THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503160202
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
About 14 years ago, city leaders set a goal of making Virginia Beach more attractive to international businesses, workers and families.
School officials believe they have found a new way to help achieve that long-cherished goal: a program called International Baccalaureate, set to begin at Princess Anne High in the fall.
High school students may enroll in special advanced courses and, if they meet all requirements, earn an International Baccalaureate diploma that is recognized worldwide for its rigor.
School officials conducted a daylong orientation session Tuesday at the Days Inn on Bonney Road and at Princess Anne High for city and school system leaders, guidance counselors, parents and students. About 250 parents showed up to ask questions about the new program.
``I truly think the school division has needed this option for a long time,'' said Nancy T. Jones, director of the school system's Educational Planning Center and a former principal at Princess Anne.
The International Baccalaureate program, based in Geneva, Switzerland, was started 30 years ago. European schools and universities needed a common way to evaluate the educational achievements of students from various countries. Now, more than 550 public and private schools in 73 countries worldwide participate, including 162 schools in the United States. Six schools in Virginia take part, not including Princess Anne.
Princess Anne's program will be set up like an academic magnet school. Students from all over the city will be invited to apply through their guidance counselors. Those accepted to the program will be granted automatic transfers to Princess Anne but will have to find their own transportation if they live outside the school's attendance zone.
Although the formal International Baccalaureate program is for 11th- and 12th-graders, students will be urged to apply in middle school for a pre-International Baccalaureate program at Princess Anne, a series of courses designed to prepare ninth- and 10th-graders for the real thing.
Princess Anne Principal Patricia W. Griffin said 11th-graders who did not take the preparatory classes would be considered. But, she said, ``We will be very careful about accepting students into the IB (International Baccalaureate) program who are 11th-graders, because they will be behind.''
Princess Anne will develop the program in stages. Next year, it will enroll about 100 ninth- and 10th-graders in the preparatory program. The full program will get under way in fall 1996. The long-term target is to have about 400 students enrolled in the pre- and full International Baccalaureate programs.
``We know it's going to take time to create the interest,'' Griffin said.
The requirements for earning the diploma are tough, but there are some substantial rewards. Colleges and universities, to varying degrees, give International Baccalaureate students special consideration on admissions, and may offer some college credit. Jones said the diploma is roughly equal to one year of college study.
``Especially at a school like the University of Virginia, where you have 18,000 students applying for 1,500 freshman slots, you need an edge,'' said Robert S. Rose, earth science teacher and coordinator for the program at Princess Anne High.
Students seeking an International Baccalaureate diploma must complete a 4,000-word essay, a special ``theory of knowledge'' course, extracurricular activities and community service work, plus two years of rigorous course work in six areas: their native language and literature, a second language, social studies, experimental sciences, math and an elective, such as a third language or an arts course.
Curriculum and subject guides are provided by the International Baccalaureate Organization. Princess Anne teachers will be trained this summer.
At the end of each course, students must take exams which are graded by teachers and professors from around the world.
``This really will make us a world-class school system,'' Rose said.
There is one potential snag - space at Princess Anne. The school expects an enrollment of about 1,900 students next year. An addition scheduled to be completed in September will bring the school's capacity to 2,000.
That should allow the school to accommodate the 100 or so extra kids expected in the pre-International Baccalaureate program next year. But the program is due to expand in 1996. by CNB