The New Westminster school district is making changes to its advanced education program with hopes of opening it up to more students.
Currently, those wishing to enter the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme must take the pre-IB program in grades 9 and 10, according to a recent school board report.
The IB program is an internationally recognized advanced education program for grades 11 and 12, and some universities offer course credits to students graduating from the diploma program.
The pre-IB program currently takes in about 90 New Westminster Secondary School students in Grade 9 each year, including 24 French immersion students, according to the district report.
New West school district staff ran a review of the program, including “inclusive practices,” scheduling, staffing and student success statistics over several years. Based on that review, staff recommended changes to the program that would essentially eliminate the pre-IB program.
Instead, the district will allow Grade 10 students to take advanced courses regardless of whether they’re registering for IB. The district will also offer the IB program – which runs through grades 11 and 12 – to any Grade 10 student who wants to participate, regardless of whether they’ve taken the higher-level Grade 10 courses.
“The upside of the change is that students are given the benefit of a vital transition year in high school – allowing all students the opportunity to engage in honours classes as well as in elective options (such as fine arts, for instance) should they wish to,” said school district spokesperson Holly Nathan in an email.
“[The current system] restricted options for pre-IB students who had to give up electives allowing them to participate, for instance, in band classes. … The change effectively opens up opportunities for everybody.”
Moving registration for IB from Grade 8 to Grade 10 also allows teachers opportunities to help guide their registration for the program, such as which courses to take.
