In the summer of 2008, the Board of Trustees began a strategic planning process for our school. A Steering Committee was formed and a process was outlined to assimilate input from all constituencies of our community and to create a vision for the future of Wichita Collegiate School. Through listening groups of parents, alumni, students and friends, ideas and needs were recorded and compiled. More than 900 people participated in providing ideas. During a three-day workshop in November involving more than 60 participants, this information was reviewed and consolidated into several key initiatives. With further refinement and review, a working implementation plan was developed and approved by the Board of Trustees in April. The resulting plan may be viewed  by clicking on this link:  Strategic Plan. 

We feel that this plan addresses the key areas of the school with a fresh perspective. Our goal is to enhance the experience of a Collegiate education for each and every student. This will take a coordinated effort which will continue to involve many people. During this summer, we will further define the precise steps which we will take in order to accomplish our goals over the next few years. Although this represents our best thinking today, we recognize that this is a dynamic plan subject to unforeseen influences in the future. It is a guideline and one that will be reviewed constantly for progress and relevancy.

The Board and Administration of the school are excited to begin the process of implementation. In fact, we have already begun in some areas. We are pleased to share this with you as we all work together to make Wichita Collegiate School an even better place.
 

Duke TIP at WCS Summer Adventures will be held June 11-13, and June 15-17. For information, please call Corene Ramser at 634-0489 x 433. To view and print a description of this summer's Duke TIP program, click here.

"Before you can lead others, you need to lead yourself." Area high school students are invited to hone their communication, skills, awaken their creativity, and apply the psychology of success to dreams in an intensive, fun, leadership academy June  15-19 from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day.  The camp will be directed by Upper School Head Chris Ashbrook. Discussion topics will be lead by top WCS teachers such as Janice Crowley, Kevin Mykel, Barbara Stokley, Bunny Hill, and Dana Hensley.  The fee of $450 includes 2 meals each day, field trips, and 3 books, as well as personal college counseling sessions.  SPECIAL: Sign up for the Leadership Academy and receive 1/2 off of any of the SAT test prep courses offered through Collegiate's Summer Explorations program.  For more information, call Bunny Hill at 771-2203 or e-mail her at bhill@wcsks.com.

Our popular Summer Explorations program is back, and is better than ever!  Whether you're interested in academics, the arts, athletics or camps, we have something for you!  Students of all ages from all schools are invited to enroll.  Click on this link for the Summer Explorations 2009 catalogue!

Applications are now being taken for the 2009-2010 school year.  Application forms and materials may be downloaded from the Admission pages on this website or may be requested by calling 771-2203.  Visits and tours may be scheduled at most any time.  Come see our students and teachers in action!

The College Board has recognized eighteen WCS Upper School students for their performance on Advanced Placement examinations. The students have been recognized in four categories:

AP Scholar: In order to be named an AP Scholar, a student must have earned a grade of 3 on at least three Advanced Placement examinations. The WCS AP Scholars for this year are Seungtack Baek (‘08), Scott Brooks (‘08), Adam Grider (‘09), Kim Lewelling (‘09), and Hyejin Park (‘08)

AP Scholar with Honors: In order to be named an AP Scholar with Honors, a student must have earned an average grade of 3.25 on all AP Exams taken AND have scored a grade of 3 or higher on at least four exams. The WCS AP Scholars with Honors are Stewart Grindel (‘08), Sarthak Khare (‘09), and Jansen Yetter (‘08).

AP Scholar with Distinction: In order to be named an AP Scholar with Distinction, a student must have earned an average of 3.5 on all AP exams taken and a grade of 3 or higher on at least five exams. The WCS AP Scholars with Distinction are Varoon Bashyakarla (‘09), Kendall Bitonte (‘08), Alex Chung (‘09), Andrew Foulston (‘08), Dylan Holmes (‘08), Joel Horton (‘08), Chelsea Loehr (‘08), Stephanie Pignatiello (‘08), Ava Saidian (‘08), and Taylor Sutton (‘08).

Wichita Collegiate School is seeking applicants who will be in Grades 7-12 for the Malone Scholars Program. Successful applicants will demonstrate a record of academic excellence, score at or above the 95th percentile on recognized standardized tests, and demonstrate need of at least 30% of tuition through Collegiate's need based financial aid program.  A brochure, application form, and more details about the information night may be found at the links below.

Malone Scholars Program Brochure

Malone Scholars Program Application Form

Janice Crowley, Science Department Chair at Wichita Collegiate School, has been named National AP (Advanced Placement) Teacher of the Year  by the College Board and the Siemens Foundation.  In recognizing Mrs. Crowley's exemplary teaching and dedication to her students, Diane Tsulamaki of the College Board said, "In a pool of extremely strong candidates from across the country, your commitment to teaching AP and ability to engage students in a rigorous curriculum were outstanding." 

