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Highlands Today

District Preps For 2nd Year Of Pre-IB Classes

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By MARC VALERO

Highlands Today

Published: March 18, 2009

SEBRING - As the Highlands County School District prepares for its second year of offering pre International Baccalaureate courses, the application process continues toward starting an IB Diploma Programme.

A total of 39 students, nearly all are ninth-graders, are currently enrolled in pre-IB classes at Sebring and Lake Placid high schools. A few students from Avon Park are attending Sebring High School on a waiver to participate in the program.

The program started with 47 students at the beginning of the 2008-09 school year, but a few left after the first semester

Though the deadline is about two weeks away, about 30 students have already applied for next year, District Administrator Ruth Heckman said Friday. Her goal is to have 50 to 60 IB students next year.

"It's a new program; you hear good things about it and then you hear concerns about it," she said. So enrollment depends on what parents hear from other parents and what they decide to do for their child.

The student application deadline has been extended to March 26, so it is after a question and answer program featuring IB students and a parent from the Bartow IB High School.

The program for interested students and parents will be held at 6 p.m., March 24 at Sebring Middle School.

Admission to the program is based on grade point average (minimum B), above average Norm Referenced Test scores, a writing sample and teacher recommendations.

"We have them list their community-service-type activities ... because of the part of the program that does involve creativity, action and service," Heckman said. "We just want to know if they are doing that sort of thing."

The second part of the district's application to the International Baccalaureate Organization is due by April 1.

"Probably the biggest part of that application, the teachers have to write course outlines for the courses they would teach the junior and senior year, not for next year's pre IB course, but the actual IB courses," Heckman said.

With the IB organization's approval, the district's first IB Diploma Programme class would graduate in 2012.

The Diploma Programme for students aged 16 to 19 is a demanding two-year curriculum leading to final examinations and a qualification that is recognized by leading universities around the world.

The district's first IB Field Day will be held April 18 for ninth- and 10th-grade students who are currently taking pre-IB classes and for eighth-graders who have been accepted to attend pre-IB courses in the fall.

Plans are being finalized for the event designed to be a fun day while building community spirit and unity, parent and IB proponent Dianne Juve said. Also, it will introduce the eighth-graders to the students who are already in the program at the high school.

About $51,000 has been donated thus far for the IB startup costs, she said.

The effort started in April with a goal of $65,000.

Now with a phase II fundraising effort just starting, Juve hopes a total of $75,000 to $80,000 can be raised so there is a cushion because of the economy.

For more information about IB, contact Heckman at 471-5641.

Highlands Today reporter Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com

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