The backstory
Erin Spicer, the town of Westlake’s communication manager, wrote an article earlier this year about the history of the school. In it, she said the school opened its doors in 2003 to foster a stronger sense of community.
“As the town experienced a rising residential population, students were splintered between three different school districts, and Westlake’s small-town feeling was getting lost in the shuffle,” Spicer said.
Former Mayor Scott Bradley and town leaders decided on a public charter school, Spicer said. To have a charter school, Westlake Academy had to offer something different from the surrounding district.
“It was former Mayor Bradley and his wife Kelly Bradley who first introduced the idea of an International Baccalaureate curriculum as an option,” Spicer said in the article. “It was decided that a [kindergarten] through 12 school, providing a challenging curriculum of higher-level academics and critical thinking skills, along with a focus on community service and global perspectives, would set the academy apart.”
The details
According to the International Baccalaureate website, the organization offers a continuum of international education through four challenging, high-quality educational programs to students ages 3-19. They include:
- Primary Years Programme: develops caring and culturally aware children ages 3-12 to become active participants in their own learning
- Middle Years Programme: develops students’ confidence in managing their own learning and making connections between their learning in the classroom and the real world
- Diploma Programme: a future-ready program that builds students’ inquiring mindset, fosters their desire to learn, and prepares them to excel at their careers and lead meaningful lives
- Career-Related Programme: a unique program for students in their final school years that equips them with future-ready skills and prepares them to follow their career pathways
Spicer said when the school first opened, only the Primary Years Programme for first through fifth grades existed. The second year, kindergarten and grade six were added, followed by an additional grade level each year until the school was able to serve students in K-12.
“It was a phenomenal testament of commitment by the founders and staff to go through IB’s rigorous authorization and evaluation process to offer three IB Programmes—Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme—in such a short time, only the fifth in the nation to do so,” Spicer wrote. “The first graduating class in 2010, known as The Pioneers, had just 24 students. Now, the 2022-2023 student body has grown to 864 students with a senior class of 65.”
Spicer said throughout the years, the campus has grown and changed to accommodate the needs of the students. When first built, the campus consisted of three buildings totaling 53,000 square feet of learning space. The Sam and Margaret Lee Arts and Science building was added in 2010, followed by the multipurpose hall, the secondary building and the field house in 2013, bringing the school’s footprint to more than 100,000 square feet.
During the years of growth, portable buildings were introduced as a way to temporarily house Diploma Programme classes, Spicer added. This summer, the six portable buildings were replaced by two new state-of-the-art modular buildings.
Spicer said the 20th anniversary will be celebrated throughout the school year with various events. Westlake Academy’s House of Commons will continue popular events, such as Monster Mash and Bandana Bonanza, where students, staff and parents can celebrate this milestone.
“It is a testament to the vision of the first founders that the school has forged such a successful path in such short a time,” Spicer said. “Not only have the faculty, staff and students built a strong reputation for providing exceptional college readiness, through a number of challenging programmes, the school has accelerated in positioning itself as a leading establishment in creating leaders who thrive in a global landscape.”