To view the USA Today acknowledgement of Ms. Crowley's award, click here.

Congratulations to the boys tennis team and coaches for winning the 3-2-1A State Tennis Championship on Saturday. The Spartans took the top spots in doubles, with Paul Abromeit and Wyatt Kesler defeating Varoon Bashyakarla and Brandon Somerhalder for the title. Singles players Daniel Ritchie defeated Miles Dunne for 3rd and 4th. This is the 2nd consecutive State 3A Title and the 18th State Tennis Championship for the boys’ team in the past 22 years.

The Spartan boys won the 3A State Championship Golf Tournament at Tallgrass on May 26 by 23 shots.  This is the 4th consecutive title for the team, and the 14th State Golf Championship overall. Congratulations to seniors Craig Howell and Andrew Hourani, juniors Ben Hatfield, Brett LeMaster, Tyler Vincent, and freshman Harrison Morris.

Special recognition to Andrew (74), Craig (77), and Ben (80) who finished 2nd, third, and tenth respectively. Craig capped off a remarkable four-year career by becoming the 3rd golfer in school history to be a part of four state championship teams, and never finishing lower than 11th place individually in the state tournaments. Andrew finished his career with three state championships and along with Brett LeMaster, celebrated a tremendous year playing a key role on state championship teams in golf and basketball. 

WCS seventh grader Micah Watson, daughter of Ed and Gidget Watson, won 1st Place in the 2008 Kansas Learning Quest Essay Contest and a $1,000 contribution to her college fund from the state's 529 educational savings program. Micah's essay was entitled, "How I can Make a Positive Impact on the World."

Seventh grader Travis Osland won his second consecutive Geography Bee at WCS on December 3. Travis is the son of Dr. John and Dr. Jackie Osland of WIchita. 

Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer presented the Golden Shoe Award to WCS students for collecting the  most shoes in a shoe drive sponsored by the Mayor's Youth Council. WCS students and families collected nearly 700 shoes in this effort.  Accepting the award on behalf of WCS was Kamilah Sharpe, a member of the Mayor's Youth Council.

Varoon Bashylakarla spent six weeks this summer at the prestigious Research Science Institute on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  Varoon was one of 50 top-achieving scholars in the nation chosen to attend this highly selective program.  Varoon and his fellow "Rickoids" (a reference to the late Admiral H.G. Rickover, father of the nuclear Navy and co-founded of the Center) participated in college-level classes under the mentorship of leading scientists and researchers, and conducted cutting edge research in universuty laboratories, hospitals, and corporate research facilities in Boston.

Chelsea Ayers, a member of the graduating Class of 2008, is the youngest delegate to the National Democratic Convention in Denver.  Chelsea will be attending Princeton University this fall.

Each year, WCS students are recruited by the most selective colleges and universities in the United States. Below is a list of colleges and universities that have accepted at least one member of the Class of 2008 and that are recognized in the Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges as either “Most Selective” or “Highly Selective.” In the next few weeks, we will announce additional information concerning our seniors, including their final college decisions.

American University (DC) Taylor Sutton
Austin College (TX) Ava Saidian
Baylor University (TX) Devon Alford, Ashley Gardner, Joel Horton,
Carolyn Johnson, Chelsea Katan, Kendal Lovett,
Hye-Jin Park, Ava Saidian
Boston College (MA) Kendall Bitonte
Boston University (MA) Hye-Jin Park
Brandeis University (MA) Steven Sparber
University of California Seung Tack Baek 
at Berkeley
University of California Chelsea Katan 
at Irvine
Carleton College (MN) Chelsea Loehr
Colorado College (CO) Catherine Shrader, Rachel Wilson
Colorado School of Mines (CO) Chelsea Katan
Columbia University (NY) Chelsea Loehr
Dartmouth College (NH) Stephanie Pignatiello
DePauw University (IN) Catherine Shrader
Emory University (GA) Spencer Ramsey, Taylor Sutton
Fordham University (NY) Ashley Gardner
George Washington Univ. (DC) Kendall Bitonte
Georgetown University (DC) Chelsea Loehr
Georgia Inst. of Tech. Spencer Ramsey
Gonzaga University (WA) Kendall Bitonte
College of Holy Cross (MA) Kendall Bitonte
University of Illinois Seung Tack Back
University of Michigan Whitney Cooper, Ava Saidian
New York University Ashley Gardner
Northeastern University (MA) Hye-Jin Park
Pepperdine University (CA) Steven Hutchinson
Pomona College (CA) Chelsea Katan, Chelsea Loehr
Princeton University (NJ) Chelsea Loehr
Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. (NY) Scott Brooks
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. (IN) Scott Brooks
Stanford University Chelsea Loehr
University of the South (TN) Catherine Shrader
University of Southern California Manon Strickland
University of Texas at Austin Ava Saidian
University of Texas at Dallas Seung Tack Back
Trinity College (MA) Rachel Wilson
Trinity University (TX) Kendall Bitonte, Steven Hutchinson,
Chelsea Loehr,
Taylor Sutton
University of Tulsa (OK) Kim Alexander, Devon Alford, Erin Bigler,
Scott Brooks, Jaren Glaser, Josh Glaser,
Joel Horton, Chelsea Loehr, Kendal Lovett,
Catherine Shrader,
Rachel Wilson
Wesleyan University (CT) Rachel Wilson
Worcester Polytechnic Inst. (MA) Scott Brooks

