British School prepares for move
Northwest Current
January 17, 2007
By Hans Manzke
Current Correspondent
The swiftly growing British School of Washington plans to move from its home in Crestwood into a newly leased 75,000-square-foot building in the heart of Georgetown by the start of next year.
While the school’s leaders planned for steady growth since the institution’s founding in 1998 at 4715 16th St. NW, the number of students wanting to attend exceeded expectations. The school now enrolls up to 20 students in each grade, from nursery through high school, according to its Web site.
“We knew when we opened the school in 1998 that we would outgrow our building on 16th Street. We never imagined how quickly that would happen,” said admissions manager Pia Bernardini.
The institution’s leaders plan to utilize the much larger space at 2001 Wisconsin Ave. to harness the growth the school continues to experience. The new facility, formerly an office building, will be extensively remodeled to accommodate the school.
"The new building will have three science labs as well as larger art, design technology and classrooms,” said head teacher Jenny Arwas. “This will give us the ability to offer a fuller range of classes in those subject areas.”
In addition to expanding the breadth of academic offerings, school officials plan to improve the quality of courses offered, as well as the institution’s overall ambience.
“Another big bonus of the move will be the changed social atmosphere,” chief financial officer said in an e-mail. “In the coming years, we will double the size of our school, so although we will maintain our small class sizes, we will considerably expand the number and variety of potential ‘friends’ for our pupils.”
Arwas noted that the British School is organized around a different system from what American high schools use. Classes last for two years instead of one or two semesters, and at the end of the American equivalent of 10th grade, students take the General Certificate of General Education, known as the GCSE. This leads to the International Baccalaureate diploma upon graduation.
“The GCSE is a unique qualification that is generally considered to be the equivalent to an American high school diploma,” said Arwas.
School staff and faculty are not the only ones looking forward to the institution’s move to the new, larger facility. Student feedback has been strong in favor of the change.“
The bigger school might mean more students so that more social activities can take place,” said ninth-year student Felicia Morizet.
"I’m excited about moving to the new area in Georgetown,” said 10th-year student Nicole Chapman. “The larger building will make me feel more at home, and we’ll have an opportunity to put more work up. I also think I’ll be able to accomplish more in some lessons such as science.”
One complex aspect of the move was finding a large enough space. And according to CB Richard Ellis, which brokered the deal, desirable areas like Georgetown offer even more of a challenge for potential clients.
“Commercial space throughout D.C. is at a premium, making it next to impossible for schools to find campus settings,” said Tina Weaver, vice president at CB Richard Ellis. “While it is unusual for school deals to be done in office buildings, this location just blocks from Georgetown University offers a fresh and innovative solution.”
“We looked at well over 45 buildings during our search and had to be more creative, from expanding our range to looking at non-traditional buildings for schools,” explained Bernardini in an e-mail. “The Georgetown building was in the right neighborhood but because it is an office building, it meant we had to be more creative in terms of design.”