St. John's International School
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St. John's International School located in Waterloo, Belgium was founded by a group of Catholic nuns belonging to Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ) in 1964. The school teaches Christian values and has a student body from a very international background with students from most major religions attending. St. John's (abbrev. STJ) runs from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade, the final year of high school. It offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma program. However, AP programs are also offered by the school in a limited capacity.
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[edit] Campus
St. John's owns an impressive and constantly expanding campus. The school has numerous facilities that are destined to help a student fulfill his or her full potential. Some notable facilities are:
- The Sports Hall and Sports Arena are the school's gymnasium. The Sports Arena, commonly known as the Arena, which cost more than 7 million Euros to build, is a state of the art facility, possessing some of the most recent equipment and material to help the athletes better their skills. It was built in 2003
- The Science Hall is an extended part of the Main Building that was built on top of the Cafeteria. It was build to hold some of the best equipment to help students in the Area of Science.
- The Performing Arts Center, commonly known as the PAC, was built in 2005. The building was extended out of the old cafeteria and currently holds many rooms that are destined to help students in the area of Performing Arts. the building holds more than 15 rooms, in addition to a Main Theater which holds some of the best equipment, and can hold a maximum 400 people. This main theater was where the Sound of Music play was held. The play attracted a full house on each of the three nights it was held. The PAC cost more than 10 million euros to build.
[edit] Admissions
Admission to St. John's is based on academic ability. The school is equal opportunity enroller. In order to be admitted to the school, students must follow the following procedures:
- Interview with Admissions Officer
- Present review of students academic records from past three years
- Placement testing
- Relevant Paperwork
[edit] Graduation Requirements
To graduate from St. John's, a student must meet certain requirements. They must complete a base amount of 22 credits (each class, scheduled on an annual basis, generally gives one credit). If they are part of the IB program, they must have at least a passing grade in their IB subjects to be able to graduate with their IB diploma.
[edit] Athletics
Along with a prestigious academic program, St. John's also possesses a rigorous and highly successful athletics program. Using the mascot "Lions", the school competes regularly in the ISST (International School Sports Tournament) among others. Over the years St. John's has won top honors at the ISST's for Track and Field, Volleyball, Basketball. The school boasts a state of the art gymnasium called the Sports Arena. They also possess a newly refurbished soccer field that now also holds a Baseball Diamond. Teams usually compete on weekends and the school's rival school in athletics is mainly the International School of Brussels (ISB).
In Elementary school, students are encouraged to participate in numerous sports and can join school teams such as the Track and Field Team. Once in Middle School, the sports program becomes more competitive and the students can participate in all of the sports that the school has to offer. The Middle School teams are divided into the "A team" and the "B team". The High School Sports program is the most competitive and draws the most school spirit. In high school the teams are divided into JV and Varsity, and compete against schools from as far away as Cairo. It is the High School teams that compete in the ISST tournaments.
[edit] Recent Sports Achievements
[edit] Basketball
St. John's is especially noted for their 3 consecutive wins for Div. 1 ISST Varsity Boys Basketball in 2003, 2004, 2005.The team is lead by coach Dennis Davis, a former NBA player for the Atlanta Hawks. Josh Davis, the coach's son, now plays for Yale University.
[edit] Volleyball
The boys' volleyball team recently made ISST history as being the only team in recent years to beat Cairo American College (CAC) in Div. 1 Varsity Boys' Volleyball. CAC had four consecutive wins from 2001 to 2004, and four wins from 1995 to 1999. In 2004, the Lions Div. 1 girls' varsity volleyball team won the school their first volleyball ISST's in 11 years.
[edit] Track and Field
In 2004, St. John's secured themselves another ISST win; a boys' varsity track and field ISST win. The scored a first place in the event, making it the school's second ISST win for anything in under a year.
[edit] Softball
In 2006, the St. John's softball team won the Div. 2 Softball ISST's.
[edit] Other Sports
The St. John's junior varsity teams also possess strong talent. In 2005, the JV boys' basketball (lead by Richard Katherman, former player for the Houston Rockets) team won the JV tournament held at St. John's. In 2004, the team also won the JV tournament held at St. John's.
