Annie Wright Schools

Annie Wright Schools serve students from age three through high school. Annie Wright Lower and Middle Schools offer co-ed programs in Preschool through Grade 8, while separate Upper Schools for boys and girls offer day and boarding options in Grades 9 through 12. Annie Wright is proud to be an International Baccalaureate World School, delivering IB programs in every division.

Founded in 1884, Annie Wright Schools are nestled in the beautiful North End neighborhood of Tacoma, Washington. Our historic campus includes an indoor pool, two gyms, science and technology labs, art and music studios, theater, outdoor gardens, play areas, athletic fields and open spaces.

Yes

International Baccalaureate

Volleyball, Tennis, Basketball, Cross Country, Track & Field

Vary depending on student interests

Daily and dress uniforms

PRIORITY DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Below is a description of the items necessary to complete an application to our Upper School.

1. Online Application
A completed online application packet, accompanied by the non-refundable application fee is required to initiate the formal application process. The 2018 application priority deadline is Friday, February 2.

2. Official School Transcript & Evaluation
Completed applications will include a copy of the applicant’s official school transcript for the past two years. The online application includes a downloadable Request for Transcript & School Evaluation Form. Please have your most recent school(s) complete this form and send an official school transcript directly to Annie Wright. Note: Schools often require as long as two weeks to complete transcript requests.

3. Teacher Recommendations
A Math and English teacher recommendation form must be completed by the applicant’s current or past teachers. Please complete the top portion of this form prior to giving it to your teachers. The online application includes downloadable Teacher Recommendations Forms. The individual teacher should complete the form and mail it directly to the Annie Wright Admissions Office. It is helpful to include a stamped envelope with this request.

4. Campus Visit & Interview
Campus visits are strongly encouraged. If a campus visit is not possible we will coordinate a phone interview.

5. Math Assessment
This exam will be used for admissions and if appropriate, course placement upon your enrollment.

Learn more at https://www.aw.org/page/admissions.

Annie Wright's strong community cultivates individual learners to become well-educated, creative and responsible citizens for a global society.

As mission-led institutions, Annie Wright Schools strive to prepare students for academic and personal success through the following KEY CHARACTERISTICS drawn from the schools' mission statement:
List of 5 items.
ANNIE WRIGHT SCHOOLS CHALLENGE OUR STUDENTS TO BE THE BEST THEY CAN BE.
ANNIE WRIGHT SCHOOLS CONNECT OUR STUDENTS TO THE WIDER COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD.
ANNIE WRIGHT SCHOOLS EMBRACE OUR STUDENT-CENTERED MISSION.
ANNIE WRIGHT SCHOOLS HONOR OUR PIONEERING TRADITIONS WHILE LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE.
ANNIE WRIGHT SCHOOLS KNOW OUR STUDENTS AND VALUE THEIR INDIVIDUALITY.

Annie Wright Schools were founded on the dreams of the Right Reverend John Adams Paddock and the hard work of Charles Barstow Wright. Paddock was appointed the first Missionary Bishop for the Episcopal Church in the Washington Territory in 1880. He moved to New Tacoma in 1881 with his wife Fannie Paddock and their five children.

Charles Wright was a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His business was one of banking and railroads, which brought him to Tacoma. He was part of the committee that ventured to the Pacific Northwest in 1872 to determine the final destination for the Northern Pacific Railroad. He later became president of Tacoma Land Company and spokesman for "the City of Destiny" that was Tacoma.

In 1881, Wright wrote to Bishop Paddock and asked him how he could further support Tacoma. Paddock answered that the little town of some 1,000 people needed a church and a school which would "make possible Christian education for the rising generation of daughters of the pioneers." Wright agreed and outlined his vision for the school:

“The school will provide education for the rising generation of daughters of the pioneers, children who will lay a firm foundation for the great state that is to be, a state which will require them to have kind, not callous hearts; joyous, not pampered spirits; broad, not petty minds; refined, not tawdry tastes; direct, not shifting speech – women who will meet wealth with simplicity, and poverty with dignity, and face life with quiet strength – developing from strength to strength; contributing to the righteous up-building of this great country.”

The original location of the new seminary was established near Wright Park in Tacoma, Washington. Paddock named the school in honor of Wright’s daughter, Annie.

Annie Wright Seminary opened its doors to 46 students from the Washington Territory, Oregon, British Columbia and Hawaii. At that time, there were ten members of the faculty. The first school catalog outlined the offerings of Annie Wright Seminary: "For board, furnished room, tuition in English branches and Latin, and laundry service, $350 a year."

The first headmistress recalled, "The school opened with a small attendance, but grew rapidly and soon was full to overflowing, so that we had to put cots at the ends of the halls and every other available space."

By the early 1900s, it became apparent that the school building was becoming too small to meet demand. A new location and building were desired to give the school its much needed space. Property was purchased on North Tacoma Avenue where the cornerstone of a new building was laid on June 9, 1924. Construction of the school was completed in time for the start of the 1924-25 school year and the doors opened to students September 18, 1924.

As the student body grew and diversified over time, the role the church played in curriculum began to wane. In 1947, Headmistress Ruth Jenkins worked with the Bishop to reform the school's religious curriculum with the belief that chapel attendance was for all faiths and forms of worship. Learn more about the role of chapel at Annie Wright here.

Beginning in the 1930s, boys were allowed to enroll in the kindergarten classes only. After the 1949 earthquake damaged nearby Lowell School, concerned parents who had daughters at Annie Wright besieged Headmistress Jenkins with urgent pleas to educate their young sons while the elementary school was under construction. An outbuilding was quickly erected on Annie Wright’s campus for the temporary schooling of boys in the early elementary grades. The temporary school for boys was called Charles Wright School. Parents looking for a permanent option for their sons later founded Charles Wright Academy in the Lakewood area (now University Place, Wa.) in 1957. The two schools remain independent of one another.

Annie Wright Seminary was renamed Annie Wright School in the early 1970s when the coeducational structure was extended through the upper elementary grades. Annie Wright’s middle school graduated its first group of boys in 1990. The name changed again slightly to Annie Wright Schools in 2011 to help identify the institution as two schools on one campus: Annie Wright Day School for boys and girls in Preschool to Grade 8, and Annie Wright Upper School for girls only in Grades 9 to 12.

Annie Wright launched a $10 million dollar remodel as it moved into the 21st century. Klarsch Hall was constructed in 2003, housing a new dining room and additional classrooms. Most of the original classrooms were remodeled and seismic improvements were made to the original structure. In 2012 a complete renovation of all dorm facilities was completed, fully bringing the 1924 building into the 21st century.

In 2011 Annie Wright’s first students earned the International Baccalaureate diploma. The Lower School became an official Primary Years Programme school in 2015, and the Middle School is currently in the process of adapting the Middle Years Programme, which will make Annie Wright the only school in the Pacific Northwest to offer IB curricula to Lower, Middle and Upper School students.

The historic From Strength to Strength campaign raised significant resources to bolster the school's endowment and enhance athletic facilities. The school opened a new regulation-sized all-weather turf field in 2017 and released plans for a new gym and swimming pool to be completed in 2019.

In 2017 Annie Wright opened the Upper School for Boys, a new division based on the exceptional academic program of Annie Wright's Upper School for Girls but designed as a separate and unique experience.