St. John's International School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St. John's International School located in Waterloo, Belgium was founded by a group of Catholic nuns belonging to Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ) in 1964. Although it teaches "Christian values" it has a student body from a very international background with students from most major religions attending. St. John's (abrev. STJ) runs from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade, the final year of high school. It offers the International Baccalaurate Diploma program.
Contents |
[edit] Campus
St. John's owns an impressive and constantly expanding campus. The school has numerous facilities that are destined to help a student fulfil his or her full potential. Some notable facilities are:
- The Sports Hall and Sports Arena are the school's gymnasia. The Sports Arena, commonly known as the Arena, which cost more than 7 million Euros to build, is a state of the art facility, possessing some of the most recent equipment and material to help the athletes better their skills. It was built in 2003
- The Science Hall is an extended part of the Main Building that was built on top of the Cafeteria. It was build to hold some of the best equipment to help students in the Area of Science.
- The Performing Arts Center, commonly known as the PAC, was built in 2005. The building was extended out of the old cafeteria and currently holds many rooms that are destined to help students in the area of Performing Arts. the building holds more than 15 rooms, in addition to a Main Theatre which holds some of the best equipment, and can hold a maximun 400 people. This main theatre was where the Sound of Music play was held. The play attracted a full house on each of the three nights it was held. The PAC cost more than 10 million euros to build.
[edit] Admissions
Admission to St. John's is based on academic ability. The school is equal opportunity enroller. In order to be admitted to the school, students must follow the following procedures:
- Interview with:
- The Director of Admissions - Guidance Councilor and IB Coordinator
- Present review of students academic records from past two years
- A tour of school
- Placement testing
- Relevant Paperwork
[edit] Graduation Requirements
To graduate from St. John's, a student must meet certain requirements. First of all, they must complete a base amount of 22 credits (each class--scheduled on an annual basis--generally gives one credit). If they are part of the IB program, they must have at least a passing grade in their IB subjects to be able to graduate with their IB diploma.
[edit] Athletics
Along with a prestigious academic program, St. John's also possesses a rigorous and highly successful athletics program. Under the logo as "Lions", the school competes regularly in the ISST (International School Sports Program) among others. Over the years St. John's has won top honors at the ISST's for Track and Field, Volleyball, Basketball. It also has come in second, third and fourth in sports such as Swimming, Cross Country and Tennis as well as the ones stated before. The school boasts a state of the art gymnasium called the Sports Arena. They also possess a newly refurbished soccer field that now also holds a Baseball Triangle. Teams usually compete on weekends and the school's rival school in athletics is mainly the International School of Brussels (ISB).
[edit] Elementary School
In Elementary school, students are encouraged to participate in numerous sports and can join school teams such as the Track and Field Team
[edit] Middle School
In Middle School, the sports programme becomes more competitive and the students can participate in all of the sports that the school has to offer. There are Middle School teams are divided into the "A team" and the "B team".
[edit] High School
The High School Sports program is the most competitive and draws the most school spirit. In high school the teams are divided into JV and Varsity, and compete against teams from as far away as Cairo. It is the High School teams that compete in the ISST tournaments.
[edit] Recent Sports Achievements
[edit] Basketball
St. John's is especially noted for their 3 consecutive wins for Div. 1 ISST Varsity Boys Basketball in 2003, 2004, 2005. Notable players for this "dream team" were Joshua Davis, Serkan and Hakan Erol, with Laurent Karim, Bejamin Dupont and Josef Faddoul later joining the squad. Joshua Davis was well known for his impressive "dunking" skills that usually captivated the audience. Laurent, Bejamin and Joesef (later labelled the "Big 3") usually put together many captivating plays where they showed the team's much obvious lead in talent over the opponent team. Joshua, Benjamin and Laurent have all made the All Tournament Team, which is a compilation of the best players from each team. The supporting and crucial players from 2003 to 2005 were Aaron Rossi, Steve Katherman, Ryan Larson, Michael Demytenara, Richard Bargash, Andrew Youssef, Kevin Coval among others. It is important to note that during this three season period, the boy's Varsity team were undefeated with an 83-0 winning streak. St. John's, aiming for a 4th win, would have become the only school in ISST history to have won 4 consecutive Div. 1 Boy's Basketball ISST tournaments. Unfortunately, with the graduation of three of the team's strongest players (Joshua, Serkan and Hakan), and a growing desire by rival teams to defeat the "dominating Lion", the team suffered losses at the 2006 ISST's, with their streak ending with a defeat from the American School of Paris (ASP). The team still managed to land in 3rd place, gaining the school another impressionable trophy. Though not in ISST history for 4 consecutive wins, the team among the teams who have won 3 consecutive times, and the players on the team have all made school history. The school is looking forward to its 2006-2007 season to regain their once held pride. The team is lead by coach Dennis Davis, a former NBA player.
