Students and representatives stand together after the recent passing of the bill. Photo courtesy of Tara Romine.
The IB program ‘bill ceremony’ was held at South Salem High School in the Front Office on March 7, 2024, at 8:15 a.m. The event took place to commemorate the change in qualifications for graduation regarding South’s International Baccalaureate (IB) and Career-related Program (CP.) Senator Dick Anderson and Representative Lisa Reynolds stopped by South to congratulate students on the recent passing of the bill, HB 4137.
Senator Reynolds sponsored the bill, working with South students who testified during the House and Senate committees on HB 4137. The bill allows students to graduate without Oregon’s traditional high school diploma qualifications. The general testimony to implement this change was due to the IB program’s rigorous nature. Due to the time spent obtaining the IB diploma, and soon the CP diploma, it found that students had a difficult time reaching graduation requirements. Difficulty in reaching these requirements resulted in high school students taking online courses from community colleges, taking summer or after-school classes, quitting extracurricular activities or dropping out of the program altogether.
What is IB and CP?
South has remained one of the few schools of Salem to implement IB in comparison to AP. The IB program focuses on college-level core classes, with alternative focuses on accelerated language and art. In academic settings, educators highly praise IB for its rigorous approach to learning, making it an excellent college preparation. College admissions often consider IB classes that have been taken.
CP is a newer program to be implemented for the upcoming school year of 2024-2025. It focuses on career-based studies at an accelerated pace and advanced level. It applies practical and real-world approaches to education.
This new graduation requirement will change many aspects of class workload while going after the IB and CP diplomas.
