Officials from the Baker School District and its Oregon International School charter school, along with representatives from the Government of the Isle of Jersey and its Hautlieu School of St. Savior, signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, formalizing a sister school relationship. From left, Jordan Mills, incoming Baker High School ASB President; Kirstie Williams, senior advisor, Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department, Government of Jersey; Lee Campbell, assistant head teacher, Hautlieu School; Lindsey McDowell, public information and communications coordinator for the Baker School District.

The Baker School District’s Oregon International School program has formalized its sister-school relationship with the Hautlieu School of St. Savior on the Isle of Jersey, in the English Channel.

Officials from both schools, and from the government of Jersey, signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday, April 26, in the Baker School District office.

Ten Baker High School students are slated to travel to Jersey in September, along with a staff member, while 10 students from the Hautlieu School are studying in Baker City.

“This is an exciting opportunity for our students to experience a different culture and educational setting,” Scott Wickenden, deputy minister for children and education for the Government of Jersey, said in a press release. “We look forward to welcoming the students from Oregon when they arrive in September.”

Baker 5J Superintendent Mark Witty, who is retiring June 30 but will work one-third time as the International School’s director, said “We look forward to all the relationships support an education of excellence for the future generation, with wide-reaching benefits we are excited to watch unfold.”

Thomas Joseph is the International School’s principal and only full-time employee.

Among those attending the signing ceremony on Tuesday morning:

• Lee Campbell, assistant head teacher of Hautlieu School.

• Rachel Baxter and Kirstie Williams, senior advisors of the Government of Jersey’s Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department.

• Rosemary Gallant, minister counselor for commercial affairs at the U.S. Embassy in London.

• Tom Le Feuvre, Government of Jersey’s director of global relations.

• Sean O’Regan, group director for the Government of Jersey’s Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department.

• Nick Falle, head teacher at the Hautlieu School.

• Members of the Oregon International School board of directors, Andrew Bryan, Jessica Dougherty, Claire Hobson and Katie Lamb.

Bryan and Dougherty are also members of the Baker School Board.

• Jordan Mills, incoming Baker High School student body president.

The Baker School District started the Oregon International School more than four years ago, but its progress was delayed by the pandemic.

Earlier this year the Baker School Board agreed to spent about $865,000 to buy and refurbish two historic homes in Baker City that will serve as housing for international students studying at Baker High School.

The plan is to have about 22 to 25 foreign students at BHS starting this fall.

The program, which district officials project will raise more revenue than it spends, will also include scholarships designed to make it easier for Baker High School students to study and travel abroad.