International Community School (USA)
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International Community School (ICS) is a small 7-12th grade school in the Lake Washington School District. It is called a choice school because its students have made a choice to attend ICS instead of other schools. It offers a special six year Humanities/International Studies/Arts curriculum, instead of the regular no art/LASS(Language Arts and Social Studies). Additionally, students study a foreign language, generally Spanish, for four years, with the intention of achieving fluency. Every year, students from the school go on Focus Week, leaving "the confines of the classroom to expand their knowledge". [1]
The school is located in Kirkland, Washington and serves all students from the Lake Washington School District, which covers eastern King County, Washington. It was proposed to the Lake Washington school district by parents in 1997 and its program and policies were developed by Dr. Bruce Saari who modeled it after International School in the nearby Bellevue School District, where he had been program developer the previous six years. In every year since it was founded, ICS students have achieved scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) test ranked among the top few schools in Washington. In 2005, it was selected as a No Child Left Behind—Blue Ribbon School. [2] Cindy Duenas is the current principal of ICS, as well as Environmental Adventure School.
As of 2006, ICS had an enrollment of 380 students. Because of the limited enrollment, students are chosen from applicants from Lake Washington School District's 6th grade class by lottery, though it was founded with a sibling advantage, as well as an advantage for "founding families" who helped start the school, both of which have almost expired. The mascot is the Phoenix, and the motto is "Forever We Rise".
[edit] References
- ^ Focus Week. International Community School. Retrieved on July 9, 2006.
- ^ Selected 2005 Schools. No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools Program. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved on February 2, 2006.
