Inter-American School, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

Inter-American School in Quetzaltenango , Guatemala, was founded in 1961 as a Christian school for the children of missionaries serving in Guatemala. Since then, the school has also served the children of many local families. The school runs on an American-style schedule (August to May) and uses the California state standards to assess and document student learning.

The faculty come from English speaking countries, many from the US, and speak English as their first language. Most serve for two to three years before returning to the US to continue their careers or to travel to serve in other countries.

Inter-American School partners with World Outreach Ministries and is a candidacy school with AdvancEd (formerly SACS CASI). It is a member of the Inter-American Foreign Evangenical Missionaries Cultural Association (IAFEMCA).

History

In 1961, three missionary families (Samuel Cadwalladers, Ralph Winters, and Virgil Wolfs) felt the desire to found a Christian school similar to the "Academia de Huehue," in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. They founded Inter-American School as "a learning center for children who desired to study most of their courses in English in a Christian environment."

Originally, Inter-American School was an "annex" of a school in Quetzaltenango called "Colegio Evangélico La Patria." "El Colegio Bilingüe" (The Bilingual School), as it was called at the time, had fifteen students enrolled the first year. Dr. Virgil Wolf was the first president of the Board of Directors and Ms. Eva Matthews was the first Technical Director. At that time classes were held in an apartment on the second level near the old military zone and each family was responsible for their own educational material in the United States for their children.

The Board of Directors was formally organized in the fall of 1962. Mrs. Betty Wick was elected as Chairman of the Board for the now named "Inter-American School." The learning center was renamed because of the importance of emphasizing the Inter-American Studies program. The original emphasis of the curriculum was to give each child, whether North American or Latin American, the privilege of understanding not only the language and culture of their families.

In 1963, Inter-American School moved to a larger facility. That year there were 35 students enrolled. Mr. and Mrs. Vern Goheen from Eastern Canada came to the school to serve as technical director and nurse. Under their leadership, the school grew to 46 students and the staff increased to a total of 17 teachers. IAS remained in this building for 13 years.

Mrs. Trudy McDonald made a generous donation in the years 1970 and 1971 that enabled Inter-American School to purchase nine acres of the current property. Under the leadership of Principal James Pollock four years later, and with contributions from missionary Loren Anderson and architect Rolando Avila Whitehead, the IAS began construction of the main building and cafeteria. During Holy Week of 1975, its eighty-four students and fourteen teachers moved into the new building. In 1979, during the administration of Principal Wallace Lee, the annex and dormitory building (called the "Casa de Maestros" or "house of teachers") was completed.

Mr. Averill Allen became Prinicpal of the IAS in 1980 and served for over ten years. In 1988, the Science Laboratory was added to the former assistant annex. The Library expansion project was completed in 1990.

From 1991 to 1996, Mr. Brent Kilback served as a Prinicpal. During his leadership, the quality of education improved significantly. In 1995, under Mr. Kilback's supervision, the IAS buildings were remodeled to create new offices, more classroom space, as well as a multi-purpose room area, and an extension of the computer lab.

In 1996, Kilback retired from his position, and there was no one to take his place after his departure. And in this absence, Board President Mr. Gene Luna served as IAS Principal during the 1996/97 school year.

Mr. Wilfred Flandermeyer came to the IAS to serve as Principal from 1997 to 2000. During the 1999 vacation, the Teacher's House was converted into classrooms to start a middle school program.

From June 2000 to March 2002, Mr. Jim Inkster served as a Principal.

Mr. Martin Brodbeck began his service as Principal during the summer of 2002 until June 2008. During his service as Principal, teacher benefits were improved, policy manuals were updated and MAP test testing was implemented in 2005, making the IAS the oldest partner in all of Latin America.

Mr. Michael McNabb has been the Principal since 2008. In 2012, the institution embarked on a journey to expand its program and increase the number of students by adding a new section of pre-kindergarten students each year. New buildings were added and existing spaces were remodeled to accommodate this growth. In 2014, IAS received initial accreditation through the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and AdvanceEd.

God's grace and the prayers of many people have sustained the IAS throughout its history and the IAS will continue to proclaim God's love in the future.

Leadership

IAFEMCA

Inter-American School is owned and operated by the Inter-American Foreign Evangelical Missionaries Cultural Association (IAFEMCA), and draws its authority and legal status from that organization. IAFEMCA has its own constitution and by-laws and is legally recognized by the Guatemalan government. IAFEMCA is recognized as a non-profit institution in Guatemala, but not in the United States.

