International Baccalaureate School
It’s official: North Star Charter School is now an IB World School. North Star became the Treasure Valley’s first public, tuition-free school authorized to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, starting in the Fall of 2009. This significant achievement recognizes two years of effort on the part of North Star’s dedicated administration, staff, and board members, who wanted to provide North Star students with a world-class education in a small school environment.
“It’s the realization of a dream for us,” said Board Chairman Joe DeVera. “We’ve all worked hard to see this day. We think IB will provide our students with truly unique educational opportunities.”
“We provide an outstanding academic option for students and parents in Southern Idaho,” says North Star Principal Phyllis Smith, who was instrumental in leading the school’s application for IB World School designation.
The International Baccalaureate Program is a challenging two-year program that begins in a high school student’s junior year. The program focuses on teaching students how to learn, and how to be a part of a world community. IB students must participate in community service activities, write a 4000 word essay, and take rigorous exams in subjects to earn their diplomas. Many colleges award college credit for IB examinations. Jay Mathews, the education writer for the Washington Post, has called IB courses the best preparation for college available to high school students today.
North Star still has a limited number of openings for students in its ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades for the fall. The eleventh grade will be the first class to graduate with an IB diploma. The school’s new campus in Eagle’s Legacy Subdivision is currently under construction and scheduled to open its doors for the coming 2009-2010 school year.
International Baccalaureate Information