The International School of the Americas (ISA) is a

magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...

for grades 9-12 in the

North East Independent School District The North East Independent School District (commonly NEISD or North East ISD) is a school district located in San Antonio, Texas, United States. North East ISD serves the north central and northeast areas of Bexar County, covering approximately . ...

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

Bexar County Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Brau ...

. It is located on the Lee High School campus at 1400 Jackson-Keller Road. Admission is by lottery. The school is notable for its intentionally small student body and for its

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

conference, named Model United Nations San Antonio (MUNSA), which is the largest such student-run conference in the nation.

Origins

ISA's basic premises stem from a concept paper written by Dr. Thomas J. Sergiovanni, a professor of public education at Trinity University. Its founding was prompted by the creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which, economically connecting the United States with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and raised the issue of international relations. Originally envisioned as a professional-development school for Trinity University, ISA began as a magnet program before becoming a full-fledged school. ISA maintained strong ties with Trinity University. Students majoring in education may complete internships at ISA as teachers; many ISA teachers are former Trinity students, and many major school events, most notably the annual ceremony for graduating seniors, are held at Trinity.

Activities

With a student body size just under 500, ISA does not have enough students to host its own sports teams, although it does host smaller clubs such as Poetry Club, Diversity Club, LGBT Club, Ultimate Frisbee Club, Model United Nations Club, Acts of Random Kindness Club (ARK Club), Junior States of America (JSA), Interact Service Club (affiliated with Rotary International),

Mu Alpha Theta Mu Alpha Theta () is the United States mathematics honor society for high school and two-year college students. In June 2015, it served over 108,000 student members in over 2,200 chapters in the United States and in 20 foreign countries. Its mai ...

Math Honor Society, National Honor Society (NHS), and the Spanish Honor Society (SHS). Instead, students participate in extracurricular activities on the home campus of Lee High School, fostering a bond between the two schools. A large part of ISA culture is the participation in Model United Nations, which became a school-wide event each year with the hosting of Model United Nations San Antonio, a national conference with over 1,000 delegates from Texas and Mexico, held at Trinity University in early January. Each grade participates in an annual trip to different states all over the country. The freshmen travel to Houston, Texas, to learn about the environment. The sophomores travel to New Mexico to learn about assimilation and acculturation. The juniors travel to Alabama to learn about the history of civil rights. The seniors travel to Washington D.C. to learn about government policies. ISA also has long-term relationships with schools in other countries and regularly does exchanges with students in South Korea, China, Germany, and Japan.

Recognition

ISA is a member of many educational and international organizations including the

Coalition of Essential Schools The Coalition of Essential Schools is a US organization created to further a type of whole-school reform originally envisioned by founder Ted Sizer in his book, ''Horace's Compromise.'' The group began in 1984 with twelve schools and grew to 600 ...

and the Asia Society. It is, in addition, a member of the Texas High School Project's T-STEM network, and has been awarded "Exemplar" status by it. ISA has also been noticed and lauded by such organizations as the

Goldman Sachs Foundation The Goldman Sachs Foundation is a New York-based, not-for-profit private foundation that is a subsidiary of the financial services firm Goldman Sachs and has the goal of bettering humanity worldwide, especially regarding health and education. In ...

.The Goldman-Sachs Foundation
In 2012 ISA was listed as the Number 2 High School in San Antonio by

Children at Risk CHILDREN AT RISK is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that drives changes for children through research, education, and influencing public policy. Founded in the year of 1989 in Houston, Texas and with an office opened in North Texas in 2011, ...

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References

External links

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North East Independent School District HomepageBorder Crossing: The International School of the Americas Makes a Connection. Edutopia
{{DEFAULTSORT:International School Of The Americas Educational institutions established in 1995 Magnet schools in Texas North East Independent School District high schools High schools in San Antonio 1995 establishments in Texas