Classen School of Advanced Studies High School at Northeast
International Baccalaureate Program

Classen SAS is the only International Baccalaureate Diploma program in the state of Oklahoma. The formal program is a challenging two-year curriculum beginning in the student's junior year. Students that achieve the IB Diploma receive a qualification widely recognized by the world’s leading universities. Please review the information on this page to learn more about our program.

Learner Profile

Informed by the International Baccalaureate (IB) mission to develop active, compassionate and lifelong learners, our IB program works to foster a distinctive set of attributes. These qualities—embodied in the IB learner profile—prepare IB students to make exceptional contributions on campus. Please click the link below to review our IB Learner Profile:

IB Learner Profile

IB Curriculum & Diploma Requirements

Students study six subjects selected from the subject groups. Normally three subjects are studied at a higher level (courses representing 240 teaching hours, the equivalent of two years of study), and the remaining three subjects are studied at a standard level (courses representing 150 teaching hours, the equivalent of one year of study).

Made up of the three required components, the DP core aims to broaden students’ educational experience and challenge them to apply their knowledge and skills.

The three core elements are:

Theory of Knowledge, in which students reflect on the nature of knowledge and on how we know what we claim to know.
The Extended Essay, which is an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a 4,000-word paper.
Creativity, Activity, Service in which students complete a project related to those three concepts.

The six subject groups are:

There are different courses within each subject group.

Eleventh Grade & Twelfth Grade Subject Groups

Group 1: Language A1

English I English II

Group 2: Second Language

French V or German V or Spanish V

French VI or German VI or Spanish VI

Group 3: Individuals and Societies

Philosophy I, Psychology I, Study of the Americas I

Philosophy II, Psychology II, Study of the Americas II

20th Century World I

20th Century World II

Group 4: Experimental Sciences (2 years of same subject)

Biology I, or Chemistry I,

Biology II, or Chemistry II

Group 5: Mathematics and Computer Science

Math Applications I, Calculus AB, or Calculus BC

Math Application II, Math Analysis & Approaches

Group 6: The Arts

Visual Arts I, Visual Arts II

World Religions I, World Religions II

Philosophy I

Film Studies I, Film Studies II

Extended Essay

The Extended Essay is an in-depth study of a focused topic chosen from the list of approved Diploma Programme subjects— normally one of the student’s six chosen subjects for the IB Diploma. It is intended to promote high-level research and writing skills, intellectual discovery and creativity. It provides students with an opportunity to engage in personal research in a topic of their choice, under the guidance of a subject-area mentor (usually a teacher in the school) and a writing mentor. The extended essay has a prescribed limit of 4,000 words.

Theory of Knowledge

TOK is a thoughtful and purposeful inquiry into different ways of knowing and into different types of knowledge. As a result, the course is composed almost entirely of questions to be critically considered, rather than specific factual information. The central question is "What level of certainty, if any, can I assign to a given assertion of knowledge?” The course will be broken into four main categories: Knowers and Knowing, Ways of Knowing, Areas of Knowledge, and Linking Questions.

Creativity, Action, Service

Participation in the school’s CAS programme encourages students to be involved in artistic pursuits, sports, and community service work, thus fostering students’ awareness and appreciation of life outside the academic arena. Students are required to complete 150 hours of CAS beginning the summer prior to their junior year.

MYP Curriculum & Project Requirements

Students in grades 6 through 10 participate in the Middle Years Program (MYP), which offers an honors curriculum in core subjects and world languages. The MYP requires at least 50 hours of teaching time for each subject group in each year of the program. In years 4 and 5, students will take courses from six out of the eight subject groups within certain limits, to provide greater flexibility in meeting local requirements and individual student learning needs. This advanced coursework is designed to prepare students for the formal IB Diploma Program in their junior and senior years.

Each year, students in the MYP also engage in at least one collaboratively planned interdisciplinary unit that involves at least two subject groups. MYP students also complete a long-term project, where they decide what they want to learn about, identify what they already know, discover what they will need to know to complete the project, and create a proposal or criteria for completing it.

The MYP community/personal project encourages students to reflect on their learning and the outcomes of their work – key skills that prepare them for success in further study, the workplace, and the community.

Community Project: Students who complete the MYP in Year 3 or Year 4 complete the community project. The community project provides an important opportunity for students ages 13-14 to collaborate and pursue service learning.
Personal Project: All students who complete the MYP in Year 5 complete the personal project. Schools register all MYP Year 5 students for external moderation of the personal project, promoting a global standard of quality.

What are the aims of the MYP projects?

The aims of the MYP projects are to encourage and enable students to:

participate in a sustained, self-directed inquiry within a global context
generate creative new insights and develop deeper understandings through in-depth investigation
demonstrate the skills, attitudes and knowledge required to complete a project over an extended period of time
communicate effectively in a variety of situations
demonstrate responsible action through, or as a result of, learning
appreciate the process of learning and take pride in their accomplishments.

What will students learn through the MYP projects?

MYP projects involve students in a wide range of activities to extend their knowledge and understanding and to develop their skills and attitudes.

These student-planned learning activities include:

deciding what they want to learn about, identifying what they already know, and discovering what they will need to know to complete the project
creating proposals or criteria for their project, planning their time and materials, and recording developments of the project
making decisions, developing understandings and solving problems, communicating with their supervisor and others, and creating a product or developing an outcome evaluating the product/outcome and reflecting on their project and their learning.

As students become involved in the self-initiated and self-directed learning process, they will find it easier to construct in-depth knowledge on their topic, and develop an understanding of themselves as learners.

For more information about the MYP, please visit www.ibo.org/programmes/middle-years-programme/

The six subject groups are:

There are different courses within each subject group.

Ninth Grade & Tenth Grade Subject Groups

Group 1: Language and Literature
MYP English I; MYP English II

Group 2: Language Acquisition

MYP French III or MYP German III or MYP Spanish III
AP French or MYP German IV or AP Spanish

Group 3: Individuals and Societies

MYP Government
AP US History

Group 4: Sciences

MYP Biology I
MYP Chemistry I
Group 5: Mathematics

MYP Geometry, or MYP Algebra II
MYP Algebra II, or AP Pre Calculus