At Casita Center, we believe that promoting and developing inclusion means to understand, respect and celebrate diversity through international-mindedness. Our learning community aims to create a sense of belonging through reflection, collaboration and communication. Casita Center is a safe space for people of

all ages, social status, economic status, gender, race, ethnicity, religion,

language, learner variability, and culture. By nurturing our community’s unique strengths, challenges, and learning styles, we encourage active contributions to make a positive difference in our world.

The IB defines Academic Integrity as a guiding principle in education and a choice to act in a responsible way whereby others can have trust in us as individuals. It is the foundation for ethical decision-making and behaviour in the production of legitimate, authentic and honest scholarly work. (IBO, 2019) Academic Integrity is about authenticity behind the learner’s thoughts, work, and understanding. Learners at Casita following the Academic Integrity Policy will be agents of their own learning. Through inquiry, students will make sense of

information and construct meaning through the development of the

approaches to learning and the learner profile attributes.

The development of language is fundamental to communication and constructing meaning through receptive and expressive language. It supports and enhances our thinking and understanding and is a tool for self expression. Language empowers the learner and provides a framework to support conceptual development. The learning process involves language acquisition, instruction, and application.

Assessment is integral to learning and teaching. In order to create an assessment-capable learning community (students, educators, support staff, administration, parents), we believe that the assessment process is transparent, collaborative, and inclusive. Assessment informs planning, instruction, and reflection to support students in developing the metacognitive skills to be an agent of their own learning. Our assessment capable community continually reflects on the efficacy of our PYP program implementation.