British School of Houston - History

History

The school opened on September 11, 2000 serving children of ages 3 to 13. Each year, the British School added one additional grade by level, until it covered ages 3 to 18. The 14.5 acres (5.9 ha) campus occupied by the school had previously housed Houston Christian High School. Grainne O'Reilly-Askew, the school's first headmistress, said that British companies encountered difficulty in convincing their executives to relocate to Greater Houston, since the area previously did not have a school using the British educational system. John Major, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, attended the school's official opening.

The school's enrollment grew quickly after it opened, when it had 75 students. By December 2000 the school had 82 students, with 12 on the waiting list for January, when three more teachers were scheduled to begin employment with the school. O'Reilly-Askew said that she was not surprised by the increase of interest in the school, since there are a large number of British citizens living in Greater Houston. Annette Baird of the Houston Chronicle said that, as of December 2000, the number of British citizens in Greater Houston was estimated to be over 40,000. O'Reilly-Askew also stated that several American families showed interest in the school.

In 2010, 100% of the BSH students who took the International Baccalaureate diploma test passed. One student at the British school scored 44 of 45 points, making him in the top one percent of IB diploma test takers worldwide.

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