As parents, our vision for the Natomas community is to make education a priority for our children. We should not have to rely on sending our children out of public schools or even our district to pursue an academically rigorous high school curriculum. With the recent budget issues plaguing our district, we can no longer wait for these problems to be resolved by anyone else but us. It is imperative that parents and the community take action to create solutions to keep our children in our local schools.
Inderkum IB Program is based solely on volunteers who want to help and see Inderkum high school flourish and offer our children a state of the art education.
Offering an IB Diploma Program at Inderkum high schools means:
- Our students will be offered a rigorous internationally standardized program
- Our students will be equipped to enter the finest universities in our nation and the world
- Our students will be encouraged to maintain high academic standards, required to excel in a global economy
- Our students will be enriched with a class in critical thinking and meta-cognition
- Our students will demonstrate the ability to write an extended essay Our students will have verified creativity, action, and service hours
- desired by university admissions officers
- Our district will generate money by keeping students in our district
- Our high school will become more attractive to Natomas residents and those around us
- Our community, business and residents alike, will benefit by having an attractive school
The Inderkum IB Diploma Program, aims to offer a two-year course of study, to provide eleventh and twelfth grade students with advanced courses in six academic areas plus the theory of knowledge course, an extended essay, and verified hours of creativity, action, and service. The first class to be eligible for the IB Diploma at Inderkum, contingent on gathering enough funding, will be the graduating class of 2015. Many universities grant a full year of credit to students who have earned the IB Diploma.
Inderkum must apply and be accepted by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). In order to get accepted, Inderkum must prove that we could establish and successfully sustain this program to the standards required. This includes site visits from IBO and review of district and school budgets. During the two year process, the faculty attends training, receives two days of consultation from the IBO and collaboratively creates their application. The teachers, prospective students, community, and the district officials are then interviewed during a two day site visit. Evidence of a solid foundation of support from the district, the community, the faculty and staff, the prospective students, sufficient materials and infrastructure combined predict a favorable outcome. As with other accreditation processes, the IBO provides a detailed response and a useful outside perspective and continues oversight, training and communication year by year after implementation.
When IB is present on a campus, the entire school climate improves. Eleventh and twelfth grade students, in addition to those accepted to the diploma program, may be allowed to take individual IB courses, to take examinations in those courses and subsequently receive certificates to offer to their college to receive transcript credit just as they would with AP course work. Teachers trained in IB methods and standards teach students outside the program and share their professional development with them and with their peers. Ninth and tenth grade classes are enriched by Pre-IB diploma teacher training providing the critical thinking skills and assessment methods that will be a required of students who select the diploma program or certificate courses later.
How can we get here?
Inderkum must apply and be accepted by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). In order to get accepted, Inderkum must prove that we could establish and successfully sustain this program to the standards required. This includes site visits from IBO and review of district and school budgets.
During the two year process, the faculty attends training, receives two days of consultation from the IBO and collaboratively creates their application. The teachers, prospective students, community, and the district officials are then interviewed during a two day site visit. Evidence of a solid foundation of support from the district, the community, the faculty and staff, the prospective students, sufficient materials and infrastructure combined predict a favorable outcome. As with other accreditation processes, the IBO provides a detailed response and a useful outside perspective and continues oversight, training and communication year by year after implementation.
When IB is present on a campus, the entire school climate improves. Eleventh and twelfth grade students, in addition to those accepted to the diploma program, may be allowed to take individual IB courses, to take examinations in those courses and subsequently receive certificates to offer to their college to receive transcript credit just as they would with AP course work. Teachers trained in IB methods and standards teach students outside the program and share their professional development with them and with their peers. Ninth and tenth grade classes are enriched by Pre-IB diploma teacher training providing the critical thinking skills and assessment methods that will be a required of students who select the diploma program or certificate courses later.
