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Sebring High Accepted As IB 'Candidate' School
Marc Valero/Highlands Today
From left: Sebring High School ninth-graders Valerie Alvarado and Caitlyn Portis study in a pre-International Baccalaureate world history class. The IB organization recently accepted Sebring High as an IB Diploma Programme Candidate School.
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Published: October 20, 2008
SEBRING - District efforts and parent and community support have resulted in major milestone toward starting an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in Highlands County.
Sebring High School has been accepted as an IB Diploma Programme Candidate School.
The IB organization found no problems with the initial application, "so we are now a candidate school," said district Advanced Academics Coordinator Ruth Heckman.
Next comes part B of the application (due March 1), which includes details of the curriculum.
The IB organization will review the second part of the application and recommend changes if needed and then schedule a visit to the school.
The district is seeking authorization to offer the IB Diploma Programme starting in 2010.
A total of 47 students are currently participating in pre-IB classes, which started this year at Sebring and Lake Placid high schools.
After easily earning straight A's in middle school, Valerie Alvarado believed she was up to the challenge of taking pre-IB classes
"It's been pretty good, a lot of home work, but not too bad," Alvarado, now a Sebring High ninth-grader, said Thursday. She spends about two to three hours each day on homework.
The IB program differs from advanced placement and honors classes because it better prepares you for college, she said.
Sebring High ninth-grader Myles Giller said: "I went into it not really knowing what it is like, but it's pretty good so far."
He said middle school was "too easy."
Giller noted that with an IB diploma he would receive a two-year scholarship to any state college in Florida.
Teacher Colleen Polatty's pre-IB World History class was studying on Thursday the affects of cultural diversity on a civilization. After taking a test, some students worked on an essay on the subject while Alvarado read a book on the Cultural Revolution in China.
Heckman said, "we look forward to having enough students to offer pre-IB classes at Avon Park High School next year."
Some pre-IB teachers visited the IB program at Bartow High School recently and other teachers are scheduled to visit the IB program at St. Petersburg High School.
"That gives the teachers an opportunity to talk to teachers who are in the program to see what is going on," Heckman said.
Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com
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