What is IB?

St. Paul's Episcopal School began investigating the International Baccalaureate Curriculum in 2002. After extensive research, the school adopted the program and began teacher training and implementation. Their rigorous accreditation was completed in 2006, and they are now an authorized IB World School. St. Paul's is one of only 400 PYP schools world wide to have this prestigious accreditation and is the only private IB school in the southwest region. The ideals of the IB program reflect the school's mission to educate the whole child in mind, body, and spirit.

Check out the St. Paul's website to learn more information about the IB program at St. Paul's

The IB program for elementary students is called Primary Years Program or PYP. It offers students from age 3 to 12 the following best practices in education:
	Students are *actively engaged* in all parts of the learning process. They learn how to *ask questions* that will give them a *deeper understanding* of the topic they are learning. Then they participate in activities designed to answer their questions. As they progress through the program, they share in the design of the learning activities. Textbooks and teachers become just two of many reference tools that students are encouraged to use to find information. IB classrooms are filled with dialogue, interaction, research, and presentations. Through these activities, students acquire skills valuable not only to learning, but also to life outside the school.
The IB Learner Profile encourages students to “think globally, act locally.” Children are encouraged to improve in their attitudes toward others, towards learning, and toward the well-being of themselves and the group. When these character traits are inherent in a person, he or she is better able to interact in the world. The mission of IB is to encourage young people to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
	In the Primary Years Program, it is believed that education must extend beyond the intellectual to include not only socially responsible attitudes but also thoughtful and appropriate action. Students are encouraged to initiate action based on what they have learned. Action is not limited to community service. Any choice a student makes that reflects a better understanding of a topic is action. The important component is that it is student-initiated. Teachers and parents should help facilitate the student’s idea, but the idea must belong to the child for it to be “action.”


IB is short for International Baccalaureate, a world-renowned educational organization. The International Baccalaureate Organization was founded in 1967 to offer a strong educational program implementing best practices in education to children of European diplomats and ambassadors.		It began as the Diploma Program for high school, and in the 1990s, the organization developed a middle years program (middle school) and a primary years program (elementary school).Any school who wishes to become an IB World School must go through a rigorous application and authorization process.