The Board of Directors

While IAFEMCA has ultimate authority of the school, it elects from its list of members a Board of Directors to establish overall policy and to oversee the general operations of Inter-American School.

The Directors

The Director implements the policies of the Board of Directors and is directly responsible to the Board for the day-to-day running of the school. This is the full list of the directors of IAS from Dr. Virgil Wolf to Michael McNabb:

• Dr. Virgil Wolf (1961-1962, was also President of the Board of Directors)
• Mrs. Betty Wick (1962-1963, was also President of the Board)
• Mr. Vern Goheen (1963-1975, was also President of the Board)
• Mr. James Pollock (1975-1979)
• Mr. Wallace Lee (1979-1980)
• Mr. Averill Allen (1980-1991)
• Mr. Brent Kilback (1991-1996)
• Mr. Gene Luna (1996-1997)
• Mr. Wilfred Flandermeyer (1997-2000)
• Mr. Jim Inkster (2000-2002)
• Mr. Martin Brodbeck (2002-2008)
• Mr. Michael McNabb (2008 - today)

Campus

As mentioned in its history, Inter-American School began with only a few students in an apartment building, and over many years and through many people, donations, and construction projects, has expanded it to its current campus and facilities.

The property where IAS is currently located was bought thanks to Mrs. Trudy McDonald. Its 9-acre campus is located mainly on a hill overlooking Zona 6 of Quetzaltenango. It has a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains and the Santa María volcano.

Its campus is currently made up of four buildings. Its main administration building houses offices, a computer lab and a media center, a large library, the teacher’s lounge, and two kindergarten classrooms. The kindergarten classrooms were constructed during the 2013-2014 school year to be used at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year.

The elementary building houses the pre-kindergarten classroom, as well as various others whose grades change every year. There is also the multi-purpose room where most chapels are held, and a cafeteria where elementary and high school students eat lunch (pre-coronavirus). The roof of this building was redone during the summer of 2012, and two classrooms were updated and enlarged during the summer of 2013.

The high school building includes separate classrooms for various subjects as well as a science lab. This entire building was renovated during the summer of 2013 so that it could house all high school classes.

The middle school building is located at the bottom of the hill and contains separate classrooms for various subjects, too, as well as a teacher lounge.

On-campus, it also has a large outdoor area with a parking lot, playground equipment, a basketball court, and a large soccer field.

The current property, facilities, and expansions would not have been possible without the generous donations and contributions from many faithful stewards! If you're interested in donating towards current classroom and facilities construction, please go to Support IAS, on the IAS official website.

Activities

Overview

As part of providing a fun and interactive education, teachers often volunteer to organize activities after school hours. IAS's after-school activities vary each year based on the unique talents and interests of teachers. In the past, teachers have coached, cooked, planned youth groups, serviced the community, tutored, and led school choirs.

IAS is proud of their teachers, as they claim on their website: "God has blessed our staff with a wide variety of talents and interests that have been used as a positive influence on the entire school. We are grateful for our teachers who are not only dedicated to providing an excellent education in the classroom and during school hours, but who also go above and beyond to teach life skills and offer positive social environments for our students. We believe offering extra-curricular activities helps build deeper relationships between students and teachers that are valuable in building strong community at IAS."

Athletics

Even though IAS has no official sport league or has an association with any, it supports and encourages athletic events in the school. Aiming at improving sportsmanship in competitive situations, IAS occasionally participates in games with other schools in Quetzaltenango if the students show interest in doing so.

Student Council

The Student Council is reformed every year. The council is responsible for all student activities throughout the course of the year, including the Retreat for Middle and High School students every spring.

Elections are held each fall to choose new council members. To be eligible: "students are expected to show responsible behavior, be willing to serve others, and display Christian character," according to the IAS website. Students must also have a GPA of at least 3.0 and have attended IAS for at least one-quarter earlier. "Students nominated for positions cannot be on Academic Probation". Each year, the following positions are elected:

• President
• Vice-President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• A representative of every grade from 6th to Seniors.

The PTA (Parent-Teacher Association)

The PTA was formed to build a stronger relationship between parents and staff. They hold activites yearly, such as a Thanksgiving celebration, "Family Day," and, occasionally, themed dinners, as well as monthly "Hot Lunch," or a school meal, where food is given to the students, unlike every other school day, where students bring their own meals. The PTA raises money which is often used for books for the over 600 book library, supplies for the school (such as textbooks, desks, etc.), field trips, and construction.

External links

• Official website