Wesley International Academy Looks for New Students

By Lee Landenberger
Wesley International Academy is now accepting applications from new students—kindergaterners through eighth-graders—for the 2014-2015 school year.
The application is posted on the charter school’s website at www.wesleyacademy.org/enrollment/admission-application.
Submitting the application enters a student’s name into a lottery pool. The lottery will be held March 6 at Wesley on Memorial Drive, near Hill Street and within sight of the state capitol. Families will learn the lottery results beginning March 10.
Wesley International Academy is a K-8th grade, tuition-free public school chartered by the Atlanta Public Schools. Located in the former Ed S. Cook Elementary School, Wesley provides an academically rigorous curriculum including an authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme and single-gender classroom instruction in addition to daily Mandarin Chinese instruction. The school offers enrollment to students living anywhere in the city of Atlanta. Wesley International Academy was granted a five-year extension to its charter last spring.
New curriculum innovations have been added like the new Accelerated Program of Study, where middle school students take Wesley’s version of Advanced Placement (AP) courses spanning the core content areas of math, science, English language arts, and social studies. The Chinese program continues to be one of the best in the Southeast. The Atlanta Business Chronicle recently recognized Wesley as having one of the best international education programs in the state among both public and private schools.
There is more coming. On the horizon are new partnerships that will enhance the school’s academic presence and standing in the community in addition to the school playing a central role in the hope of the Jackson H.S. cluster being designated as an innovation cluster.
In the past year, Wesley’s place has been solidified in the Maynard Jackson High School cluster with its move to the old Cook Elementary building. Their presence and academic offerings will create a pipeline of students to support the IB and Chinese-language programs at the newly renovated high school.
Wesley Principal Duke Bradley’s recent three-city tour of China has also led to partnerships with schools abroad to create student cultural exchange programs.