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Is IB Program Worth It For Highlands Students?

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

From left: Students Moises Rivero and Rohan Khurana work on a differential equation in advance placement calculus Tuesday at the IB school at Bartow High. Khurana lives in Sebring but has to travel to Bartow early every morning to be in the challenging program for advanced students.

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By MARC VALERO | Highlands Today

Published: February 17, 2008

BARTOW — Two Highlands County students drive an 80-mile round trip daily to and from Bartow to attend high school.

The students are attending the International Baccalaureate (I.B.) School at Bartow High. Graduates from I.B. diploma programs are highly regarded at admissions offices at top universities.

About eight other students from Highlands County previously attended the Bartow I.B. school.

Is Highlands County ready to have it's own I.B. diploma program?

With a serious effort to start the program here and the school board scheduled to make a decision soon, Highlands Today visited the Bartow I.B. school this week to see and hear what it is all about.

Students Eager To Learn

A class of 11th-graders, working in three large groups, read and discuss a long article on epistemology, the theory of knowledge.

It's so the students get a feel on how people study knowledge, second-year I.B. teacher Chris Guice said. "I like it a lot," he said of teaching in the I.B. program. "They're motivated students."

The students are active and engaged in their learning and don't fit the "bookworm" or "nerdy" smart-student stereotype.

Extra-curricular and community activities are encouraged and many I.B. students have been members of Bartow High School's varsity athletic teams over the years.

Many have set their sights on becoming medical doctors. Most agree that the curriculum is tough, but rewarding.

"It was tougher than I expected, but it's worth it," senior Rohan Khurana, of Sebring, said. With plans to become a cardiologist, he has already been accepted at a few universities, but he's waiting on a few more before he makes a final decision.

Khurana's father, Anuraag, is a radiologist and his mother, Sunaina, is a physician.

In his advanced placement calculus class, Khurana used his text book, a scientific calculator and a computer to work on a differential equation with a classmate.

Eleventh-grader Emily Helm's sister graduated from the Bartow I.B. school in 2006. With persuasion from her parents, Helm decided to try it for one semester.

"At the end of the semester, I just decided to stay," Helm said. She would have attended George Jenkins High School in Lakeland.

"It's tough, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else because I like the people here," she said. "It's less like your average cliquey stereotypical high school."

After graduation, she plans to attend college, but has yet to chose a career.

"Both my parents are doctors and both my siblings want to be doctors, but it's not for me," Helm said.

The school has an interesting mix of people, she said. "We generally work well together and our teachers are really interesting; they all have quirky personalities. You hear about them before you even have them — their reputation precedes them."

There's a lot of work, but it's likely necessary to be prepared for college, Helm said. She spends about 10 to 15 hours per week on homework.

"I don't work as hard as other people," she acknowledged

Asked about the writing requirements of an I.B. program, Helm replied, "I don't mind papers as much as science."

Her extra-curricular activities are numerous including three sports: tennis, basketball and volleyball and many clubs including the National Honor Society, Spanish Club, Anchor Club, Walker's Club and the Epicurean Society.

"Most of us are pretty well rounded," she added.

Bartow I.B. 11th-grader Brittani Cole said, "It's interesting. Once you get going you really have to be as open as possible. I really enjoy the students here. I think it's a much different experience than in a regular high school."

There are a lot of benefits with being in I.B. including being better prepared for college, she said. Many graduates come back to say how well prepared they were.

Cole wants to earn a doctorate in medicine.

"I know a lot of students that want to do that," become doctors, she said. "A lot of them want to get doctorates in law or they want to really pursue a high-end career."

Eleventh-grader Frank O'Harroll believes the curriculum is rigorous, but he sees the benefits.

"It's very cohesive and helps the mind develop," he said. The school has been established long enough to get the curriculum right.

To pursue a career in medicine, O'Harroll's university choices include Emery University and Ivy League institutions.

Parents Believe In Benefits Of I.B.

Khurana's mother, Sunaina, said for "academics" the I.B. diploma program is the most top-notch education that you are going to get in a public school setting. It is very comparable to a private or college-preparatory school.

