The school opened on September 11, 2000 serving children of ages 3 to 13. Each year, the British International School added one additional grade by level, until it covered ages 3 to 18. The original campus occupied by the school had previously housed Houston Christian High School. Grainne O'Reilly-Askew, the school's first headmistress, said that British companies encountered difficulty in convincing their executives to relocate to Greater Houston, since the area previously did not have a school using the British educational system. John Major, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, attended the school's official opening. The school's enrollment grew quickly after it opened, when it had 75 students. By December 2000 the school had 82 students, with 12 on the waiting list for January, when three more teachers were scheduled to begin employment with the school. O'Reilly-Askew said that she was not surprised by the increase of interest in the school, since there are a large number of British citizens living in Greater Houston. Annette Baird of the Houston Chronicle said that, as of December 2000, the number of British citizens in Greater Houston was estimated to be over 40,000. O'Reilly-Askew also stated that several American families showed interest in the school. The school's current campus in Greater Katy opened in the fall of 2016. The new campus increased student capacity from 850 to 2,000. Andrew Derry is the school's current Principal.
Curriculum
The British International School of Houston offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for students in Years 12 and 13 and the International General Certificate of Secondary Education in Years 10 and 11. The Primary School, which includes Nursery to Year 6, offers the International Primary Curriculum. Students at the British International School of Houston sit externally graded standardized tests in English, Maths, and Science as recommended by the British National Curriculum at the end of Years 2, 6 and 9. Optional tests are taken at the end of Years 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 in Maths and English. IGCSE and IB students take external examinations at the end of Years 11 and 13. From 2010 to 2016, 100% of the BISH students who took the International Baccalaureate diploma test passed. There is a Dutch curriculum program for temporary residents from the Netherlands. There is also a program for native French speakers.
Houses
BISH offers houses for the students. The four houses are named after the four elements, Water, Fire, Earth, Air. All students are allocated into a house, and the houses are an important aspect of school life. Each house has two student heads and one teacher head. Many competitions, such as sports or singing, are held, with the winning house earning house points. At the end of the year house points are counted up, and a winning house is declared.
Demographics
As of 2016 pupils of more than 50 nationalities attend the school, with the majority of students being British and American. As of May 2014, there were about 850 students. About 60% of the students were British, 7% were American, and the remainder were of other nationalities.
Campus
In December 2014 the school acquired a site in unincorporatedHarris County, Texas, in the Greater Katy area, with a capacity of 2,000 students, located at the southwest corner of Franz Road and North Westgreen Boulevard, east of Texas State Highway 99 and north of Interstate 10. The developer is Simpkins Group, the designer is Fanning Howey and House Partners, and the construction manager is Tribble & Stephens Construction Ltd. The groundbreaking ceremony was held in February 2015 and the campus opened in September 2016. The school's Grand Opening celebration was held on October 13, 2016. The school's previous campus, the former Houston Christian High School, was on a plot of land in proximity to U.S. Route 290. This campus had a capacity of 850 students, and the student body there ranged from 450 to 850 students.
has a collaborative programme with the Juilliard School, and MIT The British International School also offers students the opportunity to participate in the Nord Anglia Global Campus, a programme that links students attending the 43 schools to one another online for activities, challenges, curriculum and expeditions, helping students gain a global perspective.