Latin students in Grades 7-12 recently competed in the National Latin Exam, and once again turned in impressive performances! Congratulations to all of the students who participated and all of those who received special recognition, and to their teachers, Virginia Kehoe and John Leddy. Kudos to Adam Grider, who received the Maureen O’Donnell Oxford Classical Dictionary Book Award for earning his 4th Gold Medal on all of the exams taken for Latin I. II. III and IV, and to Abby Amstutz and Tyler Dobbs for turning in perfect scores on the Latin I exam.  

For a complete list of the results, please click on this link.

Three WCS French students ranked in the top 10 in the country in their particular course levels on “Le Grand Concours” National French Exam for 2008. These three students and 13 others also ranked among the stop students in the State of Kansas. More than 100,000 students participated in this year’s national exam.

To view the complete list of results, please click on this link:

Bunny Hill, Head of Middle School at Wichita Collegiate, has won the 2008 Ciba Specialty Chemicals Middle Level Principal Award for from the National Science Teachers Association. This program recognizes one Middle School principal in the country who has demonstrated leadership in developing, implementing, and maintaining an outstanding science program; supported staff development in science; promoted positive relationships between the school science program and the community; and has been an advocate and leader for the development of science process skills and positive attitudes toward science among children and teachers.

Earlier this year, Kathy Wagner, Chair of Collegiate’s Physical Education Department and Early Childhood P.E. Teacher, earned recognition as the Kansas State Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year. She then went on to win the Central District Title, which includes 8 states in addition to Kansas. As the Central District winner, Mrs. Wagner was one of 6 finalists for National Elementary Physical Educator of the Year.

Last week, Mrs. Wagner traveled to Fort Worth Texas, for a last round of interviews, and learned that she had been selected as the National Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year! This award is given in recognition of outstanding teaching performance and the ability to motivate today’s youth to participate in a lifetime of physical activity. Part of the decision was based upon an unedited videotape that was made of one of Mrs. Wagner’s P.E. classes. Mrs. Wagner was honored at the annual Hall of Fame Banquet

Congratulations, Mrs. Wagner, on this well-deserved honor!

Susan Ensz, kindergarten teacher at Wichita Collegiate School, has been selected as the 2008 Distinguished Teacher of the Year by the Kansas Association of Independent and Religious Schools. She will be honored in Topeka on February 11th at the annual KAIRS conference and banquet. Congratulations to Mrs. Ensz for this well deserved honor!

WCS senior Seung-Tack Baek has been selected to receive the Siemens Foundation Scholarship for the state of Kansas this year. In conjunction with The College Board, the Siemens Foundation awards a $2,000 scholarship annually to one male and one female student in each state who have recorded the highest number of “5” scores on Advanced Placement examinations.

The fall 2007 issue of the PRIMA Newsletter for Excellence through Classics featured a front page article entitled, "Wichita Kids Get Hooked on the Aeneid.” The article focused on the creative ways in which 7th grade WCS English teacher Cindy Koepsel introduces the Aeneid to her students. Through the structure of a debate, Mrs. Koepsel acts as a mediator for group discussions on the topics. The newsletter quotes Mrs. Koepsel as saying, “My students are switched on to the reality of the living human characters within the Aeneid, an this creates a lasting love of this classic story.” Several student drawings also accompanied this article, including those of William Short, Nicole Smith, Ellie Newlin, and Myles Copeland, who were in Mrs. Koepsel’s class last year.

On December 1st, the WCS Upper School Robotics team won the 1st place trophy in the robotics division at one of the three national BEST (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology) Robotics competitions that was held at the University of Arkansas, Ft. Smith campus. The finest robots from Arkansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota, Illinois, North and South Dakota and Indiana battled it out and Collegiate came out on top. Over 140 schools participated in the tournaments that led up to this event.

