Hillcrest Academy

International Baccalaureate

The Board of Trustees, mindful of the schools mission and history, looked for the most appropriate way to ensure that Hillcrest Academy would provide the best education for its students in the 21st Century. The challenge was met by embracing the gold standard of international education, the International Baccalaureate, or IB, program.

IB has three components to its program. The longest running and best known is the Diploma Programme (their spelling). This academically comprehensive and rigorous program is for High School Juniors and Seniors and is the preferred entry to most US Universities and Colleges, and the only way to enter International Universities. All of the surrounding school districts have an IB Diploma program at one of their campuses.

For students in grades 6 through 10, IB offers the Middle Years Programme, or MYP. This is a student centric (as opposed to subject centric) program that looks at knowledge, skills and application through a series of lenses. The connectivity between subject areas, as well as big picture understanding is stressed. (An example would be: traditional - study the American Civil War. IB - using the American civil war as an example, examine the causes and repercussions of civil conflicts.)

Students are assessed utilizing much broader criteria than a simple percentage or letter grade, with twelve educational traits, known as the student profile, used to give much better feedback to both the student, and parents.

Hillcrest Academy has begun the process of becoming an IB authorized MYP school earning the status of candidate school. The core teachers have attended their first formal trainings and all of the teachers have had introductory training. The process involves a great deal of teacher collaboration as every aspect of our curriculum is examined for value and purpose. It is our hope to complete this process over the next two to three years, but even now, the focus on best practices in education is having an impact in our classrooms.

For younger students IB offers the Primary Years Programme, available from Kindergarten through grade five. Again the emphasis is on connectivity and broader understanding in an active learning environment. This is a program we are already preparing for, and we will apply for candidate status as soon as it is appropriate.

Hillcrest Academy respects the past, but is ensuring that it will be the school of the future.

Further information is available on IB’s excellent website at www.ibo.org