"This is what you would want your child to get — the kind of education they are getting," she said.

The only drawback is most of her son's friends from school live in Lakeland or Winter Haven.

"We've been racking up quite a bit on our cell phone bills," Sunaina said with a chuckle. "The way they do their homework — he's on the cellphone, he's instant messaging."

The mileage has been racking up also as Sunaina has driven her son to Lakeland a number of times on the weekend so he could work on school assignments with his classmates.

With a fifth-grader, Milind, who will be attending Hill-Gustat Middle School next year, Sunaina would like to see an I.B. program start in Highlands County.

"I hope something comes up, although I know the [Sebring] high school is definitely offering much more AP (advanced placement) courses than they were offering when my son was going to be a freshman," she said. Some parents with children who were accepted into the Bartow I.B. program chose to keep them at Sebring High due to the variety AP courses that are offered.

"I still think I.B. offers something more than what's being offered here," Sunaina said.

Rajan Patel's two daughters graduated from the Bartow I.B. school — Ami in 2000 and Ruchi in 2004.

Ami is nearing completion of her studies at the dental school at New York University.

After finishing her undergraduate studies in three years at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., Ruchi is a first-year medical student at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

In 1994, when her older daughter was in middle school, Patel said, some parents and students were ready for an I.B. program, but the school district was not ready.

"At that time I had attended several programs in different cities where these programs were starting to come up and learned more and more about I.B.," she said. "I found out it can be started even with five students."

This area needs a little more education on I.B., Patel said. Though Bartow I.B. Principal Ed Vetter explained the program to parents here in December, a couple of more presentations are needed for parents to really digest all the information.

"Yes, I think if a few parents get together and really make this a goal, I think the area is ready," she said.

Convincing the school board and the general public that it was really a good thing for advanced students was the main hurdle to starting the I.B. program at Bartow High, Bartow I.B. Principal Ed Vetter said.

Is It Worth The Cost?

One of the initial questions from the general community was, "why spend this much money on these kids?" he said. At that time Polk County was spending about $2.5 million per year on alternative education on kids who didn't want to be in school and the I.B. program only needed $150,000 to start up for kids who wanted to excel in school, Vetter said.

That made a real big point to many in the general public, he said.

In 1996, Bartow High earned approval from the I.B. organizaton and the school graduated its charter class in 1999.

The I.B. curriculum is widely recognized by colleges and universities, not only in North America, but worldwide, Vetter said. It's an indication that the student has had a world-class curriculum and admissions offices realize all the work that these students have been through and are very friendly to accepting students who have been through I.B. programs and received the diploma.

The school's graduation rate is 100 percent. The students who do leave graduate at their zoned school, Vetter said.

Entry into the program is through an application process, which targets students who have a 3.0 minimum grade point average in middle school. Sixth- and seventh-grade reading and math scores from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test are examined.

"We have them write a student essay, which is basically to get some idea of how well they write, how well they think and how they can communicate because there is so much writing involved with the I.B. curriculum in all of their assessments," Vetter said.

A matrix is used to rank the students. Working from the top of the rankings, students are selected for the available openings in the program.

About 85 students are accepted each year with the knowledge that, for various reasons, not all of them are going to accept the offer, Vetter said. "We try to bring in around 65 to 70 each year."

The school's current enrollment is about 270.

Some students will attend for a while and for whatever reason determine that it is not just right for them and they will go back to their zoned high school, Vetter said. It's either too hard or they miss their friends from eighth-grade. There are a lot of professional families in I.B. and they tend to move around so students leave when the family relocates.

Next school year (2008-09), Haines City High School will become the second school in Polk County to offer an I.B. diploma program.

The Next Step For Highlands Schools

The School Board of Highlands County will hold a workshop at 4 p.m., Tuesday to discuss and review starting an International Baccalaureate diploma program.

The board is scheduled to vote on pursuing the program at its regular school board meeting at 5:30 p.m., Feb. 26.

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