St. John's International School (Belgium)

St. John's International School
Address
Drève Richelle 146
Waterloo, Walloon Brabant, 1410
Belgium
Coordinates 50°42′18″N 4°24′52″E / 50.704879°N 4.41433°E / 50.704879; 4.41433Coordinates: 50°42′18″N 4°24′52″E / 50.704879°N 4.41433°E / 50.704879; 4.41433
Information
Type Private, Day
International school
Religious affiliation(s) Christian
Established September 1964
Founder Faithful Companions of Jesus
President Sr. Brenda Wallace FCJ[1]
Principal Roy Holiday-Bergeseay
Gender Coeducational
Campus size 12 acres (520,000 sq ft)
Campus type Suburban
Team name Lions
Accreditation MSA, CIS,[2] IBO[3]
Website www.stjohns.be

St. John's International School is an English-medium international school located in Waterloo, Belgium. The school has a student body from a very international background with 60 different nationalities represented. St. John's (abbrev. STJ) runs from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade, the final year of high school. It offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma program, AP programs are also offered by the school.

History

St. John's International School was established by the FCJ Sisters in the annexe of their pre-existing school in Brussels, Montjoie, which still exists but is under Archdiocesan control. It was founded at the request of American businessmen based around the Brussels Capital Region who were seeking an English-medium Christian education for their children. There were 114 students from grades 1 to 8 that first school year. In 1969 it moved to its current campus in Waterloo. The high school was added gradually from 1971 onwards.[4] The International Baccalaureate programme was adopted in 1978.[3]

Curriculum

The International Baccalaureate Primary Years and Diploma programmes are offered.[3]

Athletics

Along with a prestigious academic program, St. John's also possesses a rigorous and highly successful athletics program. Using the team name "The Lions", the school competes regularly in the ISSTs (International School Sports Tournament), among others. Over the years St. John's has won top honors at the ISSTs for track and field, volleyball and basketball. The school boasts a state of the art gymnasium, as well as a newly refurbished soccer field that now also holds a baseball diamond. Teams usually compete on weekends and St. John's main rival is the International School of Brussels (ISB).

In Elementary school, students are encouraged to participate in numerous sports and can join school teams such as the Track and Field Team. Once in Middle School, the sports program becomes more competitive and the students can participate in all of the sports that the school has to offer. The Middle School teams are divided into the "A team" and the "B team". The High School Sports program is the most competitive and draws the most school spirit. In high school the teams are divided into JV and Varsity, and compete against schools from as far away as Cairo. It is the High School teams that compete in the ISST tournaments.

Sports

St. John's possesses a lot of talent in each of the different sports offered. The mascot is the lion, and team names are often abbreviated to SJIS or more often; STJ. St. John's offers a wide range of sports throughout the Autumn/Fall, Winter and Spring seasons: Football (Soccer), Volleyball, Cross Country, Swimming, Basketball, Rugby, Track and Field, Baseball, Softball and Golf. Most sports include Middle School "A" and "B" teams, and High School "Junior Varsity" and "Varsity" teams.

Basketball

St. John's won 3 consecutive Div. 1 ISST Varsity Boys Basketball Championships in 2003, 2004, 2005.

Volleyball

In 2004, the Lions Div. 1 girls' varsity volleyball team won the school their first volleyball ISST's in 11 years. On November 13, 2010, the Lions Div. 1 boys' varsity volleyball team finished 3rd in the volleyball ISST's.

Track and field

In 2004, St. John's secured themselves another ISST win; a boys' varsity track and field ISST win. The scored a first place in the event, making it the school's second ISST win for anything in under a year. In 2008, St. John's won the track and field ISST's which it repeated in 2011.

Softball

In 2006 and 2008, the St. John's softball team won the Div. 2 Softball ISST's.

Football

Girls

In 2007, the Varsity Girls squad won the Division II Football ISSTs in Vienna, beating Cairo American College 4-1 in the final. In the following years, they have achieved respectable results in Division I, placing 4th place in 2009, and 6th in 2010.

Boys

On November 13, 2010, the Varsity Boys squad made St. John's history by becoming the first boys football squad to win the ISSTs since the first team was organized 25 years ago. A remarkable run of 5 wins, no draws, no losses and 17 goals scored, one conceded was enough to crown the boys champions of the 2010 ISST Division II Football Championship. They beat their hosts the British School of Brussels 2-0 in the final, winning each of their four group matches. St. John's beat the International School of the Hague 5-0, the American Community School of Athens 3-1, Cairo American College 2-0 and the American Community School of Hillingdon 5-0. Throughout the entire season, the boys squad showed quality and great footballing technique as they played 28 matches (including the ISSTs); winning 18, drawing seven and losing just three. Along the way, the boys managed to bag in 83 goals, letting in just 38 culminating in an overall goal difference of +45. Memorable moments include beating rivals the International School of Brussels 3-1 at the ISB campus (after losing 1-0 at home,) drawing 5-5 against 2010 Division I runners-up TASIS at home, beating the International School of Luxembourg 2-6 in Luxembourg by scoring four goals in the final 15 minutes of the match, coming back from 1-0 down to beat ACS Athens 3-1 during the group stages of the ISSTs, beating ISST rivals CAC 2-0 and thus securing promotion to Division I and a place in the final with one match to spare, and beating hosts BSB 2-0 in the final after a quick start which resulted in two goals within the opening eight minutes.

Other sports

The St. John's junior varsity teams also possess strong talent. In 2005, the JV boys' basketball (led by the late Richard Katherman, former player for the Houston Rockets) team won the JV tournament held at St. John's. The Team has also met Elvis Presley in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Wrestling

In 2008 and 2009 Matthew and Christopher Lyon competed in the DODDS- Europe (Department of Defense Dependent Schools) and became two time European Wrestling Champions. In 2008, Matthew Lyon was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler in Europe and was recognized for having the most pins. Brendan Silcock is one of their most notable wrestlers, going on to fight in the WWE.

Notable former pupils

References

  1. ↑ About: Governance
  2. ↑ About: Accreditations
  3. 1 2 3 "Directory: St. John's International School". ibo.org.
  4. ↑ History
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.