Washtenaw International High School announces student spots allocation for each district for first year
Washtenaw International High School is scheduled to open next year in the former East Middle School, shown here. There are 151 spots for students available in the incoming freshman class, officials announced.
Mark Bialek | For AnnArbor.com
The high school, an International Baccalaureate program open to seven of the traditional Washtenaw County school districts, will have a total of 151 students in the initial class.
Here are the initial seat allocations by district, according to Naomi Norman, director of assessment, planning and research at the Washtenaw Intermediate School District:
- Ann Arbor Public Schools — 68 spots
- Saline Area Schools — 23 spots
- Lincoln Consolidated Schools — 20 spots
- Ypsilanti Public Schools — 16 spots
- Milan Area Schools — 11 spots
- Willow Run Community Schools — Eight spots
- Whitmore Lake Public Schools — Five spots
Spots were allocated to school districts based on size, and students will be selected to go to the school in a lottery process. The initial deadline for student applications was Feb. 14, but applications from participating school districts are still being accepted, and are available on the school's web site.
Out-of-county applications will be accepted until March 28. Any slots not filled by students in the consortium partner districts will be available to out-of-county students interested in the program.
Once all the spots for each particular district have been filled, students will be added to a wait list.
Placement testing began last week and ends on April 10.
The high school will teach the International Baccalaureate program of learning, which is used around the world. More than 3,000 similar programs exist worldwide, teaching about 1 million students. There are 33 International Baccalaureate programs in Michigan.
The program will be housed at the former East Middle School in Ypsilanti, which closed to students at the end of the 2009-10 school year. The school eventually hopes to hold about 600 students.
Two additional parent information meetings have been scheduled for later this month. Both meetings will be at 7 p.m. on March 21 and March 28 at the former East Middle School, 510 Emerick St. in Ypsilanti.
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Basic Bob
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 3:12 p.m.
AAPS now has 7 high schools for their students. It's time to consolidate buildings and close the former Jones elementary school.
Topher
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 8:08 p.m.
It will be interesting to see how WIHS pulls of the IB program. Class sizes are being set at 30/class. I have never seen an IB program with this many students per class and I imagine that the amount of work for IB teachers (which is a lot of paperwork, accurate internal assessments, and curriculum building) and the effect on student learning will be interesting. A factory approach to IB would be disastrous. Parents and guardians - ask a lot of questions! Future teachers - compare to other IB schools!
Topher
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 12:42 a.m.
@ Spyker - As an IB certified teacher, this is definitely true for me. IB students are very motivated, open to new ideas, and do all of their work, which can be refreshing if other students do not do this. I will say though, that the prospect of teaching and assessing 30 students multiplied by the 6 classes (180, or if we assume that one class won't be academic - 150) that teachers at WIHS will teach (+ a mandatory club after school), my premonition is that WIHS will could have a high burnout rate. It will very much be about how the WIHS administration adapts based on what works and what doesn't.
Spyker
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 12:24 a.m.
From conversations with the former "Head Master"of the International Academy in Bloomfield Hills, the single biggest draw for educators to work in such a program is the students. The joy of working with a class room full of students who truly desire to learn and advance, more than compensates for the longer hours, reduced pay/benefits (their teachers come from all of the Oakland County Districts and hours/pay/benefits are not equal between all Districts), and increased workload. For possibly the first time in their careers they no longer have to cajole, trick, or push students to learn. A tremendous emotional rush to those who love to teach!
DonBee
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 6:30 p.m.
Next year I will let my child apply. I suspect that there will be 8 or 9 applications for every spot in the program
Dog Guy
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 3:25 p.m.
A regional school and an international curriculum might control the AAPS enough to allow highly-motivated teachers to educate rather than indoctrinate. The biggest winners may be those students who apply simply because they live close to East Middle School. Good Luck!