baccalaureate schools in Washington, D.C. Educational institutions established in 1966 1966 establishments in Washington, D.C.