International Baccalaureate

An IB education is concerned with the whole person, encouraging students to become active, compassionate, lifelong learners by striving to be:

• inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-taskers, balanced and reflective, collectively known as the IB Learner Profile.

An IB education empowers young people for a lifetime of learning, independently and in collaboration with others by using the following approaches:

• Inquiry: students working together to construct meaning and make sense of the world, exploring curriculum that is engaging, relevant, challenging, and significant.
• Action: students are encouraged to act at home, in classrooms, schools, communities and the broader world. Action may involve service learning, advocacy and educating self and others.
• Reflection: students are given opportunities to reflect on their own thinking and effort, which leads to deeper understanding of what is being learned.

An IB education aims to develop internationally minded people by encouraging:

• Multilingualism and intercultural understanding: involves communicating in a variety of ways and to recognize and reflect on one’s own perspective, as well as the perspectives of others in order to explore human commonality, diversity and interconnection.
• Global engagement: involves a commitment to address humanity’s greatest challenges, at the local and global level.

An IB education aims to provide students opportunities to explore curriculum that is:

• Broad and balanced: offering students access to a broad range of content that spans academic subjects.
• Conceptual: focuses on timeless, abstract, universal, and transferable ideas that reach beyond temporal, national, cultural and subject-area boundaries.
• Connected: giving students authentic opportunities to make connections between many different subjects.

We want all students to be a part of the IB Diploma Program.  Successful IB Diploma Program students show ability, interest, self-discipline, and an awareness of others. Students from other districts wishing to enroll as part of the State of Minnesota’s Open Enrollment Policy should notify their home district by December, if possible, of the year prior to enrollment and, at the same time, call South St. Paul Secondary at (651) 457-9408 to obtain open-enrollment forms required by our district.  

IB Diploma Program courses provide you with the solid, well-rounded education you’ll need to succeed in the 21st century. Our IB graduates will tell you that taking IB Diploma Program courses helped them immensely. They learned how to prioritize, focus, write, and think. When they reached college, they felt prepared to tackle almost any assignment that came their way, and they felt better prepared than their peers whose schools didn’t offer IB Diploma Program courses.  Research also has proven that students that take at least one Diploma Program course have a better chance of completing college.

A very practical reason to take IB classes is that colleges are eager to accept students who have taken the more challenging classes that IB high schools offer. In addition, students who receive good scores on IB exams often get advanced placement and credit in college. In fact, many students who pursue the full IB Diploma are able to enter college as sophomores. Having to take fewer courses in college, or to be able to double major in 4 years, is a real money saver for you and your parents.

In addition to earning a high school diploma, students at South St. Paul Secondary can also be eligible for the IB Diploma.  The IB Diploma is a degree that is recognized by colleges and universities around the globe.  In order to be eligible for the IB Diploma, students need to take a full IB Diploma course load which would include satisfactory completion in 6 subject areas, completion of a course called Theory of Knowledge, documentation of Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) hours, and the completion of a 4,000 word Extended Essay on a topic of their choice.

Students can graduate with Honors at South St. Paul Secondary.  At graduation, the district will recognize students for their academic achievement and effort within the IB program and for their participation in the Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) program.Students who qualify for Honors will be recognized at the end of their senior year – IB Course candidates will receive a silver medal to wear at the June graduation ceremony; IB Diploma candidates will receive a gold medal.

For more information on Honors and CAS, consult the CAS/Honors Handbook available from the IB Coordinator or CAS Coordinator.

To qualify for Honors, IB Course candidates must...

• Test in at least four IB subjects (includes tests taken as a junior and senior), or test in at least three subjects and take two terms of Theory of Knowledge. 
• Fulfill the CAS Requirement.
   

To qualify for Honors, Diploma candidates must...

• Fulfill the academic requirements for the IB Diploma. This includes:
  • testing in 6 subjects;
  • completing ToK;
  • fulfilling the CAS requirement;
  • and completing an Extended Essay.

Find out more about the DP.
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact the Ib Diploma Program coordinator.