Mariner Middle School recently was accepted for the Middle Years International Baccalaureate Program, which makes it an IB candidate school starting in September 2011.
“This is a great accomplishment and we’ll now work to ensure Mariner Middle joins the ranks of our IB schools,” interim Superintendent Dr. Lawrence Tihen said in a prepared statement. “The more educational opportunities we can provide our students, the stronger a district we will be. Congratulations to Mariner Middle on this momentous step.”
Mariner Middle School Principal Rachel Gould said the application consisted of approximately 25 pages of questions about the history of the school, demographics, education and professional background of the teachers and the implementation plan for the IB Program.
She said the Middle Years International Baccalaureate Program in the 21st century places many changing demands on students making the transition through adolescence.
“They are at a crucial period of personal, social, physical and intellectual development, of uncertainty and of questioning,” Gould said. “The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program is designed to help them find a sense of belonging in the ever-changing and increasingly interrelated world around them and to foster a positive attitude to learning.”
The eight subject groups that the program consists of include the students studying their mother tongue, a second language, humanities, sciences, mathematics, arts, physical education and technology. During the final year of the program students will be responsible in creating a personal project that demonstrates the skills they have learned throughout the three years. An electronic portfolio also is required from the students to show their accomplishments during the middle school years.
“The program will give the students aged 11-16 a more well-rounded education by providing a framework of academic challenges and life skills, achieved through embracing and transcending traditional school subjects,” she said.
Twelve Mariner Middle School staff members have already gone through training for the IB Program. At the end of August the entire staff will be trained.
Gould said the incoming sixth grade class will be the first class to leave Mariner Middle School with an IB certificate.