Why International Baccalaureate? Imagine a school where you take intellectual and physical adventures you never thought possible. Imagine a place where you stretch your mind as you learn in the classroom, the community, and the outdoors. Where you make friends that last a lifetime and where you discover you have the courage to go beyond your reach, to see yourself from a different perspective. Imagine a school where excellence is valued and learning is fun. Imagine The Westwood School, an International Baccalaureate World School, currently implementing the IB Middle Years Programme.
Maintaining the highest standards in the world, the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme challenges students to reach beyond themselves and their communities to the world at large. An ideal overlay to the foundation laid by the Montessori method, The Westwood School implements the IB curriculum in 7th and 8th grades and will add 9th grade in fall 2008. Westwood will continue to add a grade each year through 12th grade, thus, implementing the IB Diploma Programme, and graduating the first high school class in spring 2012. Our Secondary program offers students a truly unique experience that includes: -outstanding university preparation -small classes -individual attention -ethical and moral guidance -adventure leadership and experiential education -economic/business experience
Combined with a Montessori foundation, students will be well prepared to meet the challenges of both college and life beyond their schooling. Teachers create individual relationships with students to create learning opportunities based on the students’ needs and interests. It offers students choice in their learning through teacher-developed projects or student-derived and implemented projects, such as the tenth grade Personal Project required for the MYP Certificate.
IB Middle Years Programme (grades 7 through 10) The MYP stresses the importance of students grasping the interrelationship of subjects and the applications of various disciplines in the world outside the classroom. By emphasizing a combination of knowledge, skills, experience, and critical thinking, the MYP offers students an education that instructs the “whole person” in preparation for life. To this end, traditional academic subjects are accompanied by five Areas of Interaction that serve as links between the student, the academic subject, and the potential applications within the five areas: - Approaches to learning deals with learning how to learn.
- Community and Service encourages students to interact with the world around them.
- Health and Social Education deals with the physical and social welfare of students.
- Environment promotes the students’ awareness of their immediate surroundings as well as global environment.
- Homo Faber encourages students to see the relationships between sciences, aesthetics, technology, and ethics.
The MYP curriculum includes the teaching of eight compulsory subjects. These subjects are taught individually as well as in combination with other subjects, in view of the five Areas of Interaction: - Language A. All students study English.
- Language B. All students in the MYP years study Spanish and Latin.
- Humanities. Integrated History and Geography.
- Sciences. Integrated Biology, Chemistry, and Physics in years 1-2; year 3 Biology; year 4 Chemistry.
- Mathematics. Study of the five branches: number, algebra, geometry and trigonometry, probability and statistics, and discrete mathematics.
- Technology. Computer and other technologies.
- Arts. Visual and Performing Arts.
- Physical Education. Exercise through individual and team activities, including Adventure Leadership and Dynamic Fitness as well as conventional sports.
The combination of the eight compulsory subjects and the five Areas of Interaction give our students holistic education that addresses all dimensions of learning: -Knowledge: facts that students recall to ensure subject competence. -Understanding: how students interpret/predict aspects of a subject. -Application: how students apply learning to new situations. -Attitude: how students are changed by the learning experience.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Westwood will become a Candidate School for the Diploma Programme in 2009. Students moving from the IB Middle Years Programme into 11th grade will make a smooth transition to the IB Diploma Programme, which is designed to address the cognitive and affective needs of academically and intellectually advanced students. The program emphasizes learning experiences that foster achievement; curriculum that is thematic, trans-disciplinary and intricate; opportunities for affective development; and consideration of multiple perspectives and understandings. Students are engaged in regular discussions about abstract, complex ideas including reflective thinking about life experiences, critical examination of assumptions about knowledge, and appreciation of multiple perspectives. Several studies have indicated that the IB Diploma experience contributes to university success due to its integration of topics offering breadth and depth. Throughout high school, students reportedly acquire strong productivity/study skills, perseverance and balance while exposed to academic pressure, strong writing, research, and analytical thinking skills, and development of a global perspective. For these reasons, universities such as Harvard, Stanford, The University of Texas at Austin, and Southern Methodist University give special considerations to IB Diploma graduates. From college credit (24 hours in the state of Texas, for example) to scholarship money (such as that offered at SMU) students with IB diplomas are welcomed. |
