Westchester Academy for International Studies

• Name — Westchester Academy for International Studies • Established — 1967–1985; 1987–2000; 2001–present • District — Spring Branch Independent School District • Grades — 6–12 • Director — Bruce Hill • Dean — Alison Butler and Jesse Tachiquin • Ratio — 13.15 • Staff — 73.40 (FTE) • Enrollment — 830 (2021-22) • Colors — bluedarkorangegreen • Mascot — Wildcat • Yearbook — Miacis • Free Text — Kathy Menotti • Location — 901 Yorkchester, Houston, Texas • Country — United States • Website — https: wais.springbranchisd.com

During a thirteen-year period the campus was leased to Houston Community College. In 1987 about 30 students from SBISD and the Houston Independent School District gathered at Westchester High to study Japanese on every Saturday.

The campus of WAIS is divided into several wings (A–E). The A Wing houses the middle school, foreign language department, and technology classes. The B Wing houses the auditorium, theatre department, cafeteria, choir department, main office, and the Director's Office. The C Wing house the wood gym and the dance room. The D Wing houses the rubber gym and storage areas. Lastly, the E Wing houses the upper school and the Upper School Administration office. The WAIS campus is also home to the Southwest Transition Campus for elementary schools that are being rebuilt. The classes are housed in temporary buildings on the north side of the campus.

• Illustration — Altharetta Yeargin Art Museum The Altharetta Yeargin Art Museum (AYAM) is an art museum funded by the Spring Branch Independent School District, the Spring Branch Education Foundation, and the First Junior Woman's Club of Houston, as well as through generous museum patrons. It is one of the only school districts in the nation that has an art museum. The museum is housed on the north side of the campus and is open to visitors by appointment.

The Japanese Language Supplementary School of Houston, a supplementary Japanese school operated by the Japanese Educational Institute (JEI), holds its classes at WAIS on Saturdays. It is for children between ages 5 and 18 who are Japanese speakers. As of 2015 the program is headed by Yoshihiko Saito (斎藤 義彦 Saitō Yoshihiko).

• Berkeley Breathed, Cartoonist • David Clyde, Baseball • Barbara Comstock, former Congresswoman for Virginia's 10th congressional district • Robert Draper, Author, journalist, The New York Times, Rolling Stone • Tilman Fertitta, Entrepreneur, Landry's, etc. • Diane Pamela Wood, U.S. Court of Appeals judge • Wes Anderson, Film director, (attended, graduated St. Johns) • Scott Donie, Olympic diver, (attended, graduated in Miami, FL)

In Reba, Reba's daughter attends Westchester High School. The school mascot is the Wildcats, and was filmed in the Wilchester subdivision.

Due to the expanding enrollment of Memorial High School the school district built Westchester High School in 1967. The school opened with an enrollment of one thousand eight hundred students. After seven years the school had increased to nearly four thousand students. The campus could not support the numbers, and as such Stratford High School was built in close proximity to Westchester, opening in 1974. Due to the oil bust in the early 1980s, the destruction of nearby apartment complexes, and many original home owners keeping their homes after their children had grown, enrollment in all SBISD high schools dropped dramatically. By 1985, the resulting decreases in enrollment forced the school board to close Westchester and relocate its former students to Memorial, Spring Woods and Stratford High Schools. Most Westchester students ended up attending Stratford High School, which for many years kept a permanent display case dedicated to Westchester memorabilia.

WAIS was named a 2011 National Blue Ribbon School. It is one of only 304 schools nationwide to be honored for overall "academic excellence" and for success in closing student achievement gaps. Only 10 schools in Texas were named Blue Ribbon Schools in 2011.