Program Details – Excellence in International Education

“The advantages of an IB curriculum are its structure and quality. It’s a coordinated program, well established, well known, and well respected. We know the quality of IB courses, and we think the IB curriculum is terrific.”   Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Duke University

In grades 9 and 10 students follow the Middle Years Program (MYP).  Westwood is an authorized world school for the Middle Years Programme.

Westwood is also licensed with the Association Montessori International Teachers of Texas and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.  

Assessment strategies, both quantitative and qualitative, provide feedback on the thinking processes as well as the finished piece of work. There is also an emphasis on self-assessment and peer-assessment within the programme.

What is the Middle Years Programme (MYP)?  It is a program of international education designed to help students develop the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and skills necessary to participate actively and responsibly in a changing world. This period, encompassing early puberty and mid-adolescence, is a particularly critical phase of personal and intellectual development and requires a program that helps students participate actively and responsibly in a changing and increasingly interrelated world. Learning how to learn and how to evaluate information critically is as important as learning facts. 

There are eight academic areas in the MYP; English, Spanish, Humanities, Technology, Mathematics, Arts, Sciences and Physical Education.  These academic areas surround a personal project core of health and social education, environments, community and service and approaches to learning.  See current course syllabi for MYP 9&10.

DP

Westwood is a candidate* school for the Diploma Programme, grades 11 and 12. We are pursuing authorization as at the Diploma Programme level as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy - a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Westwood bleives is important for our students.

*Only schools authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) as IB World Schools can offer any of its three academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), or the Diploma Programme. Candidate status gives not guarantee that authorization will be granted.

What is the Diploma Programme? The Diploma Programme (DP) is a challenging two-year program of international education for students age 16 to 19.  It leads to a qualification that is widely recognized by the world’s leading universities. Students learn more than a collection of facts. The DP prepares students for university and encourages them to:

•                     ask challenging questions

•                     learn how to learn

•                     develop a strong sense of their own identity and culture

•                     develop the ability to communicate with and understand people from other countries and cultures.

The DP is the highest level of achievement available for high school students in the world. This program involves in-depth study in a broad range of subjects representing six academic areas (Groups) surround three core requirements (TOK, EE and CAS).  Subject options at Westwood include English, Mandarin, History, Philosophy, Biology, Mathematics and Theatre.  Subjects are given at standard level (SL), meeting twice a week (180 hours / 2 yrs) over two years or they are given at higher level meeting three time a week for at least (240 hours / 2 yrs). Students take at least three of the subjects at the Higher Level.

The Theory of Knowledge course, the Extended Essay and Community-Action-Service activities form the core of the DP. This core makes the program unique and valuable to universities and students.  

DP studies culminate in a series of oral and written examinations taken by IB candidates worldwide. All grades are criterion based, meaning that student results are determined by performance against set standards, not by each student’s position in the overall rank order. This is an academically rigorous program with the following minimum requirements in order to attain an IB Diploma:

·         Satisfactorily attended hours in each subject

·         Competition of all internal assessments

·         IB examinations in each subject

·         Successful completion of the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course

·         Journaling of 150 hours of Creativity, Actions, and Service (CAS)

·         Completion of the Extended Essay by February 1st of grade 12 

For further information about: 

the IBO and its programmes, visit http://www.ibo.org

For further information about

the IBO and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org

Montessori, visit 

SACS, please go to www.sacs.org