Sandy Springs schools join IB elementary program

Rigorous academic regimen said to benefit diversity.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program, noted for its rigorous and demanding curriculum, sets students and the high schools they attend apart. In this era of branding, when even public schools are looking for ways to distinguish themselves, offering an IB track in grades leading up to high school is an appealing option.

Leaders at the three Fulton County elementary schools in the Riverwood High School cluster recently earned the distinction of qualifying for the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP). Heards Ferry, High Point and Lake Forest elementaries in Sandy Springs, as part of the PYP system, made the Riverwood cluster the first in the county to have IB certification from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

But being part of the IB program in the earliest years MAKING THE GRADE offers benefits beyond recogin and have a lot of convernition, said Carrie Pitchford, sations,” she said. “It was the High Point principal. such a big undertaking that

“The IB program supports we had to be sure everyone globally-minded students, was on board.” and it speaks to diversity,” Once the consensus was in she said. “What makes High place, work began on intePoint special is our diversity. grating IB principles into We have about 23 different the curriculum and applycountries represented with ing for certification. Lib Rob40 percent Hispanic, 30 per- erts, High Point’s IB coordicent Caucasian and 20 pernator, worked with teachers cent African American, along to implement the program with a variety of Asian and for 740 students in classes Indian. That was one of the from pre-K through fifth. main reasons we did it. With “We are building these stua lot of different cultures, IB dents’ capacities to access spoke to everyone.” the IB program in the 11th

Getting support from the grade,” she said. “It’s defischools’ various communinitely more rigorous; many ties was key to earning the high school students who IB certification, Pitchford graduate with an IB diploma explained. start college as a sophomore

“It’s a very challenging or even a junior. In the priprogram that has high stan- mary years program, IB goes dards and expectations for across disciplines that supthe kids, so we had to dig port global thinking.”

CONTRIBUTED High Point second-graders work on math problems with Lib Roberts, the school’s International Baccalaureate program coordinator.