Mission

The mission of the International School of the Americas (ISA) is to challenge all members of the school community to consistently reflect on and question what it means to be acting at one’s fullest potential as a learner, leader, and global citizen.  Students and teachers are asked to use their education to improve themselves, their school, and the local and global community. 

Mission in Action

ISA’s small size and structure provide the sense of not just community but family.  Relationships are fostered through intentional practices to build deep learning, real support, and honest dialogue.   Students and teachers feel supported, valued, and empowered.

Teachers and students value relationships, appreciate diversity, accept differences, take risks, and help students set and achieve individualized goals for learning. Students are known and individual accommodations are made for learning styles, differences, talents, and interests. 

Teachers design curricular and pedagogical experiences, enact grade-level teaming, integrate curriculum within and between the disciplines, facilitate communication with families, and lead students in travel.  Through authentic, performance-based learning, students grapple with complex questions, look at multiple perspectives, make judicious decisions, and find solutions not only for themselves but also for the world community.

Students are provided equal access to ISA via an open application process with lottery selection, heterogeneous grouping, and the expectation that all students will meet a high academic standard.  Enrichment experiences including travel, field trips, internships, and community service are available to all students regardless of socioeconomic constraints.  The doors of learning are open to all students at ISA.

Graduate Profile

ISA graduates will demonstrate the following knowledge, skills, and values:

Academic Preparation

  • Meet all requirements for the recommended diploma set by the State of Texas, the North East Board of Trustees, and the International School of the Americas
  • Cultivate rigorous habits of mind such as intellectual curiosity, a desire for life-long learning, critical thinking, and effective organization of their efforts to learn
  • Prepare to engage successfully in college coursework or other post-secondary pursuits

Technological Proficiency

  • Use appropriate technological tools to facilitate critical research, analytical thinking, problem solving, effective communication, and professional presentations
  • Communicate and work across national and regional boundaries

Problem Solving Proficiency

  • Understand the complexity of the “big picture” and component parts of an issue
  • Collect, analyze and synthesize information from a range of sources
  • Evaluate media and sources of information for bias, validity, and scholarly integrity
  • Demonstrate mathematical analysis, scientific processing, and logical reasoning 
  • Challenge assumptions and tolerate ambiguity
  • Reason morally and make decisions ethically
  • Think creatively to generate new ideas, outcomes, products and ways of viewing the world
  • Transfer knowledge and problem-solving skills across domains and articulate connections between disciplines

Effective Communication

  • Demonstrate mastery of reading, writing, listening, and speaking for a variety of modes and purposes
  • Present information and express opinions in a literate, persuasive, and appropriate manner: orally, visually, in writing, and through electronic communication tools
  • Use the arts to express ideas and emotions
  • Develop proficiency in an additional language
  • Understand the importance of math and science in expressing ideas and transferring information across cultures and throughout history

Personal Wellness

  • Practice habits of personal wellness including mental, emotional and physical health
  • Prioritize and manage multiple demands and tasks
  • Cultivate productive relationships in school, community, and personal lives
  • Develop senses of identity, self-esteem, personal value, individuality, and life direction
  • Demonstrate self-control and responsibility

Collaboration and Leadership

  • Understand that individuals can make a difference
  • Appreciate and foster diversity in groups and communities
  • Show sensitivity and empathy to the lives, needs and feelings of others to promote humanity and preserve human rights
  • Complete at least 120 hours of documented service to the community
  • Complete at least 120 hours of career exploration through the internship program

Global Awareness

  • Understand multiple perspectives of global dynamics—how economic, political, technological, environmental, and social systems work within and across nations and regions
  • Possess the knowledge and skills to understand global issues, concerns, and events on an in-depth level
  • Understand the historical development of major world cultures and their contemporary characteristics, beliefs, and values
  • Recognize the role of language within a culture
  • Travel in order to promote knowledge and tolerance of multiple regions and cultures, and to recognize patterns that are common among all cultures
  • Understand the contributions of different cultures to ways of life in the United States
  • Recognize that resources are limited, consider environmental and economic theories of resource use and conservation, and articulate points of view on resource usage.

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