Study at Western Academy of Beijing China

Thank you for taking the time to visit the Western Academy of Beijing. WAB offers a broad educational program and an extraordinarily warm and caring environment!

WAB was founded in 1994 and since that time, has been guided by its Mission to "educate our children to reach their full potential in a warm and caring community that fosters excellence and responsibility."

WAB educates the whole child, champions its staff and involves parents. Our Core Values, living realities, which inform decision-making and ensure that we fulfill our mission, are as follows:

•Learner-centered
•China-Global Coherence
•Mosaic of Diversity
•WAB Spirit ('gong he')
•Caring

WAB's inclusive and celebratory approach to teaching and learning has taken on a characteristic WAB flavor that has been incorporated into the design of our modern, student friendly campus, which incorporates six buildings:

•Four school centers catering for each of its learner communities - Early Childhood Center (ECC), Elementary School (ES), Middle School (MS) and High School (HS)
•HUB Sports Arts and Technology Center (shared resource for MS and HS)
•Properties Department (WAB facilities and events)

Each school center is carefully designed to reflect and integrate the learning programs and developmental stage of the students. WAB is a home away from home, where students enjoy learning in a caring, stimulating environment with teachers who provide the best in educational programs. It is also a school where parents are always welcome and one that reaches out to serve and share with the community.

WAB is a high tech school, with all students using wireless laptop computers as an essential tool in their daily learning. A strong emphasis is placed on developing a strong sense of global awareness and action through community service.
WAB is different. It is alive with a unique, exciting quality that makes you wish you could be a student again. It buzzes with energy, activity, color, caring, laughter and smiles!

We are sure that after visiting WAB, you too will find that WAB is the right choice for you and your family.

Academic Excellence

To ensure that students can reach their full potential and achieve academic excellence, a number of inter-related elements are required to be in place. These include:

• A sound, well resourced curriculum;
• Experienced, caring teachers;
• School wide monitoring of student and school achievement.

At the Western Academy of Beijing, we ensure that our standards make clear the expectations of the curriculum. Achievement Standards are reference points against which student achievements can be qualitatively and quantitatively measured and reported.

Achievement Standard data is gathered throughout the year, to ascertain "snapshots" of each individual student's level of knowledge, skills and abilities in Reading, Writing, Spelling and Mathematics. All students participate in these assessments unless they are from non-English speaking background and have been given a non-English speaking level, or have specific learning difficulties that require intensive one-to-one support during the length of the assessment.

Annual assessments against international benchmarks indicate that the standard of reading for students at WAB is excellent. The cohort of students who speak English as a first language and who have spent time at the school, show higher standards of achievement in reading than the typical cohort on entry.

30% of students are significantly above their chronological age (18-35 months above), while 15% are outstanding readers (36 months or more). Students at WAB are also achieving very high standards in spelling. Some 24% of newly enrolled students are below standard for spelling - after a year or more at WAB, only 10% of students are below.

Achievements in Science and Mathematics in WAB are higher than international standards. A total of 65% percent of students perform in the top 30% range of achievement in Science and a total of 57% of students perform in the top 30% range of achievement in Mathematics.

Specific program strengths by grade level show higher than average results in every area of Science and Mathematics skills and understanding, with very significant areas of strength in Measurement and Space in Mathematics, and overall, particularly high achievement in Middle School classes.

Admissions Office,
Western Academy of Beijing,
P.O. Box 8547,
10 Lai Guang Ying Dong Lu,
Beijing, 100103, P.R.C.

Tel: (8610) 8456-4155 ext. 1050 or ext. 1051
Fax: (8610) 6433-3974

E-mail: admissions@wab.edu

Website: http: //www.wab.edu