The International Baccalaureate Programme is one of the highest forms of high school education offered and it has been an authorized path of education for the students at South Salem High School since 1999. South Salem is one of 20 high schools in the state of Oregon that offers an IB education at the high school level.
South students make the decision to register for the IB Diploma during their sophomore year. Registration for the program is done by scheduling a meeting with South’s IB Coordinator, Jennifer Harris-Clippinger.
Mrs. Harris-Clippinger has also been teaching IB history at South since 1999. She has been involved with IB for the last 24 years, and is in charge of the inner workings and functionality of the IB program at South.
Education is one of the most important things in a person’s life and the level of that education is even more important. This is why many families decided to put their children into the rigorous world of IB education.
“Firstly, I have to answer as a mom. There is nothing more important to me than my son Caden, and my daughter, Emma. I want to give them the world, and that is why my family decided when they were in elementary school that IB would be part of their education. I want my children to have passionate teachers, to be challenged but supported as they learn.” Harris-Clippinger said when asked if IB education is important for students.
“Secondly, as an educator, an IB education is important for all students. It’s about becoming a lifelong learner and leaving high school with the skills a person needs to succeed at any pursuit- both personal and professional. IB is the best free education you can access.”
Because of its title as an internationally recognized education, obtaining the IB diploma is considered by many to be very time consuming and quite challenging. A requirement for the IB diploma is that each year while in the program, a student must take 6 IB courses. This means taking an IB course in each of the six academic areas. These six areas are: literature, language acquisition, history, science, mathematics and the arts/electives. Besides this, there are other requirements for the IB Diploma.
Just because a student does not partake in acquiring the IB Diploma does not mean that they still cannot reap the benefits of the IB program. Students can take individual IB classes and if an acceptable score is received on the end-of-year exam, an IB certificate will be awarded for that specific academic area.
“Students get into colleges or other post-high school professional training programs all the time who did not engage in the full IB diploma.” Harris-Clippinger said.
It is highly recommended by administrators and teachers that every student enrolls in at least one IB course throughout their high school career because of the impact that it will have on their academic and personal lifes.
“Students who take at least one IB class in high school are more likely to go to college, are more likely to have higher GPAs than students who did not take an IB class in high school and are more likely to graduate college. And these findings are true for even students who earn an F in their high school IB class.” Harris-Clippinger said.
For more information on the IB diploma and program, head to https://south.salkeiz.k12.or.us/.
