General IB Information

International Baccalaureate (IB)

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a non-profit organization that serves students from ages 3-19 around the world. There are more than 4,000 IB schools in the world with more than 1,700 in the United States. The IB aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who are motivated to success and build a better world through intercultural understanding and respect.

The IB curricular framework:

Encourages students to think critically and consider multiple perspectives
Promotes language development and multilingual students
Uses best practices from data-based research to best support teaching and student learning
Provides a flexible framework so schools can meet local, state, and national requirements

For general information about the IB, visit www.ibo.org.

IB Learner Profile

Service and Action

Inquiry Resources

Middle Years Programme (MYP)

IHS became an authorized IB World School in partnership with Natomas Middle School in 2016.

All IHS 9th and 10th grade students take MYP courses and are considered IB/MYP students, whether they are enrolled in A-G courses or in a special program. The IB teaching philosophy provides the framework for all classes, including:

Scholars program (which leads to the IB Diploma Programme in grades 11-12)
California Early College Academy (CECA)
A-G courses
Special Education courses

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 organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

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

IB’s philosophy of teaching and learning encourages students to be independent learners who can make connections between their classroom experiences, their experiences, and the real world to be critical thinkers who can solve authentic problems. The IB mission statement guides our philosophy of teaching and learning at IHS as we aim for our students to develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills that they will need to be active global learners in the 21st century.

Inspired by the mission statement and reflected in the IB learner profile, the MYP is guided by three fundamental concepts for teaching and learning:.

Intercultural Awareness – concerned with developing students’ attitudes, knowledge and skills as they learn about their own and others’ social and national cultures. By encouraging students to consider multiple perspectives, intercultural awareness not only fosters tolerance and respect, but also leads to empathy and understanding.
Holistic Education - emphasizes the links between the disciplines, providing a global view of situations and issues. Students should become more aware of the relevance of their learning, and come to see knowledge as an interrelated whole. Students should see the cohesion and the complementary nature of various fields of study, but this must not be done to the detriment of learning with each of the disciplines, which retain their own objectives and methodology.
Communication - the MYP stresses the central importance of communication, which is fundamental to learning, as it supports inquiry and understanding and allows student reflection and expression. The MYP places particular emphasis on language acquisition and allows students to explore multiple forms of expression.

IB Framework

The IB framework is comprehensive and places learning at the heart of an IB World School community that:

successfully integrates the IB philosophy within their school’s unique context
shares a purpose with the IB’s mission that builds into a solid approach to education
develops a learning environment sustained by effective structures, organizational practice and resources
fosters a dynamic school culture centred on holistic, inclusive learning communities
positively influences local, national and international contexts
creates student learning experiences of the highest quality possible.

The school community, with the IB, co-creates high-quality education that makes a better world.

From the Programme Standards and Practices

Purpose

Purpose: Sharing an important mission

The IB’s mission is central to its work with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. This powerful mission that drives learning informs the development of each IB World School—as well as the IB’s larger global community of students and their families, teachers and supporters. IB World Schools strive to help realize this purpose for learning within their own local, state, national, international and global contexts.

Environment

Environment: Providing essential structures, systems and resources

School environments include the human, natural, built and virtual resources through which learning experiences take place. They cover facilities and technology; human and financial resources; assets of culture and language; the allocation of time; and decisions about how schools divide, group and coordinate responsibilities. School environments differ widely, and a wide range of local contexts can support the successful implementation of IB programmes. The learning environment is the context in which learning happens, and the conditions the school designs and develops to enhance student learning experiences. The learning environment includes evidence of the school’s culture and purpose.

Culture

Culture: Creating positive school cultures

School culture refers to the written and unwritten rules that define how a school functions. It also encompasses personal and collective well-being, the effective utilization of physical and human resources, and the extent to which a school acknowledges and celebrates diversity.

Learning

Learning: Ensuring effective education

Learning in the IB community celebrates the many ways people work together to construct meaning and make sense of the world. Through the interplay of asking, doing and thinking, this constructivist approach leads towards open, democratic classrooms. IB students and teachers are lifelong learners, independently and in collaboration with others. Learning communities in IB World Schools engage in cycles of inquiry, action and reflection that lead to deeper understanding and a lifetime of learning. Learning is the central tenet, as well as the outcome, of developing purpose, culture, and environment in IB schools.

Programme Standards and Practices: Helping Schools Grow

Programme standards and practices_ Helping schools grow.mp4

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