Give to the Capital Campaign

For forty years, Washington Episcopal School has been shaped by a simple but powerful promise: children grow best when they are known, challenged, supported, and loved.

That promise has guided WES from its earliest days in the basement of Pilgrim Lutheran Church to the joyful, thriving campus we know today. It lives in our classrooms, chapels, art studios, athletic fields, lunch tables, carpool conversations, performances, field trips, and friendships. It is what families recognize when they say WES feels like more than a school. It feels like a community. Now, as WES enters its 40th year, we are preparing for the next chapter.

Through Building Possibilities: A Campaign for Our Future, WES will expand and enhance our campus to better support the students, programs, and community life that define the school. This is the most significant campus expansion in WES’s history, and it comes at a moment when our school is strong, our community is growing, and our mission calls us forward.

At the heart of the campaign is the new Isabelle Schuessler Community Center, named in honor of WES’s first Head of School through a transformational anonymous gift. This 5,500-square-foot space will serve as a modern dining hall and flexible gathering place for assemblies, performances, meetings, celebrations, and school-wide events. More importantly, it will provide WES with something our community has long envisioned: a central hub for community life.

The Building Possibilities Capital Campaign will also transform the way families experience the campus each day. A redesigned east entrance, front lobby, secure vestibule, and security office will strengthen both safety and accessibility, while a new outdoor community space will create a welcoming gathering place during morning arrival and afternoon pickup. The campaign will also expand and elevate opportunities for creative expression. Two side-by-side art studios, one for Early Childhood and Elementary students and one for Middle School artists, will create a dedicated art wing with tools, natural light, a kiln, and flexible space for creative exploration. The campaign will also support continued growth in WES's Early Childhood program through the addition of a new classroom.

As WES celebrates its 40th anniversary, the Building Possibilities Capital Campaign represents an investment in the people, experiences, and relationships that define our school community. We are deeply grateful to the many donors whose generosity has already helped bring this vision to life and whose support reflects a shared belief in WES's mission and future.

While significant progress has been made, important opportunities remain. Together, we can ensure that future generations of students learn, create, connect, and belong in spaces designed to support their full potential.