The (WAIS) is a public charter school in the
Spring Branch Independent School District in
Houston, Texas . It serves grades 6-12 and was recently accepted into the
International Baccalaureate program. The principal/director of WAIS is Pamela Butler, and the assistant principal is Kathy Menotti.
The campus was formerly known as , and founded in 1967 with an enrollment of 1,800 students. After 7 years, the school had increased to nearly 4,000 students. The campus could not support the numbers, and as such
Stratford High School was founded, in close proximity. Due to the oil bust and the resulting decreases in enrollment in the surrounding schools, there was not a large enough enrollment to require both Westchester and Stratford. The board voted to close the older of the two schools. Westchester High School was forced to close in 1985. During a 13 years period, the campus was leased to
Houston Community College . After this duration, SBISD made plans for the campus, resulting in a massive amount of construction and improvement on the pre-existing campus. In 2001, it reopened its doors as '''Westchester Academy for International Studies'''. The school would eventually cap at 1,000 students spanning across grades 6-12th.
The Campus, which is divided into 2 wings, with courtyards, and the auditorium, cafeteria, and various classroom, diving them, houses the students.
Notable alumni of Westchester High School include
Berkeley Breathed , author of the ''
Bloom County '' comic strip; rock musician and writer
Bill Kelly ; and
MLB Pitcher
David Clyde .
