About the IB Diploma Program (DP)

IB Diploma Students must complete and take exams for six courses over their junior and senior years. The courses must include language/literature, a second language, individuals and societies (history), sciences, mathematics, and the arts.

In addition to the coursework students must complete the IB Core. The core is comprised of an Extended Essay (EE), a Creativity, Activity, Service Portfolio (CAS), and the Theory of Knowledge course (TOK)

The IB Core is the heart of the program and is what separates it from other curricular programs (AP, Cambridge) and gives it so much prestige with universities around the world


EXTENDED ESSAY

CREATIVITY/ACTIVITY/SERVICE

THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

The EE is the most challenging aspect of the Diploma program. Former IB Diploma students consistently cite the EE as the single best preparation they received for college. Through the extended essay process, students gain valuable research skills and experience in analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information.

The IB recognizes that some of the best learning takes place outside of a classroom. Through CAS, students develop their personal, interpersonal, and collaborative skills by participating in physical activities, creative endeavors, and community service. It is through these real world experiences and the required reflection upon them that sets IB apart in educating the whole child.

TOK—a class taken the 2nd semester junior year and 1st semester senior year—ties all the elements of the IB Diploma program together. TOK links academic subjects and helps students make sense of their experience as learners. Students also discuss personal biases and the cultural perspectives inherent in a person's assumptions about the world.


IB DIPLOMA COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Students take one subject from each subject group



Group 1: English Language and Literature

Group 2: Spanish Language

Group 3: History of the Americas

Group 4: Physics, Biology, Environmental Systems and Societies

Group 5: Math Analysis and Approaches, Math Applications and Interpretations

Group 6: Visual Arts, Music