About international baccalaureate

Founded in 1968, the IB currently works with 3,160 schools in 140 countries to develop
and offer three challenging programs to over 925,000 students.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a non-profit educational foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland and Cardiff, Wales in the United Kingdom. The IB offers three programs for students ages 3 to 19. The purpose of these programs is to develop the intellectual, personal, emotional, and social skills to live, learn, and work in a rapidly globalizing world.

Three different programs

Primary Years Program (PYP) for children ages 3 to 12 or Westhill's Pre-K to grade 5

The PYP focuses on the development of the whole child, in the classroom and in the outside world. Westhill Institute will begin implementation of this program at the Carpatos and Santa Fe Elementary campuses in the coming academic year of 2011 – 2012.

Middle Years Program (MYP) for children ages 12 to 16

The MYP provides a framework of academic challenge and life skills through embracing and transcending traditional school subjects. The IB Middle Years Program will be an integral part of the new curriculum for Westhill's Santa Fe Middle and High School students, grades 6 to 10 for school year 2011 – 2012. And for the first time in Westhill's history, we are excited to have grade 6 students join the Middle School campus as we continue to implement this challenging and creative approach to international education.

Diploma Program (DP) for students ages 16 to 19

Is a demanding two-year curriculum that meets the needs of highly motivated students, and leads to a diploma and potential for advanced placement that is recognized by leading universities around the world. The IB Diploma Program will be in full swing in the coming school year and we anticipate official authorization from IB to teach this program and to prepare students for the rigorous series of university level examinations that culminate the two-year series of subjects. In all three programs, the goal is the education of the whole person through all domains of knowledge, involving the major subject areas in languages, humanities, sciences, mathematics and the arts.

The three programs form a continuum of education from pre-kinder through high school that transcends any individual national program. IB programs incorporate the best features of an international education while remaining flexible enough to meet the local needs and requirements of individual countries.

The International Baccalaureate chooses to define "international education"
according to the following criteria

• Developing citizens of the world in relation to culture, language and learning to live together
• Building and reinforcing students' sense of identity and cultural awareness
• Fostering students' recognition and development of universal human values
• Stimulating curiosity and inquiry in order to foster a spirit of discovery and enjoyment of learning
• Equipping students with the skills to learn and acquire knowledge, individually or collaboratively, and to apply these skills and knowledge accordingly across a broad range of areas
• Providing international content while responding to local requirements and interests
• Encouraging diversity and flexibility in teaching methods
• Providing appropriate forms of assessment and international benchmarking

Teachers and administrators have been working tirelessly over the course of the 2010-2011 school year to prepare the Westhill community for the advent of the International Baccalaureate programs and the grade 11 Diploma Program is the first grade level to be fully implemented.

IB Diploma Program students study six courses at either higher level or standard level. Students must choose one subject from each of groups 1 to 5, thus ensuring breadth of experience in languages (groups 1 and 2), social studies (group 3), the experimental sciences (group 4) and mathematics (group 5). The sixth subject may be an arts subject chosen from group 6, or the student may choose another subject from groups 1 to 5.

In addition, the program has three core requirements that are included to broaden the educational experience and challenge students to apply their knowledge and understanding.

The extended essay is a requirement for students to engage in independent research through an in-depth study (4000 words) of a question relating to one of the subjects they are studying.

Theory of knowledge is a course designed to encourage each student to reflect on the nature of knowledge by critically examining different ways of knowing (perception, emotion, language and reason) and different kinds of knowledge (scientific, artistic, mathematical and historical).

Creativity, action, service (Community Service) requires that students actively learn from the experience of doing real tasks beyond the classroom. Students can combine all three components or do activities related to each one of them separately.

Students take written examinations at the end of the program, which are marked by external IB examiners. Students also complete assessment tasks in the school, which are either initially marked by teachers and then moderated by external moderators or sent directly to external examiners.

The coveted IB Diploma is awarded to students who gain at least 24 points. The highest total that a Diploma Program student can be awarded is 45 points.

The IB works with universities in nearly 140 countries to promote broader recognition of the Diploma Program for the 120,000 Diploma Program graduates entering university each year.

In the IB Middle Years Program (grades 6 to 10 at Westhill), students will have eight areas of academic focus. These general subject areas are First Language, Second Language, Humanities, Mathematics, Science, Information Technology, Physical Education, and Art. Teachers plan their lessons together, by grade level, in collaborative work sessions with the goal of developing interdisciplinary lesson plans and student assessments that are formed around one of five areas of interaction: Approaches to Learning (thinking and study skills), Human Ingenuity, Community Service, Health and Social Education, and Environments. Student progress is evaluated in creative ways that include problem-based assessments, scientific and mathematics projects, inventive solutions to social problems, historical research using original sources as well as traditional written examinations.

Through all three of the IB programs, students gain rigorous and balanced academic preparation, an ability to draw on knowledge and understanding of various cultures and histories, and the experience of learning how to think critically and apply what they have learned in different contexts and across disciplines.

These are challenging programs that demand the best from both motivated students and teachers. All of Westhill's teachers now have access to an extensive package of IB teaching resources and professional training through IB workshops and online courses. As a consequence of teaching the IB programs, Westhill is required to participate in an ongoing process of external review and continuous improvement, using standards and practices that apply to all IB World Schools.

With the integration of the International Baccalaureate into our comprehensive academic program, the Westhill Board of Directors has made the best possible decision to advance quality education for all of our students. There is no better or more challenging system of education than the International Baccalaureate. And now Westhill, with its many other accreditations including the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS / AdvancED), the Secretaría de Educaión Publica (SEP), and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) is on track to becoming the most advanced, the most challenging, and the most creative school anywhere in the Americas! There is no better education available anywhere than a Westhill education.