How much turnover is there at sixth grade at WIS? It looks like the school has basically 60-70 kids per class from K through 12th, but I have to imagine that changing campuses and ending immersion between 5th and 6th means that a number of kids leave and are replaced by newbies at the beginning of middle school. Is that right? Any idea what the number (or range) is? Many thanks in advance!

FWIW, I got interested enough in IB programs to do a little more research. I came across a couple very interesting items. I admire the blogger's tenacious pursuit of data about average IB diploma scores. Unfortunately, since the data is all from Florida, it does not shed too much light on how IB programs in other places might compare.

I did find interesting the comment that "most Ivy League schools want to see a 38 or above, which only 15% of IB diploma candidates in the world achieve."

http://itsassimpleasthat.com/2011/11/10/ib-diploma-schools-in-florida-mean-scores/
http://itsassimpleasthat.com/2011/11/08/the-ib-diploma-school-asking-the-right-questions/

Agree with PP on the math being fine. We know several WIS families who have moved abroad to schools with very high expectations, and WIS kids are usually ahead of the game. Sadly, I don't think any private schools in DC are cornering the market on math education, although GDS seems more likely than any of the others to attract and accommodate the needs of true math prodigies.

For the 99.9% of children who are not math prodigies, the rest of the private schools here seem to be roughly equal in math and science teaching expertise. WIS students learn the same content as children at other schools (although they use a curriculum that aligns with international schools, not NW DC schools) and of course they also emerge fully bilingual/biliterate, with most fluent in at least 3 languages. I'd say they're quite well prepared for life.

Also, as you have no doubt seen on this discussion board, for a large subset of parents seeking private school, competitive sports are an enormous comparison factor. WIS parents (and non-US parents in general) tend not to fall into this category, although WIS has more than its share of excellent travel and academy-level soccer players. Certainly this makes a difference in how WIS is viewed by American parents, but I don't think anyone at WIS is losing sleep over that.

Anonymous wrote:I know several families, all quite well, who pulled their child from WIS to move them to a more traditional academic private. In every case it was because the parents were convinced their child was not receiving rigorous academic instruction, particularly in mathematics. In each case, the family felt after the move that, while WIS was excellent in language instruction, and global studies, it was not equal to the new school in regards to other subjects, especially math and science.

Parent of a WIS "lifer" here, who began in the school as a 3-year old. I too have heard this concern about the strength of the math program from time to time over the years. As a middle school student, DC took the SAT for an outside program. S/he scored in the 96%ile math and 95%ile verbal in middle school. I assume that means the math program is working.

Anonymous wrote:PP, your quick assessment of the SAT scores is possibly correct.

The WIS community has a number of students who come to the School from abroad at some point in their education; so that a good number may have spent part of their school years speaking another language.

Also, parents and students from other countries -- who plan to return to universities abroad, which requires IB results but not SAT scores -- may not (frankly) prepare their children for the SAT with prep classes, or emphasize the test as important.

When I look at the WIS profile, I see that two-thirds (66%) of WIS's seniors attend college in the US, so it seems most WIS students will be just as focused on SAT/AP exams as students from any other school.

A better measure of WIS success might be to look at the IB results at the School compared with those of other IB programs around the world. That is where the students are placing the focus of their study and preparation.

Perhaps that might be informative too. Here are links to the WIS profile and the student profile for Richard Montgomery's IB program. Are there other comparable IB programs we should compare with WIS?
http://www.wis.edu/data/files/gallery/ContentGallery/WISProfile_20122013.pdf
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/rmhs/ib/2010%20IB_Program_TEXT.pdf

The academics at Wis do and must hold up to international standards. The last time I checked, students in the states were behind in math and science. I want to see how the WIS math program works in the high school. I haven't visited yet, but at this point, I'm so so impressed.

I know several families, all quite well, who pulled their child from WIS to move them to a more traditional academic private. In every case it was because the parents were convinced their child was not receiving rigorous academic instruction, particularly in mathematics. In each case, the family felt after the move that, while WIS was excellent in language instruction, and global studies, it was not equal to the new school in regards to other subjects, especially math and science.

If you look at the above link, you'll see wis kids go to some of the most prestigious schools in the country and the world.

PP, your quick assessment of the SAT scores is possibly correct.

The WIS community has a number of students who come to the School from abroad at some point in their education; so that a good number may have spent part of their school years speaking another language.

Also, parents and students from other countries -- who plan to return to universities abroad, which requires IB results but not SAT scores -- may not (frankly) prepare their children for the SAT with prep classes, or emphasize the test as important.

A better measure of WIS success might be to look at the IB results at the School compared with those of other IB programs around the world. That is where the students are placing the focus of their study and preparation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do WIS students take any standard tests that students at other high schools take, such as National Merit exams? Comparing the WIS results on those exams might provide some clues about academic rigor of WIS and success of its students.

If these sorts of standardized scores are important to you then WIS is the wrong school for you.

Apparently those standardized scores are important to WIS too. I see them all featured prominently in WIS's student profile statement. http://www.wis.edu/data/files/gallery/ContentGallery/WISProfile_20122013.pdf

1262 SAT average (R+M)
14 PSAT Commended students out of 103 eligible students in 2011 and 2012 classes
Solid AP Exam scores
Plenty of respectable US colleges for grads

Seems like a fine school to me.

Those are low stats, maybe because they don't have as many native English speakers? My DCs public high school (MCPS) does better than this.

wis is amazing.

Anonymous wrote:Why did they leave for HS if they loved it so much?

Our DC was a "lifer" and decided to explore the possibility of other schools for upper school. -- don't we all seek to change things at least once in a decade?. Despite the admissions offers to two of the local Big 3 schools, DC ultimately decided to stay at WIS for 9th grade, in part because it became apparent that our family would be moving abroad in the next year. When DH was transferred abroad that next year, DC went on to an excellent school in the NE.

Why did they leave for HS if they loved it so much?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very selective (now extremely hard to get into if your child doesn't already have 2+ languages, though they need not be English, French, or Spanish). Great academics, as agreed upon by those coming from or leaving for schools around the world. Yes, the language immersion, while a huge draw for many, does not appeal to as broad a swath of DC private school parents as the general curriculum of GDS, Maret, etc., (though WIS children handle all of that general curriculum but in 2+ languages) so it isn't mentioned here as often.

Not necessarily for lower school. I know someone who was accepted at WIS this year who only speaks English. The same child also didn't get into any Big 3 but will be attending a school other than WIS.

Your posting does not mean that WIS is not competitive to get into, only that the applicant (and/or their family) -- at the level the child applied -- was not a good fit for the other schools.

DC applied for preK to the Big 3 as well as WIS, and was admitted to WIS. Fast-forward years later to DC's upper school admissions process, where DC applied for admission to 2 of the Big 3, and was admitted to both. DC chose to attend upper school in the NE instead, and went on to a top Ivy.

WIS recognized DC's natural intelligence and ability at a young age, and taught DC in the best possible way. It is still DC's favorite school (and ours too).

Anonymous wrote:Very simple - it's a great school but its grads don't have the pedigree of the big 3 in terms of future lawyers/politicians.

The alum lists vary tremendously among the DC private schools. GDS has few prominent alums male or female; STA has plenty; Sidwell has prominent male alum, but few prominent female alum -very mixed pedigree. Madeira is the female peer of STA when it comes to alum pedigree.