More News

Education officials from The World Bank looking to improve the education systems in developing countries are using Wheaton High School's successful academy program as a model.

Seven delegates from The World Bank Institute's education program, a branch of The World Bank that works to improve schools in developing countries, visited Wheaton High School last week to analyze the school's academy program, which Principal Kevin Lowndes said has drastically improved students' performance since it began in 2001.

The delegates, who work in countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and South America, talked in depth with Wheaton's academy heads about how the academies are structured. They also toured the school's specialized classrooms, from Wheaton's new digital music lab to the biomedical academy's science lab.

The delegates came to Wheaton High School to see how the school helps a diverse and mostly underprivileged student body make a smooth transition to higher education or the workforce, said Wendy Cunningham, the coordinator for the children and youth unit at The World Bank.

"We could go to ‘Bethesda High' or whatever you call it, but that's just not relevant for us," Cunningham said.

The demographics of much of the Washington, D.C., area are similar to those of developing countries, said Matteo Morgandi, a junior professional at The World Bank who works in North Africa.

"D.C. has interesting problems and challenges like developing countries," he said.

Susana Puerto, a consultant with The World Bank, wanted to see how the academy program at Wheaton High School motivates students to continue their education.

"They have access to high school but once they graduate high school, they don't go on to universities," she said of youth in developing countries she's worked in.

Wheaton High School has that problem, too, Lowndes said. Many of its students are first-generation Americans and the first in their families to go to college. And although most first-generation students get into college, they don't stay, he said.

But the academy program is designed to keep them in school by putting an early emphasis on college education, Lowndes said. By their junior year, most students in the academies are taking college courses through Montgomery College or the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. By graduation day, they can have as many as 12 college credit hours and the confidence they can succeed in college, he said.

Lowndes also cited data that showed for the first time in four years, Wheaton High School has more students on the honor roll than on the ineligibility list for sports, meaning more students are earning at least a 3.0 grade-point average than failing.

And the demographics within the academies match the school's overall demographics, meaning not just "the white students" are taking honor courses, he said.

The delegates also visited nonprofits and private schools throughout the region to study how they work with underprivileged youth, but Wheaton High School was the only public school they saw.

Program officer and community specialist Walter Woods brought up the idea of visiting Wheaton after he participated in a job fair last month. He said Wheaton is a good case study because it accurately reflects the challenges of a developing country yet has been successful in supporting its students.

"They're trying to figure out how to get young people engaged," he said of the delegates.