I never hear much about WIS, what’s good or bad about it?

[Anonymous]

How does it compare to another private school, like St. John’s College High School?

[Anonymous]

Oy vey.

[Anonymous]

My good friend graduate from WIS 20 years ago - she loved it. made lifelong friends. Tough academics. Diverse and highly educated student/parent community. That said, I pretty much just described all privates in the DC area.

Not sure if things have changed since then.

[Anonymous]

Is learning a foreign language important to you? IB curriculum?

[Anonymous]

Most everyone I know with children at WIS are Embassy or IMF/WB/IDB types. They choose it to keep up their children's native/heritage languages for the most part.

[Anonymous]

There must be nice people there, but I just haven't met them. I only meet snooty families from WIS. Now, the WIS families I know are American, so I haven't interacted with the international crowd there.

[Anonymous]

About as different as two schools can be. WIS is competitive for admission, language and internationally focused, heavily populated by international families, more than 2X the price of StJ, dramatically smaller.

WIS is a great school if you specifically want what they offer but definitely not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

You send your kid there to do Spanish or French immersion k-3, then more classes in English kick in later, eking with continued French or Spanish track. Transient school,kids come and go due to relocations. Small and fishbowl environment come middle school. People switch out then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most everyone I know with children at WIS are Embassy or IMF/WB/IDB types. They choose it to keep up their children's native/heritage languages for the most part.

That's not true - my children are at WIS. The IMF/WB/IDB make up 25-30% of the population at most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does it compare to another private school, like St. John’s College High School?

They both have teachers and students.

Not sure I follow how someone is looking at both schools at the same time.

[Anonymous]

The best thing to do is to go visit the school. It will give you a better sense than anything you will get on DCUM. Also, try to talk to current WIS parents to find out more details. The admissions office might even be able to put you in touch with some parents, if you ask.

My kids were "lifers" at WIS and we were extremely happy with the school. Of course it's not perfect, but no school can claim that title. Our kids who are now in college feel great affection for their time there and would definitely say it prepared them for university. Th community is warm and friendly (not sure what the PP above was talking about, but it sounds like they are basing their opinion on a small pool of people...)

I have some limited knowledge of St. John's through friends and family and it is vastly different than WIS in most ways. It is a fine school with a focus on sports. The academics are perfectly fine, but not as strong as WIS', whereas academics are very strong at WIS, but sports is not a big focus (definitely present, but not a focus).

Again, visit the school. You might find yourself pleasantly surprised, even if you decide that it's not the right fit for your kid.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most everyone I know with children at WIS are Embassy or IMF/WB/IDB types. They choose it to keep up their children's native/heritage languages for the most part.

That's not true - my children are at WIS. The IMF/WB/IDB make up 25-30% of the population at most.

Your point doesn't negate my earlier one that those I know are mostly IMF/WB/IDB. Even a 25-30% cohort is significant for the overall culture. International organization folks are, IME, more likely to put WIS on the top of their lists because of the desire to keep up language skills.

[Anonymous]

They always have had racial issues so depends if you are a family of color or white.

[pbraverman]

Anonymous wrote:The best thing to do is to go visit the school. It will give you a better sense than anything you will get on DCUM. Also, try to talk to current WIS parents to find out more details. The admissions office might even be able to put you in touch with some parents, if you ask.

My kids were "lifers" at WIS and we were extremely happy with the school. Of course it's not perfect, but no school can claim that title. Our kids who are now in college feel great affection for their time there and would definitely say it prepared them for university. Th community is warm and friendly (not sure what the PP above was talking about, but it sounds like they are basing their opinion on a small pool of people...)

I have some limited knowledge of St. John's through friends and family and it is vastly different than WIS in most ways. It is a fine school with a focus on sports. The academics are perfectly fine, but not as strong as WIS', whereas academics are very strong at WIS, but sports is not a big focus (definitely present, but not a focus).

Again, visit the school. You might find yourself pleasantly surprised, even if you decide that it's not the right fit for your kid.

Good luck!

Somebody should report this post. It's not clear what a thoughtful, rational person with no snarky "cleverness" and no obvious ax to grind is doing here at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does it compare to another private school, like St. John’s College High School?

They both have teachers and students.

Not sure I follow how someone is looking at both schools at the same time.

I imagine people who say things like this are either uber-Catholic or anti-Catholic. Most Catholics, particularly those coming from public schools could easily be happy at either school, and many people who are not Catholic are not ignorant of what Catholic schools are like and, freed from stereotypes, would happily send a child there.