Annie Wright Schools is a private school in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

, United States. It is subdivided into Annie Wright Lower School (boys and girls in preschool through grade 5), Annie Wright Middle School (boys and girls in grades 6 to 8), Annie Wright Upper School for Girls (all-girls day and boarding programs for grades 9 to 12), and Annie Wright Upper School for Boys (all-boys day and boarding programs for grades 9 to 12). It was founded in 1884 by Charles Barstow Wright and Bishop

John A. Paddock John Adams Paddock (January 19, 1825 – March 4, 1894) was the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, serving from 1880 to 1894. Early life and education John A. Paddock was born in Norwich, Connecticut on January 19, 182 ...

. It has an indoor pool; three gyms; science, design, and technology labs; art and music studios; theatre; outdoor gardens; play areas; athletic fields, and open spaces. The school is an accredited member of

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), and a member of Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS), National Coalition of Girls' Schools (NCGS), the

International Boys' Schools Coalition The International Boys' Schools Coalition (IBSC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization of all-boys schools dedicated to the education of boys, to the professional development of their educators, and to the advancement of educational institution ...

(IBSC), and the

Educational Records Bureau Educational Records Bureau (ERB) is an educational services Non-profit Organization that offers assessments for both admission and achievement for independent and selective public schools for Pre K-grade 12. ERB was founded in 1927, and is h ...

(ERB). Annie Wright is also a certified

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 D ...

(IB) World School offering IB curricula throughout the schools.

History

Annie Wright Schools were founded as Annie Wright Seminary by Right Reverend John Adams Paddock and Charles Barstow Wright, who named it for Charles's daughter Annie, to educate the daughters of the pioneers.DEATH OF FORMER TACOMA RESIDENT
in the ''

Tacoma Times ''The Tacoma Times'' was a newspaper published in Tacoma, Washington from 1903 to 1949. It was founded by E. W. Scripps, with editorial personnel taken from '' the Seattle Star''.Chronicling America ''Chronicling America'' is an open access, open source newspaper database and companion website. It is produced by the United States National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the Library of Congress and the National Endo ...

) In 1884, Annie Wright Seminary opened its doors to 46 students from the

Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. At that time, there were ten members of the faculty. The first school catalog outlined the offerings of Annie Wright Seminary: "For board, furnished room, tuition in English branches and Latin, and laundry service, $350 a year." By the early 1900s, it became apparent that the school building was becoming too small to meet demand. A new location and building were desired to give the school its much-needed space. The property was purchased on North Tacoma Avenue where the cornerstone of a new building was laid on June 9, 1924. Construction of the school was completed in time for the start of the 1924–25 school year and the doors opened to students on September 18, 1924. Mary McCarthy wrote of her time at Annie Wright Seminary in her memoirs '' Memories of a Catholic Girlhood'' and ''How I Grew''. In 2009, Annie Wright Schools became an International Baccalaureate World School, offering the IB Diploma Programme, with the first diploma recipients in 2011. In 2015, the school was authorized to offer the IB Primary Years Programme in Preschool through Grade 5. As of 2017, Annie Wright Schools qualified for the Middle Years Programme as well. In January 2017, Annie Wright Schools announced the decision to launch an Upper School for Boys, which opened on August 30, 2017, with 15 ninth-grade boys. In June 2018, Annie Wright Schools broke ground on two projects: a new academic building for the boys' upper school and a third gym with an underground pool. The academic building opened for the first day of school on August 28, 2019. Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards officially opened the building at a community ceremony on Friday, September 6. The new gym and pool opened in December 2019. After serving as Head of Annie Wright Schools for 10 years, Christian Sullivan ended his tenure on June 30, 2020. Jake Guadnola, who had previously served as the Director for Upper School for Girls and is an Annie Wright alumnus, began his tenure as the current Head of Schools. The first class of high school boys graduated in spring 2021. Later that fall, AWS launched its first cohort of Tacoma Scholars, a program that aims to "provide an AWS education to Tacoma students who come from historically disadvantaged communities."

Notable alumni

Betty Garrett Betty Garrett (May 23, 1919 – February 12, 2011) was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer. She originally performed on Broadway, and was then signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She appeared in several musical film ...

(1919–2011) – actress * Mary McCarthy (1912–1989) – author *

Eloise Mumford Eloise Mumford (born September 24, 1986) is an American actress known for her roles on the television series '' Lone Star'', '' The River'', ''The Right Stuff'' and the ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' film series. Early life and education Mumford, ...

– actress

References

External links

Annie Wright Schools website
{{authority control Private elementary schools in Washington (state) Private middle schools in Washington (state) Private high schools in Washington (state) High schools in Pierce County, Washington Educational institutions established in 1884 Schools in Tacoma, Washington Schools in Pierce County, Washington 1884 establishments in Washington Territory Girls' schools in Washington (state) Boys' schools in the United States

History

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links