International Baccalaureate

International Baccalaureate (IB) Specialty Program

The IB continuum of international education is unique because of its academically challenging and balanced approaches to teaching and learning. We challenge students to excel in their studies and in their personal growth. We aim to inspire a quest for learning throughout life that is marked by enthusiasm and empathy.

The IB aspires to help schools develop well-rounded students with character: students who respond to challenges with optimism and an open mind; students who are confident in their own identities; students who make ethical decisions; students who join with others in celebrating our common humanity; students who are prepared to apply what they learn in the real world, complex and unpredictable situations.

The IB Diploma is internationally recognized as representing one of the highest standards in university preparation. IB Diploma recipients report that their involvement with the IB has given them the tools needed to succeed at college. Students comment on their sense of preparedness, self-confidence, research skills, and ability to manage their time. Even more important, they have developed a sense of the world around them and their responsibility to it.

The IB offers high-quality programs of international education that share a powerful vision. Informed by the values described in the learner profile for an IB education:

• Centers on learners - The IB's student-centered programs promote healthy relationships, ethical responsibility, and personal challenges.
• Develops effective approaches to teaching and learning - IB programs help students develop the attitudes and skills they need for academic and personal success.
• Works within global contexts - IB programs increase understanding of languages and cultures and explore globally significant ideas and issues.
• Explores significant content - IB programs offer a curriculum that is broad and balanced, conceptual and connected.

IB learners strive to become inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective. These attributes of internationally-minded people represent a broad range of human capacities and responsibilities that go beyond intellectual development and academic success.

The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) (9th and 10th grade)

The IB MYP provides a framework of academic challenge, in which 9th and 10th grade students embrace and understand the connections between traditional subjects and the real world and become critical thinkers. The IB high schools offer students a five-year IB MYP that began in middle school or a two-year program in grades 9 and 10. Both of these options require service learning and successful completion of a personal project, which is a long-range project focused on a topic chosen by the student.

Advanced Middle Years Programme (Adv MYP) courses are offered within the MYP as part of the advanced course sequence to prepare students with a strong foundation of knowledge and skills to complete the academic requirements of the IB Diploma Programme or IB Career-related Programme. Similar to the IB Diploma Programme, students can elect to take selected Adv MYP classes in their areas and strength and interest to prepare them for specific IB DP courses in grades 11 and 12.

The IB Diploma Programme (DP) (11th and 12th grade)

The IB DP is a rigorous pre-university course of studies which leads to examinations, that meets the needs of highly motivated high school students. While the strength of the programme is in the pursuit of the full IB Diploma, students may take IB DP courses in their areas of strength and interest.

The IB DP prepares students for effective participation in a rapidly evolving and increasingly global society. Students develop physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically; acquire breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding, studying courses from six subject groups that help develop the skills and a positive attitude toward learning that will prepare them for higher study. This study includes at least two languages and increases understanding of cultures, including their own. The subjects make connections across traditional academic disciplines and explore the nature of knowledge through the program's unique Theory of Knowledge course. Diploma candidates undertake in-depth research into an area of interest through the lens of one or more academic disciplines in the extended essay and enhance their personal and interpersonal development through creativity, activity and service (CAS).

The IB assesses student work as direct evidence of achievement against the stated goals of the course.

The IB DP provides students with:

• A broad and balanced, yet academically demanding, program of study;
• The development of critical thinking and reflective skills;
• The development of research skills;
• The development of independent learning skills;
• The development of intercultural understanding; and
• A globally recognized university entrance qualification.

The IB Career-Related Certificate (CP) (11th and 12th grade)

The IB CP is an innovative framework for students in grade 11 and 12 incorporating the vision and educational principles of the IB into a unique program specifically tailored for students who wish to engage in career-related learning. The aim of the IB CP is to provide students with both an academic and practical foundation to support both their further studies and specialized training, thereby ensuring their success in the workforce.

It combines highly regarded and internationally recognized IB DP courses with an approved career-related study and a unique IB CP core. The IB CP provides a comprehensive link between the academic challenge of the Diploma Programme and the international-mindedness of the IB classroom into a tailored, career-focused pathway.

The IB CP framework is built around three interconnected elements:

• At least two IB DP courses;
• An IB CP core that includes personal and professional skills, service learning, language development and a reflective project; and
• An approved career-related study.

Students and parents who desire more information about the IB Programmes are encouraged to address questions to the IB Coordinators at either school.