Charles Wright
Academy
About CWA
Charles Wright is an inclusive community serving more than 550 students in Preschool through Grade 12. As one of the premier schools in the Pacific Northwest, CWA sends its graduates to the best colleges and universities in the country. We nurture and challenge our students to develop the character, creativity, and skills to successfully navigate the future with confidence.
Our Mission
To inspire active, joyful learning while nurturing and challenging our students to develop the character, creativity, and skills to successfully navigate the future with confidence.
Adopted by the Board of TrusteesMay 2019
Our Values
Excellence: In all our endeavors, we strive to achieve our best.
Compassion: We always act with kindness, generosity, humility, and empathy.
Integrity: Choosing right means we value the truth, fairness, responsibility, and authenticity in all our actions.
Respect: Valuing differences means we treat each individual and every relationship with fairness, equity, and justness.
Perseverance: Persistence, self-reliance, and tenacity in the face of adversity make us wiser and stronger.
Portrait of a Tarrier
Our students and alumni represent a broad range of academic, artistic, and athletic aptitudes and abilities. The common attributes they share are a motivation to learn, a desire to work hard and persist in the face of challenges, a willingness to cooperate and engage fully in the life of the community, and a generally trusting and respectful attitude toward teachers and classmates.
Since the first class convened in 1957, Tarriers have been encouraged to solve problems, to think deeply, to collaborate respectfully, to be stewards of their communities, and to find joy in the pursuit of their passions. Charles Wright Academy strives to develop in each student the key attributes from our Portrait of a Tarrier.
Thinker
A thinker...
- Asks great questions
- Evaluates evidence critically
- Considers multiple perspectives
- Draws conclusions rooted in evidence and sound logic
- Reconsiders their thinking in light of new information
- Is able to move between and connect disciplines
Innovator
An innovator...
- Identifies needs and opportunities
- Applies existing tools to new problems
- Builds on existing ideas
- Develops original work
- Solves problems creatively
- Turns a vision into reality
Collaborator
A collaborator...
- Works effectively with others to achieve goals
- Knows how to lead, how to share leadership, and how to follow
- Builds on the ideas of others
- Engages in healthy conflict
- Understands their impact on others
- Builds strong connections with others
Communicator
A communicator...
- Communicates in many different forms
- Practices active listening
- Expresses ideas clearly
- Taps into their unique voice and perspective
- Communicates effectively for varied purposes and audiences
Explorer
An explorer...
- Gets curious about new challenges and opportunities
- Translates curiosity into self-directed action
- Takes appropriate risks
- Seeks to understand others' experiences
- Is able to shift cultural perspectives as appropriate
- Learns from failure
Steward
A steward...
- Takes responsibility for their impact on the world around them
- Works to make their communities a better place
- Takes action for the welfare of others
- Cares for their own health, energy, and well-being
- Is driven by a vision for change
Inclusion Statement
Charles Wright Academy best exemplifies its mission and values when everyone knows they belong in our school community.
We embrace an intentional culture that champions everyone’s full participation as their authentic selves in all of the opportunities that comprise the Charles Wright experience. This includes supporting each community member’s understanding of their own identities and acceptance of the identities of others. By doing so, we empower everyone at Charles Wright to connect, learn, grow, and achieve.
The inclusive culture we strive for requires us to make both institutional and individual commitments. Institutionally, we will align policies, curriculum, and decision-making to this goal, and we commit to ongoing self-examination, learning, and action. We also encourage and support individuals to initiate and engage in candid, courageous conversations as this work is the responsibility of every member of our community.
Adopted by the Board of TrusteesMarch 2020
History of Charles Wright Academy
Charles Wright Academy traces its origins to an unexpected moment in the late 1940s. When Lowell Elementary in Tacoma was damaged by an earthquake, some of its younger students were taken in by Annie Wright Seminary, a K-12 girls' school in the North End of Tacoma - a school originally founded in the late 1800s by railroad magnate Charles Barstow Wright in honor of his daughter Annie. Parents of the boys who attended were so pleased with the experience that they wanted the school to continue co-ed into higher grades, but Annie Wright was a girls' school. In light of this, Sam and Nathalie Brown proposed the founding of a boys' school to Bishop Stephen Bayne of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, who gave the concept his blessing. The founding group purchased 127 acres on Chambers Creek Road and began functioning as a private boys' school, with their first year in 1957 including 40 boys and five faculty members.
Over the following decades, the school grew and evolved significantly. In September of 1970, Charles Wright Academy admitted its first girls and has been co-ed ever since. The school maintains its historical ties to the Episcopal Church, but does not teach a specific religious doctrine as part of its curriculum, remaining open and welcoming to families of all religious traditions. The school takes its name from Charles Barstow Wright, and its mascot - the Tarrier - honors the Irish immigrant railroad workers who helped construct the Northern Pacific Railroad, reflecting the school's connection to its namesake and Tacoma's railroad history. Today, Charles Wright serves more than 550 students from preschool through grade 12 and is considered one of the premier schools in the Pacific Northwest.
The first building on the Charles Wright Academy campus.
CWA students getting off the school bus in 1961.
Members of the first CWA graduating class in 1964.
The first sports team at CWA.
CWA's founders, Sam and Nathalie Brown.
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