What do parents and students at international schools know that the rest of us don't?
These types of schools immerse students in a second language and infuse a global perspective into the curriculum.
Each year international education programs top the lists of best schools in America. For 2009, Bellevue International School is U.S. News & World Report's 14th best public school in the nation. Newsweek places Bellevue International 11th on its list of leading public high schools, and International Community School in Kirkland made Newsweek's list of “elite” public schools. Newsweek calls Kirkland's school an “academic powerhouse.”
Test scores also indicate international school students do well – in most cases, better than their peers at comprehensive high schools. The most noticeable difference is on the science portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Ninety percent of Bellevue International students met the WASL science standard in 2007-08, compared with 68 percent at Bellevue High School. The two schools have similar student demographics, though Bellevue High is much larger.
Students at international schools seldom drop out, and between 98 and 100 percent go on to college. All students take at least one advanced placement class. In addition to gaining a global perspective through the curriculum, kids become fluent in a second language.
‘Challenging and Nurturing'
Just when this type of education seems a little too good to believe, Bellevue International parent Bart Becker makes it sound even better.
“The school is academically elite, but socially unpretentious, and that is very appealing to us,” says Becker, whose daughter Elena is in ninth grade.
He says the one drawback of international schools is the lack of sports programs. Students can compete in sports through other high schools in the district. Overall, though, Becker calls Bellevue's international program “both challenging and nurturing” with a small size that's appealing because “students have less anonymity” and teachers are able to address individual kids' needs.
Bellevue International School, which started almost 20 years ago, has 525 students in sixth through 12th grades. That's smaller than many elementary schools.
Perhaps the biggest surprise about the international schools on the Eastside is that students are admitted through a lottery system. Last year Bellevue International had more than 430 applicants. Of those, the school picked 81 students at random to enter sixth grade.
“The overall size does make a difference,” says Principal Peter Bang-Knudsen, Ph.D. “If someone is struggling, they rise to the surface quickly and we can help them. It's also nice to know the kids' names and know their families. We don't plan to expand.”
New International Schools in Seattle
Seattle Public Schools expands its international education options this month. Two new international programs open – Concord Elementary and Denny Middle School. Concord becomes Seattle's third international elementary, joining Beacon Hill and John Stanford. Denny is the second international middle school, along with Hamilton.
The Seattle school district's ultimate goal is to have a dozen international schools throughout the city - a total of six elementaries, three middle schools and three high schools.
The missing link in the district's international program track is a high school. As yet, there are no international high schools in Seattle, although Ingraham offers an International Baccalaureate option. And Chief Sealth faculty members vote in late October on whether to become Seattle's first international high school.
“The language piece is the challenge with creating international programs,” says Karen Kodama, the district's international education administrator. “Any school can teach a global perspective, but most schools don't have enough teachers who are fluent in a second language.”
Spanish is the most common second language taught in international schools. Some offer classes in Japanese and French. Seattle's Beacon Hill has the only Mandarin Chinese program in Washington.
The benefits of becoming fluent in a second language and understanding cultures around the world are obvious to Kodama.
“Through their school years, kids are learning who they are, what's important to them, what's their identity,” she says. “International schools take it a step further and intentionally have students think about their role in the world.”
Linda Thomas is a freelance journalist and a Seattle Schools parent. Sie spricht ein kleiner Deutscher, but is not fluent in a second language.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated since it was first published in September, when we erroneously reported that some teachers at Chief Sealth would need to be reassigned to another school or could lose their jobs if they aren't bilingual or qualified to teach a language immersion program. Karen Kodama, international education administrator with Seattle Public Schools, says such job reassignments or displacements are possible in elementary schools, but not in high schools or middle schools.