[edit] Volleyball
[edit] Boys Volleyball
The Lions have recently made ISST history as being the only team in recent years to beat Cairo American School (CAC) in Div. 1 Varsity Boys' Volleyball. CAC had an impressive 4 consecutive wins from 2001 to 2004, and four wins from 1995 to 1999. In 2005 fortune changed. The Lions Varsity team, comprised entirely of seniors, battled through an undefeated season of 13-0 and raced towards the ISST's. The team played an undefeated tournament and entered the much anticipated final against Cairo. The team won the first set but suffered a figting loss in the following two. In the final set, both teams bounced back and forth for the lead until, at a 14-11 lead for the lions, the middle spiker/blocker blocked a hit from CAC middle spiker/blocker, giving St. John's their first ever win over Cairo and at the ISST's. The notable players for this team were team captains Daniel Legge and Michael Demytenara, as well as Johnathan Floyd, who all won the All Tournament Award. The supporting and rest of team in this case were Andrew Christiansen, William McGarry, Anum Greene, Rouben Alaverdian and Jae Sung Lee. Natan Czarnecki and Beau Becker stteped up from the vastly succesful JV squad to assist the Varsity in their victory. The team is currently coached by coach Van Steenbeck With all of the current team graduating as seniors, young Beau Becker and Nate Czarnecki stepped up to be the team's new captains. They led the team to a winning season, going into the tournament with high hopes. The current team placed fourth in the 2006 ISST Tournament at the American International School of Vienna. Beau Becker, Ivan Rousseau, and G-Slann, "The Ladies Man", led the team in a come-from-behind victory against the American school in London to reach the Semi-final match against Cairo. Pio Chan-Tung and Andrew McGarry, battling cancer of the back at the time, joined the team and help in their victories. They proceded to win one set aginst the seasoned Cario team, saddly loosing 3-1. They lost to the American International School of Vienna in the Third Place game. In an epic battle for volleyball history gaining a respectable but disapointing fourth place.
[edit] Girls Volleyball
In 2004, the Lions Div. 1 Girl's Varsity Volleyball team won the school their first Girl's VOlleyball ISST's in 11 years. The team battled through an impressive season and raced towards the ISST's. With a desire to secure the school a win in the ISST's, the girls fought their way through the competition. Upon reaching the finals, the team battled and won the Championship, securing the school their first Girls Volleyball ISST's win in 11 years, and their first win in their newly built Sports Arena. The notable players for this team were Lindsay Augustine and Dionna Sher, both of whom won the All Tournament Award. Dionna Sher was especially noted for her impressive spikes which were usually unreturnable and unblockable. The supporting and crucial players were Kelsi Ludvigsen, Stephanie Dubois, Alexandra Maybrey, Mariana Da Silva among others. The team was and still is lead by coach Rita. The girls did not win the ISST's in 2005, and in 2006 they brought home 4th place, with Aliciamaria Lewandowski making All-Tournament. They hope to win the 2007 ISST's.
[edit] Track and Field
In 2004, St. John's secured themselves another ISST win: A Boy's Varsity Track and Field ISST win. The scored a first place in the event, making it the school's second ISST win for anything in under a year. Notable athletes for the Boy's Track and Field team were Carl Nordenstam, a sprinter and Serkan Erol, a fielder. In 2005 though the team only managed to come third, Serkan Erol managed to routinely break many records for the Discus and Shotput events. In one meet, he amazingly managed to break his own already broken record twice.
[edit] Softball
In 2006, the St. John's softball team surprised many by winning the Div. 2 Softball ISST's. This came as a surprise as, in the previous tournament, this same team managed to get relegated. They bounced back in 2006 and won the tournament, giving the school a win. The notable players for this team were Sara Katherman and Michelle Augustine. Jane Fillmore led the team as captain, playing first base and hitting two home runs in the ISST tournament.
[edit] Other Sports
St. John's has also has many other sports achievements:
- St. John's had talented Cross Country and Track and Field athletes, namely Stella Von. and
Jemma McCarthy. These two routinely placed first or second in cross cournty and Track and Field races.
- In 2005 the St. John's Varsity Baseball team played hard and entered the Spring ISST's that
were held at St. John's with high hopes. The team pushed towards the final, but although they unfortunately did not win, they managed to score second place.
- The St. John's Junior Varsity teams also possess strong talent. In 2005, the JV Boy's Basketball team won the JV tournament held at St. John's. In 2004, the JV Boy's Volleyball team won the JV tournament held at St. John's.
It should be noted that St. John's has an undefeated streak for tournaments held in the new Sports Arena, having won all Boy's Basketball and Volleyball games as well Girl's Volleyball games.
[edit] What They Say
'From pre-kindergarten to university entrance, our students benefit from the school's high academic standards as well as the wide range of extra-curricular activities.
An ecumenical school with a Christian philosophy, St. John's fosters racial, cultural and religious harmony. As a result, students develop a sense of global awareness in a multi-cultural environment.
St. John's prepares students for the International Baccalaureate, the American High School Diploma and the Advanced Placement examinations. See for yourself. We're in Waterloo, just twenty minutes from the heart of Brussels and ... just a click of a mouse away ...'
