International School of the Americas

The International School of the Americas is a magnet school for grades 9-12 in the North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas in Bexar County. It is located on the Robert E. Lee High School campus at 1400 Jackson-Keller Road. It places a focus upon creating global citizens. The school is notable for its intentionally small student body and for its Model United Nations conference, named Model United Nations San Antonio, which is the largest such student-run conference in the nation. Admission is by lottery.OriginsISA's basic premises stem from a concept paper written by Dr. Thomas J. Sergiovanni, a professor of public education at Trinity University. Its founding was prompted by the creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which, economically connecting the United States with Mexico and Canada, raised the issue of international relations. Originally envisioned as a professional-development school for Trinity University, ISA began as a magnet program before becoming a full-fledged school. ISA maintained strong ties with Trinity: university students majoring in education may complete internships at ISA as teachers, many ISA teachers are former Trinity students, and many major school events, most notably the annual ceremony for graduating seniors, are held at Trinity.ActivitiesWith a student body size of around 475, ISA does not have enough students to host its own sports teams, although it does host smaller clubs such as International Food and Film Club, the Poetry Club, Astronomy Club, Ultimate Frisbee Club, Interact Service Club, Garage Rock Club, Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, National Honor Society, and the Spanish Honor Society. Instead, students participate in extracurricular activities on the home campus of Lee High School, fostering a bond between the two schools. A large part of ISA culture is the participation in Model United Nations, which became a school-wide event each year with the hosting of Model United Nations San Antonio, a national conference with over 1,000 delegates from Texas and Mexico, held at Trinity University in early January.