Washington International School

The Washington International School (abbreviated as WIS; Spanish: Colegio Internacional de Washington; French: École Internationale de Washington) is a private international school in Washington, DC.

For the school in Pakistan, see Washington International School, Karachi.
Washington International School
Tregaron Campus
Location
Washington, DC

United States
Coordinates38.9338°N 77.0617°W / 38.9338; -77.0617
Information
TypeIndependent
Established1966 (1966)
Head of schoolSuzanna Jemsby
Faculty90 full-time, 14 part-time
Enrollment920 day
Student to teacher ratio8.2:1
CampusPrimary School
1690 36th Street NW
Washington DC 20007
Tregaron (Secondary)
3100 Macomb Street NW
Washington DC 20008
MascotRed Devils
NewspaperThe International Dateline
Websitewww.wis.edu

Established in 1966, WIS was the first school in the Washington area to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.[1]

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. The middle and upper school campus is located on the grounds of Marjorie Merriweather Post’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 Post's "Ranking America's most challenging high schools" article in 2016.[2][3] Popular school ranking website Niche listed it as the eighth best private high school in the DC area.

History

Washington International School (WIS) was founded in 1966 to serve the international community in the DC area. During the post-World War II 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, WIS expanded its campus with the purchase of the former Wendell Phillips School, which had closed a number of years before.[4] 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.[5]

Campuses in Washington, DC

Athletics

The Washington International School has a strong athletic program and has excelled in the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference (PVAC) for many years. WIS competes in Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, Swimming (club), Softball, Baseball, Track and Field, and Cross Country running.

WIS has won the PVAC league banner and tournament trophies a number of times. In 2009, WIS won the regular season banner and beat the Field School in the tournament final. In 2010, WIS was able to derail Sandy Spring Friends School's unbeaten run in the finals of the PVAC tournament in a 2–0 win.[6] However, the next year they lost to Sandy Spring in the final 3–1, as Sandy Spring swept both the regular season and playoff banners. In 2012, WIS returned the favor by also winning both banners, while defeating Sandy Spring 1–0 in the final for their third playoff banner in four years.[7] They were the third seed in the inaugural version of the DCSAA, but they were upset in the quarterfinas. In 2013, Washington International finished second place in the regular season but rebounded to defeat Sandy Spring 3–0 in the final for their fourth tournament title in five years. However, the season ended with a loss to eventual winners Sidwell Friends School in the DCSAA Quarterfinals.

In 2014, the team had another successful year. They finished the regular season with a record of 14 wins, 1 loss, and two ties, including an undefeated conference record. However, they were upset in the PVAC Championship game by rival Sandy Spring. Despite this, they were the first seed in the DCSAA tournament. They lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Gonzaga. At one point during the season, they were ranked No. 7 in the metropolitan area by The Washington Post for their highest ranking in school history. The varsity team followed up the 2014 season with arguably their best season in school history. They finished the regular season with a record of 15 wins, 1 loss, and one tie eventually winning both the PVAC regular season and playoff championship. Once again they were the first seed in the DCSAA tournament but lost to St. Albans in the final in overtime, finishing the season with a record of 17 wins, 2 losses, and one tie.

Building off of last year's incredible run, WIS once again won both the PVAC Regular Season and Tournament Championship. Seeded #2 in the DCSAA tournament, they beat both Gonzaga and St. Albans on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. In the Championship match, WIS beat Bell Multicultural 1–0 in overtime for their first DCSAA Boys Soccer Championship. They finished the season with a record of 17 wins and one tie and were ranked No. 2 in the area by The Washington Post.

Furthermore, the Girls Soccer team won the PVAC double four years in a row before losing in the semi-finals in 2013.

In 2009, the WIS boys basketball team upset Jewish Day School to win the PVAC basketball championship. In 2013, the WIS varsity girls basketball team beat Hebrew Academy to win the PVAC basketball championship.

The girls volleyball team has won three straight PVAC championships.

Their boys soccer successes in the PVAC and DCSAA (which began in 2012) are:

  • PVAC Regular Season Championships-1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
  • PVAC Tournament Championships-1998, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
  • PVAC Tournament Runner-Up-2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014
  • DCSAA Champion-2016
  • DCSAA Finalist-2015
  • DCSAA Semifinalists-2014, 2018
  • DCSAA Quarterfinalists-2012, 2013, 2017, 2019

Affiliation

Washington International School is affiliated with the National Association of Independent Schools, the Council of International Schools, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and the European Council of International Schools.

[8]

Notable alumni

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. This room is usually used for Economics.
  • Several scenes in Advise and Consent were also filmed in the mansion of the Tregaron Campus.

References
  1. "Colleges Attended". Washington International School. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  2. "Ranking America's Most Challenging High Schools" The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  3. "Washington International School" The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  4. "Who We Are: History". wis.edu.
  5. "Survey of Historic School Buildings in Georgetown: The Phillips School". The Georgetown Metropolitan. March 24, 2010.
  6. "WIS derails Sandy Spring unbeaten run in the PVAC final" from the Washington Post
  7. "Washington International boys’, girls’ win Potomac Valley Athletic Conference soccer titles" from the Washington Post
  8. 'About WIS' page on the Washington International School website http://www.wis.edu/about-wis
  9. Littlemore, Richard (23 December 2019). "Humans are remaking the natural world – and not in a good way". Trek Magazine UBC.
  10. "SIGNALLING 50". Julia Vogl. 20 May 2016.
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