The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is a rigorous two-year college preparatory course of study for highly motivated high school students.  It constitutes the last two years of study at ASV (11th and 12th grades).  The program features a comprehensive curriculum that contains both breadth and depth in its focus.  The IB program of studies provides students of rigorous linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds with the skills and intellectual perspectives necessary for the adult world ahead of them.

The curriculum is designed for the final two years of the student’s secondary career, but preliminary preparation during the eighth, ninth, and tenth grades is critical for success.  All candidates engage in the study of languages, sciences, mathematics, and humanities en route to the IB Diploma.  Further study in elective areas, completion of a 4000 word Extended Essay, Participation in a Theory of Knowledge program, and 150 hours of Creativity, Action, and Service round out the program. 

Successful IB students should be insightful problem analysts and solvers who reach considerable conclusions about people, language and literature, society, and the scientific forces of the environment. 

ASV IB faculty members are trained in IB instruction and thus ASV students have support from technology resources, teachers, and other staff members.

Three components unique to the IB Program

1.  CAS - Creativity, Action, Service 
2.  TOK - Theory of Knowledge 
3.  EE - A 4,000-word Extended Essay

 

 

Creativity, Action, and Service is known by the acronym “CAS” which is a fundamental part of the diploma curriculum.  The CAS requirement takes seriously the importance of life outside the world of scholarship.  The students must spend 150 hours on projects within their community that show Creativity, Action, and Service.  A CAS Coordinator helps students design a program of extracurricular activities that fulfill these requirements.

 

The Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course is a required course of the IB curriculum.  The teacher attempts to interweave the IB subject areas so that the commonalties and differences in man's various fields of knowledge are understood.  This class does not have a formal examination at the end, but the teacher does evaluate the diploma candidate's performance for the IB office, and classroom papers are evaluated by IB examiners.

 

About 4,000 words in length, the Extended Essay is a required project for each diploma candidate.  It is an independent project which is planned and completed with the help of an individually assigned mentor, beginning the spring of the junior year.  The subject of the essay is chosen from one of the subject areas examined and is a mixture of research skills and thoughtful analysis.  The rough draft is due in the fall of the senior year; the completed essay is due the end of the first semester of the senior year.