News Release
Ingraham High School Wins Approval to Offer Prestigious International Baccalaureate Program
Ingraham High School has been authorized to add the rigorous International Baccalaureate Diploma Program to its curriculum in September 2003, giving students a distinct advantage in the college preparatory arena. After a two-year application process, the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate Organization notified Ingraham that the school has been approved to offer students the prestigious program, which allows candidates to earn a world-class education and an internationally recognized diploma.
The comprehensive two-year curriculum, offered to juniors and seniors, enhances traditional educational programs by teaching students to become well-rounded scholars with a global perspective. A core part of the program is an interdisciplinary requirement called theory of knowledge that is intended to stimulate critical reflection on information and experience gained both in and out of the classroom. Students are required to write a 4,000 word essay, akin to a mini-thesis, and must incorporate creativity, action and service into six study areas: world literature; foreign language; individuals and societies; experimental sciences; mathematics; and arts and electives.
After sending a site team to Ingraham, the IB organization commended the school for its focus on raising academic standards through more rigorous courses and on its atmosphere of camaraderie and appreciation of cultural diversity. It also noted the passion and enthusiasm of IB course teachers.
Ingraham currently offers pre-International Baccalaureate classes for ninth and tenth graders and is the first Seattle Public School to be approved for the program. The pre-IB classes started in the 2000-2001 school year. Approximately 60 freshman and 30 sophomores are enrolled in the pre-IB program for the 2002-2003 academic year. Those students will move up to the Diploma program -- which officially begins in September 2003 and for which some colleges offer course credit -- as juniors and seniors. For more information about Ingraham High School go online to www.seattleschools.org/schools/ingraham/.
The International Baccalaureate Diploma program began in 1968 and now has 1,329 authorized IB world schools in 110 countries. For more information about the International Baccalaureate Organization go online to www.ibo.org.