Faculty Initiatives

WIS faculty hail from 31 countries, bringing extensive international experience and perspectives.  Teachers and staff are very committed to ongoing development, including professional education, teacher exchanges, International Baccalaureate teacher training and sabbaticals abroad.  WIS also participates in the American Secondary Schools for International Students and Teachers (ASSIST) exchange.  Five WIS teachers have attended ASSIST teachers’ program in Brussels, a workshop which educates them about European unity, and most recently five faculty members participated in the ASSIST summer program in Prague.

With funds augmented from the EE Ford Foundation, WIS provides annual faculty scholarships for international projects.  For four consecutive summers, WIS grants sent eight teachers on trips that supported an expansion of the international focus of their teaching.  The most recent scholarship projects included a teacher and student exchange with Uruguay, a creativity program in Aix-en-Provence, a language and cultural program in Morocco, service trips with students to Brazil and Senegal, and language learning in Mexico.  School year 2007/2008 represents the launch of a new faculty benefit, allowing faculty with five years or more of WIS experience to apply for a grant of up to $3000 to support a significant, international experience.

WIS faculty participate in the planning and chaperoning of international service learning, summer culture and learning trips, and as team members in our Center for International Education LearnServe trips.