Beechwood Middle School

IB Middle Years Programme Overview

Beechwood Middle School is an authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) World School offering the Middle Years Program (MYP) to all of our students.  The rigorous, inquiry-based, global, and holistic course of study prepares students for any of Lexington District One’s multiple college and career readiness pathways.

WHO Are We as IB Learners? 

Guided by the IB mission statement, BMS is committed to fulfilling the vision and mission of Lexington County School District One to empower each child to design the future and to cultivate a caring community where ALL learners are extraordinary communicators, collaborators, creators, and critical thinkers.  These characteristics are represented in the IB Learner Profile, which defines the well-rounded learner that the IB program strives to develop.  

IB Mission Statement

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.  

To this end the IBO works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programs encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

WHAT and WHY Are We Learning?

Curricular Units

Students at BMS learn the South Carolina Academic Standards in all courses through inquiry-based approaches that help them take the lead in their own learning.   Curricular units are framed around MYP Key Concepts that connect to multiple disciplines.  Also, each unit of study includes one MYP Global Context that places the course content in a real-world context.  This conceptual approach enables students to understand how specific course content can be transferred to other courses and to life outside of the classroom.  

Service Learning

Service learning at BMS empowers students to research significant local and global issues and take action.  Service learning opportunities in 6th and 7th grades are connected to curricular units.  Students participate by class or grade-level.  In 8th grade, students complete the 8th-grade Community Project based on personal interests.   

WHAT Tools Do We Need to be Successful IB Learners? 

Students at BMS develop an awareness of their own academic strengths, challenges, and interests.  Each unit of study allows students to learn and practice Approaches to Learning (ATL) Skills that serve as the tools to enable students to take responsibility for their own learning, thereby developing an awareness of thought processes and learning strategies. 

HOW Do We Demonstrate Our Learning? 

Teachers use subject-specific IB assessment criteria to design assessments for all curricular units.  Each unit includes at least one IB summative that will be assessed using the IB 8-point rubric. Teachers send home a hardcopy task-specific IB rubric reflecting students’ scores on summative assessments.   In all subjects, each criterion is assessed at least twice each year of the program.   IB scores in traditional core classes and high-school credit Language Acquisition classes are converted according to the BMS IB Grade Conversion Chart for the purpose of reporting nine-weeks and final grades.

Every nine weeks, students receive school report cards showing grades for all subject areas. Grades in Connections classes are reported using the IB 8-point scale.  High school Language Acquisition courses report grades using the Lexington One proficiency scale.  Traditional core classes use the 100-point scale.  More information on assessment may be found in the Beechwood Middle School Assessment Policy, click here.