Anonymous
Post 09/17/2025 12:54     Subject: Washington International School
Anonymous wrote:WIS parents remind me of the parents in the 1980s who were all on their kids learning Japanese because it was “the future”.


What kind of comparison is that? The immersion program is French and Spanish, which the majority of the world speaks outside of English.

Also for a good number of these families, French or Spanish (or both!) is spoken at home.

If any one should remind you of parents from the 1980s it should be this board’s unhealthy fixation on the other prep schools and getting a leg up on Ivy admissions.

Nothing screams Class Insecure Yuppie than insisting their pre-k child go to GDS to insure they are on track for HYP.

Anonymous
Post 09/17/2025 12:47     Subject: Washington International School
Anonymous wrote:Newsflash: pretty much every good school in DC and especially Big 3 teaches at least a 2nd language from the get go. WIS isn’t special.

Why do you pay your HoS more than any of the Big 3?


1. WIS is a language immersion school. None of the Big 3 are language immersion schools.

2. It is also fact that they do not teach language “from the get go”.

3. If you don’t think WIS is special then don’t send your kid there. It’s that simple.

And why do you care how much the HoS makes? How does that impact your life? It’s not your money.
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2025 12:21     Subject: Washington International School
WIS parents remind me of the parents in the 1980s who were all on their kids learning Japanese because it was “the future”.
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2025 12:18     Subject: Washington International School
Newsflash: pretty much every good school in DC and especially Big 3 teaches at least a 2nd language from the get go. WIS isn’t special.

Why do you pay your HoS more than any of the Big 3?
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2025 09:04     Subject: Washington International School
Oh you’re not going to like the instant translate software then.


The process of bilingual learning at an early age has many documented benefits for brain development across all subjects, regardless of whether knowledge of a particular foreign language ends up being a useful skill in and of itself decades down the road (our view is that it certainly can't hurt!). And, because DD had entered kindergarten already having taught herself to read novels and having skipped a grade in her extracurricular math program, she had completely disengaged from primary school-based learning before we moved her to WIS. The additional challenge of learning a new language made DD dramatically more interested in what was happening in the classroom, and she is now a happy, involved child who is excited to go to school every day and cannot wait to start her homework the moment she gets home. We simply could not have gotten any of that at a non-bilingual school, and would absolutely choose WIS all over again.
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2025 08:17     Subject: Re:Washington International School
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I suppose it depends on what you are comparing it to, but I would hardly say "most", as even amongst the private schools there are plenty that are 1/3 or 1/2 of that.


You’re right; I meant the competitive schools in the area. We only considered those so this price point was our only frame of reference.


"the competitive schools, we only considered those"
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2025 05:42     Subject: Washington International School
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:US parent of 3 current WIS students (both primary & middle) here, and we are very happy! DD was academically quite advanced at an early age, so we started her at WIS primary to give her the added challenge of learning a new language, with the goal of keeping her engaged in school. DD has been very happy at WIS literally since day 1, so we enrolled her younger siblings as well. We now have 3 bilingual children whose friends come from all over the world. It's a lovely environment, both nurturing and challenging. Highly recommend!


Oh you’re not going to like the instant translate software then.


Well it’s a good thing they teach more than just foreign languages.

Anonymous
Post 09/17/2025 02:55     Subject: Washington International School
Anonymous wrote:US parent of 3 current WIS students (both primary & middle) here, and we are very happy! DD was academically quite advanced at an early age, so we started her at WIS primary to give her the added challenge of learning a new language, with the goal of keeping her engaged in school. DD has been very happy at WIS literally since day 1, so we enrolled her younger siblings as well. We now have 3 bilingual children whose friends come from all over the world. It's a lovely environment, both nurturing and challenging. Highly recommend!


“Nurturing environment” is to the school quality, what “charming interior” is to the house quality.
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2025 02:54     Subject: Washington International School
The reality is that for an academically normal to gifted child, there’s no calculation that says you should pick the more expensive WIS over the better Big 3. Just is.
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2025 02:53     Subject: Washington International School
Anonymous wrote:US parent of 3 current WIS students (both primary & middle) here, and we are very happy! DD was academically quite advanced at an early age, so we started her at WIS primary to give her the added challenge of learning a new language, with the goal of keeping her engaged in school. DD has been very happy at WIS literally since day 1, so we enrolled her younger siblings as well. We now have 3 bilingual children whose friends come from all over the world. It's a lovely environment, both nurturing and challenging. Highly recommend!


Oh you’re not going to like the instant translate software then.