Woodstock School is an international

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

residential school located in Landour, a small

hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...

contiguous with the town of Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India, in the foothills of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

. Woodstock is one of the oldest residential schools in Asia, operating today as a private nonprofit institution with Indian Christian Minority Status. Woodstock offers kindergarten through Grade 12 instruction, with a residence programme beginning in Grade 6. It is fully accredited by the Middle States Association, the first school in Asia to receive accreditation in 1960. In 2019 Woodstock School was officially accredited as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, with full authorisation for both the

IB Middle Years Programme The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) is an educational programme for students between the ages of 11 to 16 around the world as part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum. Middle Year Programme is intended to p ...

(MYP) and

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 int ...

(DP). It is also regarded as one of the most expensive schools in India.

History

Woodstock was founded in 1854 and has been on its current campus since 1856. First managed as a girls’ school with staff provided by an English mission, there came an increasing demand from missionaries for a school in North India with an American curriculum to prepare students for American colleges and universities. By 1928, a full American coeducational programme had been introduced at Woodstock. In 1959, Woodstock was the third high school outside North America and the first school in Asia to receive US accreditation through the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary 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 accreditation of public and private schools in the Mid-Atl ...

. During the 1960s, cross-cultural courses in social studies, literature, art, and religion were introduced, and

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

and

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

lessons were added. Indian universities became more accepting of the Woodstock Diploma, and in 1990 the

Association of Indian Universities Association of Indian Universities (AIU) is an organisation and association of major universities in India. It is based in Delhi. It evaluates the courses, syllabi, standards, and credits of foreign Universities pursued abroad and equates them i ...

recognized the Woodstock Diploma as being equivalent to the Indian school-leaving examination, thus allowing graduates to enter Indian universities with greater ease. In the 1960s and 1970s Woodstock began to rethink its composition, purpose, and philosophy as an institution. The school consciously shifted its conception from that of a missionary school to a school consisting of an international student body, staff, and curriculum, with a strong Indian cultural component. This change to a truly international school was led by Robert Alter, Principal from 1968 to 1978. With the increasing internationalization of the student body, an

English as a Second Language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...

(ESL) programme was established in 1978. In recent years, Woodstock has placed a priority on its academic programming with renovations to classrooms and laboratories, and a move to the International Baccalaureate curriculum. Woodstock officially became an International Baccalaureate World School in May 2019, with full authorisation for both the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP). The Class of 2021 was the first Woodstock students to graduate with both an American High School Diploma and the International Baccalaureate Diploma. In 2004, Woodstock celebrated 150 years of its journey. The Government of India issued a Woodstock School commemorative postage stamp in 2004.

Alumni organizations

The Woodstock Old Students Association (WOSA) was founded in 1911 and has chapters in many countries. The alumni organization serving the North America region is a 501(c)3 entity
Friends of Woodstock School
FWS is the successor to Kodai-Woodstock International (KWI), and organizes an annual alumni reunion in North America. FWS maintains an alumni database and provides an umbrella for smaller "Curry Club" groups that convene on an ad-hoc basis.

Affiliations

* International Baccalaureate(IB) * Council of International Schools (CIS) * Global Alliance for Innovative Learning (GAIL) * Association of International Schools in India (TAISI) * Boarding Schools Association (BSA) *

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, boa ...

(NAIS) * Academy for International School Heads (AISH) *

Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Un ...

(HMC) * Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) *

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

(NHS)

Stamp of India - 2004 - Colnect 158511 - Woodstock School

Notable alumni

* Chris Anderson, publisher (founder of Future Publishing and owner, CEO and Curator of TED (1974) * Martha (Marty) Chen (née Alter), academic, scholar and social worker (1960) *

Tom Alter Thomas Beach Alter (22 June 1950 – 29 September 2017) was an Indian actor. He was best known for his works in Hindi cinema, and Indian theatre. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. Early life Born in Mussoorie ...

, actor (1968) *

Stephen Alter Stephen Alter (born 1956) is an author of non-fiction and fiction, who was born and raised in India, where he grew up as the son of American missionaries. He lives in Littleton, Colorado, United States and Landour, Uttarakhand, India. He gradua ...

, author (1974) * George H. Carley, Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia(1956) * Robert Griffiths, physicist (1952) *

Jonathan Mark Kenoyer Jonathan Mark Kenoyer (born 28 May 1952, in Shillong, India) is an American archaeologist and ''George F. Dales Jr. & Barbara A. Dales'' Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He earned his Bachelor of Arts, Master's ...

, anthropologist (1970) * Dilshad Najmuddin, Pakistani Inspector-General police officer and ambassador to the Holy See (1945) * Ruchi Narain, film maker *

Pernia Qureshi Pernia Qureshi is a Pakistani stylist, fashion entrepreneur and classical dancer. She is married to Sahil Gilani. Life and career From a young age she trained as a Kuchipudi dancer, under the dance couple Raja-Radha Reddy. She has performed ...

, fashion entrepreneur, designer (2002) *

Dorothy Riddle Dorothy Riddle (born January 12, 1944) is an American-Canadian psychologist, feminist and economic development specialist. She is known as the author of the Riddle homophobia scale and published work on women's studies, homophobia, services and ...

, psychologist (1960) * Nayantara Sahgal, writer (1943) * Henry Scholberg, author (1939) * Robert E. Scott, law professor (1962) *

Carl E. Taylor Carl Ernest Taylor, MD, DrPH (July 26, 1916 – February 4, 2010) founder of the academic discipline of international health who dedicated his life to the well-being of the world's marginalized people. He was the founding chair of the Departmen ...

, international health expert (1932) * Jay Smith, American Christian evangelist, apologist and polemicist.

References

External links

Woodstock School websiteThe Woodstocker:
online student newspaper
Best Boarding Schools website
{{Authority control International schools in India Schools in Colonial India Christian schools in Uttarakhand High schools and secondary schools in Uttarakhand Private schools in Uttarakhand Boarding schools in Uttarakhand Education in Dehradun district Mussoorie Educational institutions established in 1854 1854 establishments in India