Since it opened in 1995, Spring Street International School has aimed to provide innovative, inspiring education to local kids. It has continued to grow, expanding its curriculum choices and number of international high school students.

The school was founded by educators Ted and Peg Hope as a a private, non-profit, coeducational, college preparatory day school, serving grades 6 through 12. Its core group of students are from San Juan, Lopez, Orcas, and Shaw, with some kids commuting daily by ferry. The campus includes two Victorian homes as well as classrooms, labs and computer rooms.

The admission department recruits new students all summer, but asks interested parents and kids to please apply as early as possible. “We make money from tuition and fundraising – we don’t get any funds from tax sources. We hope next year to have 75 students, 6th through 12th, and we’re expanding the international program,” said Jerry Riley, Director of Operations.

Spring Street has been slowly developing its international program, hosting students from around the world. New this year is a student residence at the Blair House, a B & B 200 yards from the school campus. “The town even put in a nice crosswalk for us,” said Riley. The school leases the building September through June, and provides full-time supervision for the kids. Riley says the international program has been three years in the making, and this year it should reach the level the school had planned for.

“We hope to have 13 students boarding with us. Some are U.S. students from out of county, but most are international. The international program is an important initiative for diversity, but it’s clearly limited in its scope. We see ourselves as a San Juan County school. Our number of international students will never go over 25 percent.”

Spring Street also accepts kids from places out of this county, such as Whidbey Island and Skagit Valley. Those are typically “day boarders,” and can either stay with a host family or in the student residence during the week.

The graduating class this year has nine students, three of whom are from Lopez. “Half a dozen graduates last year were from Lopez, and we’re looking at another four or five new Lopez students for this next year,” said Riley.

This past winter, Spring Street signed a 50-year lease for the school building and property. “We want to build and invest in this campus and be here for the long-term,” commented Riley.

New for this fall is a musical recording studio for all island kids, not just Spring Street students, made possible by grant money. Kids will use the studio for broadcasting and music, and the school is debuting its first music program, taught by a recent Oberlin College graduate. Heather June, from Lopez, is replacing the former 9-12 grade English teacher, who has taken a teaching position in Korea. The school has also hired a new Director of Schools, Louis O’Prussack, who will start July 1.

Spring Street School operates with a staff of 12 teachers; seven of those are full-time. “Our mission is to find and keep inspiring teachers and put them in front of the kids,” said Riley. Ted and Peg are still heavily involved with the school, both as teachers. Peg is also the college counselor.

“The key ethic we follow was set by Peg and Ted and we still follow it. The core pillars of what we do here are based on innovative, experiential education, such as the Spanish immersion trips in the 9th and 10th grade and the 11th and 12th grade trip to Asia, which have been remarkable, transformational trips. The second thing is the nature of the school. There is an informality and a family feel to it, but under that is a real focus on the academic. I would say we are alternative in style and fairly traditional in curriculum. And we really have become quite a college preparatory school,” said Riley.

All graduates in the last several years have been admitted to their first-choice school, but Riley is quick to point out that Spring Street School works hard to place kids in a university that is right for them, not necessarily a well-known institution. “We have a National Merit Scholar graduating this year, and the students are going to a broad mix of schools,” said Riley.

For information about admissions, call Spring Street International School at 378-6393 or visit www.springstreet.org.