WIS for HS - pros/cons

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all these constructive and helpful comments ! Just checked out their college matriculation list on their website - it is quite impressive !

[Anonymous]

Question about team sports at WIS - is it all about soccer? Our DC is interested in the school but is not a soccer player. Will he fit in socially with other students if he isn't into soccer (since it is a smaller class size than some other independent privates)?
He has another year round sport that he does competitively and has a fairly rigorous practice schedule with a strict coach. Can his outside sport fulfill the PE requirement and if yes, at what grade could that happen?

[Anonymous]

Another question - how does WIS help the new kids that are entering in 9th integrate into the school/community? Thanks !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PP, yes, I'm saying that "regular American" families who had kids that were proficient-to-fluent in a language (but not natively) in middle school. My point is that the school is good, rigorous and intense but really not aimed at "two American parent" families.

It's worth noting as well that WIS maintains strong relationships with embassies and NGOs, the vast majority of whom either pay for or significantly subsidize the tuition for the kids of their employees. This is not a negative at all, but it's important to know that this constituency (and keeping them happy) is intrinsic to the business model.

Ah no. WIS is a non-profit and it's main mission is to provide a great education. This PP doesn't know what they are talking about. There are a number of embassy & NGO kids, but they don't dictate the school's direction by any means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, I guess you can look at it in lots of ways. The embassies and NGOs typically pay less than full rate, which I guess one could argue eats into what would be a financial aid pool. However, the tuition at WIS is more or less in line with other independent schools.

This is NOT true. The rates are the same for all, regardless of parental employer. Financial aid awards are based on need. Can someone please put this old, tired rumor to rest?????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for all the comments - we are seriously considering this school for DC (current 7th grader) for HS. I will need to go to their website to check the curriculum requirements obviously but could anyone clarify a few things?

Are all students required to do the 'dual language IB' diploma? Or is there an option to do IB only in English? Our child is not a native speaker of either French or Spanish - she would do Spanish if she got in.

A previous poster wrote:
It's worth noting as well that WIS maintains strong relationships with embassies and NGOs, the vast majority of whom either pay for or significantly subsidize the tuition for the kids of their employees. This is not a negative at all, but it's important to know that this constituency (and keeping them happy) is intrinsic to the business model.

What does "keeping them happy" mean exactly? We are currently at a well regarded (at least on DCUM anyway) K-8 and there are some students whose parents are wealthy/big donors/connected and these students (and their close friends) are given a wide berth in terms of academic performance (they are "allowed" to goof off, disrupt in class with minimal consequences) /school class requirements (some of them don't have to take certain classes for unknown reasons) / almost all their bad behavior is tolerated without repercussions. By now, the other kids in the class have come to accept that these kids are "protected" and there is no point in saying anything because the HOS and administrators want to "keep them happy". Perhaps this is what happens in all private schools around here (we have no idea as we are both products of public school).

Is this what happens at WIS also with the embassy/NGO families?

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

Current WIS parent here. The PP who said that the NGO parents are priority is very much mistaken. It's not true in the least. Talk to some WIS parents if you want the real story.

[Anonymous]

So nice to finally get some reasonable-sounding PP’s re: WIS! I am applying for lower school and don’t want to threadjack but would be eager to learn more from them if their kids attended K-5

We won’t have the chance to see the school with kids in it. I would love to know whether the classrooms and hallways feel joyful. Do the upper elementary kids take on leadership roles?

[Anonymous]

Another current WIS parent. The poster going on and on about embassy/NGO kids doesn’t know what they are talking about. All kids pay the same tuition. Only a small number of students are from WB/IMF families, and they all went through the same admission process. WB doesn’t provide private school subsidies anymore, and IMF also stopped providing subsidies to newer employees. IMF families send their kids to many different private schools - Sidwell, GDS, Potomac, NCS, etc. WIS doesn’t have any special association with IMF. Most families in our kids’ classes are American.

[Anonymous]

What expectations might a Wis parent have to adjust when starting there if they’re used to typical American independent schools? Because it’s an IB school, because of immersion in the early years, etc.?

[Anonymous]

How can it be the “same environment as moco or ffx public ” if the class sizes are capped, each grade has aides, the middle school experience is intimate rather than chaotic, etc? I’m a prospective parent and just don’t get it.

[Anonymous]

Even if (big if) there is a contingent of troublesome full ride embassy or WB kids, how is that different from the sizeable group of legacies at BVR who are basically guaranteed admission?

[Anonymous]

Just a clarifying question- when you say students in HS are "counseled out" to maintain their 100% pass rate- do you mean they do not pursue the IB diploma, or perhaps not the bilingual diploma, or that they are asked to leave the school after 10th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can it be the “same environment as moco or ffx public ” if the class sizes are capped, each grade has aides, the middle school experience is intimate rather than chaotic, etc? I’m a prospective parent and just don’t get it.

It's not. That PP is making stuff up - who knows why?

[Anonymous]

What’s so annoying is that I’m sure there are differences and caveats (and I would love to understand them!) but this one (?) ill-informed poster shuts down meaningful conversation. I’m not even there yet and I know it’s not two way immersion in the early years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a clarifying question- when you say students in HS are "counseled out" to maintain their 100% pass rate- do you mean they do not pursue the IB diploma, or perhaps not the bilingual diploma, or that they are asked to leave the school after 10th grade?

They are pushed ("counseled") out of the school.