School celebrates IB program accreditation

The Leader / August 18, 2005

When the British School of Houston opens its doors for the fall semester next month, it will offer 11th grade and 12th-grade students an internationally recognized curriculum leading to an International Baccalaureate diploma. The school located at 4211 Watonga Boulevard has been officially recognized by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva, Switzerland and by International Baccalaureate, North America, as a world-class school, accredited to off the IB Diploma program. It will be one of only seven Houston-area public and private schools certified to offer the program.

To earn the IB diploma diploma, students complete and test in six IB subjects, write an extended essay of independent research guided by a faculty mentor, complete 150 hour of creative action and service activities and participate in a critical thinking course called Theory of Knowledge.

Alison Norris, who recently replaced David Rose as head teacher at the school, is excited about the new program."It will enhance our school because it's a prestigious qualification," Norris said, "Also, because we've been a developing school, it's so exciting to have the program here and have our first cohort of students starting this year. The IB program will help us to develop in our students qualities which I know will be useful for them in the future." Before assuming her present position, Norris served as deputy head for two years.

Proponents of the IB program describe it as an advanced, comprehensive program of study offering an integrated approach to learning across the disciplines with an emphasis on meeting the challenges of living and working in a global, technological society. "The focus of the curriculum is to develop in students a more global perspective," Norris said. "They are dealing with systems of knowledge historically developed around the world." For example, said Norris, the texts for English classes are not just British or American literature, but world literature.

"It's very much a focus of the program to do that in all subjects," she said. "Similarly when they write their submission for the IB, the teachers are required to show how the subject area will have international perspective." Norris believes it is important for students to have a global perspective. "The world has shrunk so much - it's a very different world from even 10 years ago," she said. "When the world situation is what it is, it's even more important to have a global perspective."

The IB Program, governed by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, began in 1968 as an effort by international schools to assure quality educational standards for students regardless of where they lived. According to the International Baccalaureate Web site, the program now has 1,485 authorized IB world schools in 199 countries.

Many families are attracted to the IB program because it is available internationally. "If you live in a city like Houston where families move constantly with the oil industry, having an international qualification helps," Norris said. "If they have to move they can go somewhere else in the world and the program will be available - there will be a school which will be able to provide it."

The IB program is becoming increasingly popular in high schools in this country. "It appears to be becoming increasingly popular as a program of study in the United States," Norris said. "I think the nature of the program and its internationalism is attractive to many, as is the fact that it is highly regarded by leading universities. Perhaps schools are also taking it on as an option for their more able and organized students who can cope with a more rigorous program.:

Norris sees many benefits to the IB program. "Because the IB program includes theory of knowledge, a dissertation and community service, students who do the IB already have shown that they can be versatile and that they can manage their time effectively," she said. "They can also be very well-rounded students if they're doing community service, developing creativity in different ways and becoming involved in actions to maintain their wider interests as well as studying for six subjects and other aspects of the program, such as theory of knowledge."

"That's why the IB program is said to be so rigorous - the students have to be committed in so many ways," Norris said. "A student doesn't start the IB program without a great deal of commitment and a sense of maturity. Those are qualities we will want to develop in the future."

Meeting the standards of the IB program makes the adjustment to college courses easier for many students, Norris believes. "The IB students I met at university spoke highly of the diploma," she said. "They felt it had helped them so much because they had to work in quite an intensive way in the previous two years that the first year of university was easier. Because of that they were more confident than many students who didn't go through the IB program." Recognized by universities worldwide, the IB program can also assist students in acceptance in top colleges in this country and can exempt a student from freshman courses at many universities. Other Houston schools offering the IB program are Awty International School, Bellaire High School, Klein High Oak High School, Lamar High School, Waltrip High School and Westchester Academy of International Studies.

Two years of teacher training have gone into the British School's preparation to offer the program. Accreditation took place through a detailed written application process and a site visit from IB consultants from New York and Vancouver. Culmination of the preparations will be the completion of the school's IB suite, scheduled for Aug. 24.

Enrolment at the British School of Houston for September 2005 is now available for students ages 3 to 17. Opened here in September 2000, the school has grown from 50 students to 460 students today. Although initially it provided elucidation for children of British managers in the energy sector, today it includes students from Houston's many international communities, with approximately 2 countries represented. American student enrolment is also increasing rapidly. "We've seen significant growth," Norris said. "We're proud of what has been achieved."

The faculty currently includes 45 teachers and a number of teaching assistants. Although some of the teachers at the British School are local, most are British and have been trained to sue the British National Curriculum. Call 713-290-9025, visit www.britishschool.org or send E-mail to admissionsbsh@britishschool.org for more information about the British School of Houston.