Westchester Academy for International Studies

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Westchester Academy for International Studies
Director Pamela Butler
School type Public School/Charter School
Religious affiliation None
Founded 2000
Location Houston, Texas, United States
Enrollment < 1,000 students
Campus surroundings Urban
Mascot Wildcats
School colors Blue, Orange, Green

The Westchester Academy for International Studies (WAIS) is a public charter school in the Spring Branch Independent School District in Houston, Texas. It serves grades 6-12 and was recently accepted into the International Baccalaureate program. The principal/director of WAIS is Pamela Butler, and the assistant principal is Kathy Menotti.

The campus was formerly known as Westchester High School, and founded in 1967 with an enrollment of 1,800 students. After 7 years, the school had increased to nearly 4,000 students. The campus could not support the numbers, and as such Stratford High School was founded, in rather close proximity. Due to the oil bust and the resulting decreases in enrollment in the surrounding schools, there was not a large enough enrollment to require both Westchester and Stratford. The board voted to close the older of the two schools. Westchester High School was forced to close in 1985. During a 13 years period, the campus was leased to Houston Community College. After this duration, SBISD made plans for the campus, resulting in a massive amount of constrcution and improvement on the pre-existing campus. In 2001, it reopened its doors as Westchester Academy for International Studies. The school would eventually cap at 1,000 students spanning across grades 6-12th.

Notable alumni of Westchester include Berkeley Breathed, author of the Bloom County comic strip, rock musician and writer Bill Kelly, and David Clyde.

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