Apply to ISW
K-8 Application Forms
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66077″ text=”Application letter” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66088″ text=”Application form” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66090″ text=”Request for transcripts” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66094″ text=”Teacher recommendations” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66092″ text=”School Service survey” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
High School Application Forms
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66099″ text=”High School Program Overview” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66111″ text=”Application letter” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66101″ text=”Application form” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66103″ text=”Request for transcripts” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66105″ text=”Teacher recommendation form” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66107″ text=”Teacher Performing Arts recommendation form” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
- [pvfw-link viewer_id=”66109″ text=”School Service survey” class=”pdf-viewer-link-single” target=”_parent”]
ISW After-School Classes
ISW After-School Classes
ISW will offer Robotics for High School students and Huzzah Theater programs for students in grades 7 and above during the 2024-25 school year.
ISW High School
ISW’s high school is a progressive, college preparatory program that focuses on developing confident, skilled students who embrace creativity in all its forms: writing, design, graphics, applied math, scientific innovation, visual arts, music, and theater. Our students produce real, meaningful work—building a portfolio shared with the community through performance, exhibition, internship, and publication. In addition to emphasizing academic and personal responsibility, our program nurtures independence and prepares students for college life with increasing levels of latitude.
All ISW high school students pursue college preparatory studies in English, history, math, science, Spanish, and studio art. Students also complete annual “Benchmarks” projects of their own design. The afternoons feature a variety of options. Students can choose from STEAM and performing arts options. Some elect to pursue a particular passion with an online offering. Others enjoy off-campus internships. The opportunities are endless!
ISW is also particularly strong in the performing arts–with classes including acting, vocal music, music theory, music history, and stagecraft. As a complement to the formal study of these subjects, ISW created Huzzah Theater Company in 2016, one of only a handful of student-run high school theater companies in the United States. Huzzah affords ISW theater students the opportunity to work with high school students from around the area, creating performances for audiences in the larger community. Huzzah’s productions have been underwritten for years by the Marion Park Lewis Foundation.
ISW is fully accredited by the Virginia Independent School Association.
Contact ISW
769 Round Hill Road, Winchester, VA 22602
Phone: 540.877.5552
ISW admits students of any race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, religion, sex, or sexual orientation to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities available at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, religion, sex, or sexual orientation in its administration of its educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
ISW Tuition
2024-25 Tuition Rates
Full-time Enrollment
Please note that ISW has a “no fine print” policy. The tuition prices listed below represent the true price of an ISW education. There are no activity/technology/security fees in addition to the tuition prices listed below.
Tuition Option A:
$1000 deposit due upon admission; balance of tuition due 6/24/2024.
- K through 5th Grade: $10,500
- 6th through 8th Grade: $11,400
- 9th through 12th Grade: $12,100
Tuition Option B:
$1000 deposit due upon admission; half of tuition balance due 6/24/2024; second half of tuition balance due 12/10/2024.
- K through 5th Grade: $10,700
- 6th through 8th Grade: $11,600
- 9th through 12th Grade: $12,300
Please note that ISW makes every effort to keep tuition rates affordable. However, we do not offer financial aid.
ISW Admissions Process
We are currently accepting applications for Kindergarten through 12th grade. Our admissions committee looks for capable, enthusiastic, college-bound students who are academically, socially, and emotionally prepared to handle the challenges of a progressive, college preparatory environment. Successful applicants will exemplify our Core Values: respect, responsibility, integrity, compassion, and commitment to education.
A complete application for admission includes:
- A completed application
- Official transcripts from all previous schools
- Copies of all standardized test results and educational evaluations
- Recommendations from three teachers (two for Kindergarten applicants)
- A parent conversation and tour with the Head of School
- A student visit with relevant faculty members
- A (one-time) application fee of $50
If you are interested in exploring this opportunity, please contact Claire McDonald, Head of School, at: Claire@iswva.org.
ISW admits students of any race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities available at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin in its administration of its educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
Why an Independent School?
One of the major advantages of independent schools is in our name: we operate independently. Independent schools are organic to the community, and they offer families new options. Independent schools combine high academic standards with a strong sense of community. Our students help design their own academic paths on a daily basis. Our teachers come to ISW with the full understanding that their jobs entail much more than what goes on in the classroom. Our teachers are academic advisers, student organization liaisons, and coaches. Your child will be known!
A truly great independent school becomes an integral player in the community; it finds ways to admit and to support a diverse student body and faculty; it becomes a resource to the entire community. ISW offers the larger community many opportunities–particularly our highly successful and well-known performing arts programs Huzzah and Young Actors Academy.
Parents who opt for independent schools do so because they feel strongly about mission. We believe ISW’s mission, “to create a learning environment where young people discover and develop their own unique abilities to think logically and critically, to effect positive change in the world, and to approach life with an open heart,” is compelling.
ISW is fully accredited by the Virginia Independent Schools Association.
Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.
William Butler Yeats
Why a Progressive School?
At ISW, we believe that our world needs more adults who ask good questions, who read widely, who understand the broad sweep of both human and natural history, who are willing to get involved, and who believe in their own ability to create positive change.
Progressive education holds the keys to developing thoughtful, effective citizens. Progressive schools ask their students to do more than sit still and memorize. Students take an active role in planning their own education, they get out of their seats and move, and they make a difference in the community. Progressive educators know that children and adolescents are amazingly capable people born with innate curiosity about the world.
We also embrace a variety of ways for students to demonstrate mastery. Our students often demonstrate their knowledge and skills by doing—by, for example, creating a project, making an on-line portfolio, or teaming with a professional in the community. They also complete traditional assessments, and we prepare them well for the tests needed for college admissions (e.g., ACTs or SATs).
You should know, too, that progressive education is not a fad. It has a long history built on the traditions of John Dewey, Reggio-Emilia, Maria Montessori, Rudolph Steiner and many others.