The team has been working since September – building, driving, testing and re-working until the robot could perform the assigned task. The task was a simulation of unloading a Mars supply vehicle (ASV). The robot is given three minutes to exit the base and drive across the “Martian” surface, drive up onto the ASV and load supplies, drive off the ASV and store the supplies in a storage bin at the “Martian” base.

Congratulations to all Robotics team members: Jacob Alefs, Devon Alford, Elliott Alvis, David Bae, Seung Baek, Erin Bigler, Scott Brooks, Ryan Dahlke, Jon Ellis, Stewart Grindel, Nick Heldman, Michael Malone, Hye-Jin Park, Chelsea Katan, Jordan McClain, Stephanie Pignatiello, Trey Regan, Manon Strickland, Isaac Young, Alex Chung, Nathan Hawley, Kim Lewelling, Phillip Seo, Jonathan Ellis, Diana Heldman, Mike Katan, Harold Kim, Jason Seo, Jack Kim, and Han Tu.

The team would like to say thanks to Coach Scott Hawley, mentors Bill Saathoff and Bill Patterson from Hawker/Beechcraft and Nathan Battan from Cessna. The team is truly grateful to all of the team parents who attended the competition in Ft. Smith for their support and to those who have kept dinner coming throughout the weeks of practice! GO SPARTANS!

The College Board has released the results of the 2007 PSAT (Preliminary SAT) examination, and Wichita Collegiate School students continue to excel.

Our current juniors, the Class of 2009, performed exceptionally well on the examination this year. Twenty-eight percent of the class scored in the top 10% of the college bound juniors who took the test. Fifty-two percent scored in the top quartile and eighty-three percent scored above national average. These scores are especially impressive because the vast majority of schools in the United States allow only their top 10-20% of students to take the PSAT. Therefore, Collegiate students earned these scores in competition with the very best students in the country. 

WCS gives the PSAT to all freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. For the freshmen and sophomores, the PSAT forms a critical part of our test preparation program. For the juniors, the PSAT examination serves as the qualifying examination for the National Merit Scholarship competition. The scores from this exam are also used by colleges and universities for recruitment purposes. The qualifying scores for National Merit Semifinals and National Merit Commended Student recognition will be released in the fall of 2008.
 

The College Board has recognized 23 WCS Upper School students for their performance on Advanced Placement examinations. The students have been recognized in four categories:

AP Scholar: In order to be named an AP Scholar, a student must have earned earn a grade of 3 on at least three Advanced Placement examinations. The WCS AP Scholars for this year are Varoon Bashyakarla (09), Chris Brito (08), Sam Chandler (07), Peggy Chang (07), Andrew Foulston (08), Stewart Grindel (08), Katie Hatfield (07), Dylan Holmes (08), Amy Johnson (07), Chelsea Loehr (08), Spencer Ramsey (08), David Reed (07), Ava Saidian (08), Jennifer Solis (07), and David Zurita (07).

AP Scholar with Honors: In order to be named an AP Scholar with Honors, a student must earn an average grade of 3.25 on all AP Exams taken AND have scored a grade of 3 or higher on at least four exams. The WCS AP Scholars with Honors are June Lloyd-Davies (07) and Kendall Bitonte (08)

AP Scholar with Distinction: In order to be named an AP Scholar with Distinction, a student must earn an average of 3.5 on all AP exams taken and a grade of 3 or higher on at least five exams. The WCS AP Scholars with Distinction are Seung Tack Baek (08), Thomas Greaves (07), Hayley Jansson (07), Robert McIntyre (07), Andrew Neel (07), and Stephanie Pignatiello (08).

In addition, the College Board has recognized on WCS student as an AP National Scholar. To earn this designation, a student must earn an average grade of 4 on all AP exams taken and a score of 4 or higher on at least eight exams. Our AP National Scholar this year is Robert McIntyre of the class of 2007. During his career at WCS, Robert took twelve AP Examinations earning six grades of 5, four grades of 4, one grade of 3, and one grade of 2.

WCS students in Grades 1-8 continued to score as a group at the 99th percentile on this year's Stanford Achievement Tests. Students in Lower and Middle School (Grades 1-8) at Wichita Collegiate School took the Stanford Achivement Tests in April of 2007. Again this year, the students have scored as a group at the 99th percentil in reading and math when compared to other groups nationally. Congratulations to all of our students and teachers for another wonderful performance! Click on the links below to see the scores for 2007.

Stanford Math Scores 2007 (pdf)

Stanford Reading Scores 2007 (pdf)

Wichita Collegiate School senior Seung-Tack Baek has been selected to receive the Siemens Foundation Scholarship for the state of Kansas this year. In conjunction with The College Board, the Siemens Foundation awards a $2,000 scholarship annually to one male and one female student in each state annually who have who have recorded the highest number of “5” scores on Advanced Placement examinations.