At Windermere Preparatory School, a focus on academics and real-world experiences extends the educational approach.

What does it take to prepare students today for an unpredictable future? At Windermere Preparatory School, the answer is multifaceted and relies on helping nurture students not just with rigorous academics, but also experiential learning opportunities that foster collaboration, communication and confidence. 

This approach begins with an environment that encourages students to extend their learning through the school’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP), its global network as part of the Nord Anglia Education family of schools and a wide range of service-learning and educational travel opportunities. 

Through the IBDP, students are encouraged to take the knowledge they gain in the classroom and use critical thinking to analyze, question and apply what they learn. The program’s emphasis on inquiry and reflection helps students engage with complex subject matters while also considering viewpoints other than their own.

“I think our students are really good at embracing a range of perspectives and growing to be comfortable with having your ideas challenged, and learning how to do that respectfully while listening to the ideas of others and consider outside perspectives,” says Dr. Brenda Fields, assistant high school director and IBDP coordinator.

While traditional academic approaches tend to focus primarily on mastering content, the two-year IBDP courses afford students time to process information, gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter and allow them to apply new concepts. 

But the lessons that prepare Windermere Prep students for the future are not confined to academic spaces. With students representing cultures and communities from over 50 countries worldwide, the school’s campus is a diverse gathering place where global perspectives are shared every day. 

“Our students are our biggest resource, in terms of their own capability, but also in terms of the diversity of their backgrounds,” says Justin Muenker, assistant high school director. “We have students from incredibly diverse countries sharing their experiences, and the fact that they can learn together and learn from each other—those differences of experience and background are valued as an asset to the school.

“We have students from Russia and Ukraine sitting next to each other, learning about politics and conflict. We have students from China playing football alongside students from Brazil, and learning about each other’s cultures. I think that’s something we are proudest of.”

“Our school really fosters that sense of international mindedness and that shared commitment that we’re all in this together,” adds Fields.

Armed with these global perspectives, students are encouraged to implement them through service learning, which is considered one of the school’s signature offerings. Rather than treating these volunteer efforts as an extracurricular activity, Windermere Prep intentionally connects service to classroom learning, allowing the students to identify community needs and work toward impactful solutions. 

That philosophy is reinforced through the IBDP’s Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) component, which challenges students to balance academics with personal growth.

“It’s important that students study and that they prioritize their academic focus as part of the IBDP program,” Muenker says. “But also, it’s important that they take care of their mental health, their physical health and creative pursuits so that they can continue to grow as a person, not just as a student.”

Often, these lessons take students beyond campus. Locally, they may be participating in an environmental project through the school’s partnership with Tibet-Butler Preserve. Or perhaps they are taking advantage of international service opportunities like an annual trip to Tanzania where students work on community projects alongside peers from other Nord Anglia schools. 

“They’re working side by side on service projects like installing solar panels or building goat sheds,” says Fields, who adds that many who experience these overseas trips are inspired to do more.

“Some of our students come back from those trips and want to get even more involved in those communities. We had some that started a fundraising project to build a medical clinic in one of the villages [in Tanzania], and we’ve now actually seen that come to completion,” Fields says. 

As part of Nord Anglia Education’s network of 90-plus schools worldwide, Windermere Prep students are afforded other unique global opportunities. Students collaborate with peers from around the world through exclusive programs developed in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), The Juilliard School and UNICEF. These experiences challenge students to tackle engineering and scientific problems, explore the arts alongside world-class educators and work together on solutions aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

For Muenker, those experiences are what further help distinguish a Windermere Prep education.

“We don’t philosophically look at education as just what happens inside the four walls of a classroom, but rather the experiences and the pathway that we can set a student off on [to be successful],” he says.

Windermere Preparatory School
Windermere
(407) 905-7737
WindermerePrep.com