Western Academy of Beijing

Western Academy of Beijing
Western Academy of Beijing logo
Location
10 Laiguangying East Rd. Chaoyang District, Beijing 100102 People's Republic of China
Information
Type	International IB World School, Non-profit, Independent, Private
Religious affiliation(s)	Nonsectarian
Founded	1994
Director	Dr. J. Courtney Lowe
Deputy Director	John D'Arcy
Division Principals	Casey Cosgray (ES), Marina Frias-Gavidia (MS), Melanie Vrba (HS)
Grades	Nursery–12
Enrollment	1,500+
Student to teacher ratio	8:1
Campus type	Large Private Campus
Color(s)	Red, Black and Yellow
Mascot	Tigers
Newspaper	Lianxi (official), The Inkblot (student)
Website	WAB.edu

The Western Academy of Beijing (WAB, simplified Chinese: 北京京西国际学校; traditional Chinese: 北京京西國際學校; pinyin: Běijīng Jīngxī Guójì Xuéxiào) is a school located in Beijing that was founded in 1994. The school provides education from Nursery to Grade 12. WAB uses the IB PYP (IB Primary Years Program) until Grade 5, IB MYP (IB Middle Years Programme) up to and including Grade 10, and the IB DP (IB Diploma Program) for Grades 11 and 12. WAB is recognized by the IBO as one of seven IB Preferred Training Schools worldwide.

WAB was an Olympic Educational Model School for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Out of the 500 schools across China who were awarded by Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games as an Olympic Educational Model School, WAB was one of the 120 schools awarded as an Excellent Example.

In 2013 Mike Embley, the headmaster of the British School of Beijing (BSB), stated that WAB was, along with BSB and the International School of Beijing (ISB), one of the top three English-language international schools in Beijing, all having long waiting lists. Citing Embley's definition of two lower tiers of Beijing Anglophone international schools which have vacant student spaces, Tristan Bunnell, the author of The Changing Landscape of International Schooling: Implications for Theory and Practice, stated that this was an instance of the idea of "'superior' and 'inferior' schools" shared by teachers and parents.