Westwind Preparatory Academy

Coordinates: 33°33′10″N 112°06′10″W / 33.552740°N 112.102687°W / 33.552740; -112.102687

Westwind Preparatory Academy is a college preparatory public charter high school in Phoenix, Arizona. It is operated by Westwind Children's Services, a nonprofit operator of several other Phoenix-area charter schools, Westwind Community Schools. The school opened in 1998. It received accreditation from North Central (NCA which has now merged with AdvancEd) in 2001 as a college preparatory high school. WPA recently successfully completed its charter renewal, as well as the renewal of its accreditation. The. School sits on a 5-acre site near 19th Avenue and Northern in Phoenix. It is just west of the intersection where Phoenix's newest light rail mass transit extension is scheduled for completion in 2015. The school facilities include a field, classrooms, a theater, science lab, computer lab and video production studio. The home court for basketball is at nearby ARCH gym and will continue there until the new gym facilities are complete. The WPA site is the former location of Arizona College of the Bible. Student housing is adjacent to the campus. The summary of 2013 ACT results stated that 100% of WPA students who took the ACT in 2013 met the threshold for College and Career Readiness.

The school has been an International Baccalaureate World School since 2010.

International

The school is an approved SEVIS school and has an international division. Out-of-state students pay tuition to attend Westwind Prep. Approximately 20% of students at WPA are tuition based. For the 2013-2014 school year, there are students from eight countries outside of the US. Twelve of the thirty international students in 2013-2014 are from China. Three years ago, there were 13 different countries represented by international students attending WPA. The majority of international students are not part of the basketball program. Housing for international students is either in school facilities or home stays. The international program supports the mission goal of preparing students to be successful in a global economy, understanding the world and their places in it. ESL classes are offered for international students. International students from WPA have been accepted at universities throughout the US, including ASU, NAU, Boston University, Tulane, Texas A & M, the University of Wisconsin, and many more.

The international facet of the school received attention in 2011 after the school's basketball team won the Arizona Interscholastic Association 2A state title. The composition of the team was heavily international. The situation with Westwind and The Orme School of Arizona prompted changes in AIA policies about international students on sports teams.

WPA is currently a member of the Canyon Athletic Association. This allows students who are both local and out of state or international to participate in extracurricular activities and sports. Both local and international students compete in boys and girls basketball, football, volleyball, cheer, soccer and track and field. There is also a theater program, NHS, WTV, choir and other activities.

Basketball

In 2007, WPA added a basketball post grad program (sometimes known as a prep program) designed to help basketball players further develop athletically and academically before starting their university experience. Student athletes are required to take academic classes either at the high school level or dual enrollment college classes, in addition to their training and competition. In 2009, WPA's prep program was ranked 6th in the country by ESPN. To date, three WPA alumni have gone on to the NBA: Greg Smith, Jamaal Franklin and Tony Snell. Alum Kiwi Gardner is currently playing in the NBA D-League. Over 45 WPA alumni have gone on to play at the collegiate level. During the 2012-13 season, there were only two Chinese players competing at the Division One level. One of those players, Ted Wang, is a WPA alumni. During the 2013-2014 season, most notably Bo Barnes (ASU) and Que Johnson (WSU) are playing for Division I schools.

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