Description

The British International School of Houston, formerly the British School of Houston, is a non-sectarian, co-educational college preparatory day school located northwest of Downtown Houston, Texas. BISH, which opened in September 2000, offers education for ages 3 to 18 . The British School of Houston is a part of Nord Anglia Education which operates 27 schools in 11 countries, including six in the USA. Previously it was operated by the British Schools of America It will move to its new campus in Greater Katy in fall 2016.HistoryThe 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 14.5acre 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.