The International Baccalaureate Organization is a nonprofit educational foundation, motivated by its mission, and focused on the student. Their three programs help develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world. The aim of all IB programs is to develop internationally-minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet help to create a better and more peaceful world. IB offers high quality programs of international education to a worldwide community of schools. Currently there are more than 659,000 IB students at 3,288 schools in 141 countries.

IBO Mission Statement

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

Students study six subjects selected from the subject groups: Studies in Language and Literature (English A Literature); Language Acquistion (Language B--French and Spanish); Individuals and Societies (History Route 2--Americas); Experiemental Sciences (Biology and Chemistry); Mathematics and Computer Sciences (Mathematics and Math Studies) and The Arts (Music and Visual Arts). Normally three subjects are studied at higher level (courses representing 240 teaching hours), and the remaining three subjects are studied at standard level (courses representing at least 150 teaching hours). IB now recommends that both HL and SL courses are taught over a two year period.

All three parts of the core—Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and Creativity, Action, and Service—are compulsory and are central to the philosophy of the Diploma Programme.

[See below the IB Hexagon graphic for more details.]

Many students graduating from the IB Programme find that it enhances their opportunities at institutions of higher learning.

The ideal International Baccalaureate student combines intellectual potential with motivation and a love of learning. It is recommended that in-coming ninth grade students meet the following standards:

• 3.0 or better GPA in grades 7-8;
• Reading Comprehension and total math standardized test scores in the proficient or advanced range on the California Standards Tests (CST)
• High motivation as demonstrated by excellent attendance and exemplary conduct.

For transferring tenth and eleventh grade students, they have must taken the prepatory honors and math courses.

If a student attends within the Elk Grove Unfied School District, then s/he needs to contact Alycia Sato at 683-1339 or asato@egusd.net for information.

If a student is coming from outside the Elk Grove Unified School District, then s/he needs to contact Secondary Education at the district office at 686-7706.

This year LCHS IB students have been busy presenting their Individual Oral Presentation in English A Literature HL, experimenting with chemicals in Chemsitry HL/SL, and listening to Oakland Celebrity artist, Milton Bowens, one of our three California artists featured in the Art HL/SL course. Included is Bowen's multi-media artwork, Zora, which students learned about in their "concurrency of learning" when they read Their Eyes Were Watching God.