The IB Diploma is an internationally recognized two-year exit curriculum for high school students in over 100 countries. The program is considered among the most academically rigorous and exceptional in the world and is a particularly good fit for the needs of ISY’s diverse student body.

The IBO (International Baccalaureate Organization) is a leading research and development institution focused on integrating contemporary globalization realities with serious academic rigor. In their own words:

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

One might quickly notice the concurrence of the IB mission and the ISY mission, but further evidence of a great fit for ISY is the similarity between our ISY mission and the IB Learner Profile (the ten indicators of exceptional learners): Thinker, Inquirer, Knowledgeable, Principled, Risk-Taker, Caring, Communicator, Balanced, Reflective, Open-Minded.

At ISY we expect the IB Diploma to become the curriculum of choice for most of our students as we believe it offers the best path to achieving our own school mission. There will over 40 IB candidates in the first IB cohort beginning in August 2009 and graduating in May 2011.

The IB Diploma asks students to take one course in each of six subject areas: Literature; Foreign Language; Social Science; Experimental Science; Mathematics; The Arts. ISY will offer over 25 courses including IB English A1; IB Korean Self-Taught; IB Chinese Self-Taught; IB French and Spanish B; IB Economics and Psychology; IB Physics, Chemistry, and Biology; IB Maths (3 levels); IB Film, Visual Arts, and Drama (most of these offered at the Higher or Standard Level).

In addition, students are required to complete TOK, CAS, and EE requirements. Theory of Knowledge (TOK) is a critical thinking course focused on helping students become more motivated learners in their subject areas through an understanding of how we know the things we know. The Creativity, Action, and Service (CAS) component engages students in learning experiences outside of the academic classroom and supports them in the pursuit of focused learning and service activities that encourage the growth of the whole student. The Extended Essay (EE) asks students to write a 4000 word research paper on a subject of their choosing as a kind of intellectual capstone to their experience in the IB Programme.