International Schools Directory

International School (IS) is a 6-12th grade school in the Bellevue School District founded by six Bellevue teachers in 1990. The founding teachers were: Rick Hart, Patricia McLean, Rita Lowy, Bruce Saari, Terry LaRussa Banton and Karen Kurle. After winning a competitive $300,000 grant from the "Schools for the 21st Century" commission, the six were granted a half year of release time to continue to develop the program, recruit families, and open with 150 sixth and seventh graders in the fall of 1990. Called an optional school, but considered to be an alternative school, it offers a special seven year, seven subject curriculum, in which students take seven years of humanities (language arts), international studies, math, science, PE/health and fine arts. Additionally, students study a foreign language, French or German, for seven years, with the intention of achieving fluency, and ultimately studying subjects such as literature, history and social studies in, that language . Furthermore, in their senior year, students are put through a rigorous project known as "Senior Project". This project is so intense that an entire class has been dedicated to it. Its results have been so positive that the rest of the Bellevue School District has adopted it into its curriculum. Students of the International School, none of whom are enrolled in occupational education classes, also participate in a week-long activity of their choosing with the aid of school staff. This "Focus Week" was designed as a way for students to earn their Occupational Credits or elective credits required to graduate high school in Washington State. During Focus Week, students are taught skills such as: sewing, rocket making, sailing and other activities not taught in the traditional classroom setting. Many of the Focus Weeks involve going on overnight trips to other parts of the state, other states and sometimes outside of the country, including a three-week long exchange program to either France or Germany. Although Focus Week is required students must pay a fee that varies based on the specific activity chosen. The school is located in Bellevue, Washington, and serves all students from the Bellevue School District, which includes the affluent cities of Bellevue, Clyde Hill, Medina, Hunts Point, Yarrow Point, Beaux Arts Village and parts of Newcastle, Redmond and Kirkland. As of 2006, IS had an enrollment of 458 students. Because of the limited enrollment, students are chosen from applicants from Bellevue 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.