Following nearly four years of preparations, applications and evaluations, Midvale Middle School received a letter from International Baccalaureate containing two magic words: You’re approved.
Midvale Middle School on Monday, Aug. 6, 2012 received authorization from International Baccalaureate to offer in full the IB Middle Years Programme. The Canyons District school is one of just two middle schools in Utah to achieve the prestigious certificate of authorization from International Baccalaurate, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Midvale now officially is known as an “IB World School.”
“This is a schoolwide, international program that provides a foundation for all of our students to be successful wherever they go,” Midvale Principal Paula Logan said. “Often, programs are reserved for students who are academically advanced. But the IB Middle Years Programme is for every student, whether they are advanced or receiving special education services. It’s something about which our students and faculty can say, we worked hard, and were able to achieve this together.”
The IB Middle Years Programme is designed to help young adolescents find a sense of belonging in a changing, interrelated world and foster a positive attitude toward learning, according to www.ibo.org. Essentially, the program provides students with a challenging academic framework that encourages them to embrace and understand connections between traditional subjects and the real world, and become critical and reflective thinkers. All Midvale Middle School students are part of the program.
The program also can help students establish a foundation for success in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, an academically rigorous program offered at nearby Hillcrest High School.
The school worked for program approval since 2009, a process that includes applications, evaluations, and site visits from International Baccalaureate officials. Yet the process yielded more than certification, Principal Logan said, including increased school unity and student focus, connections between classes, and more deliberate lesson planning among faculty.
“This helps students fine-tune learning skills, and view themselves as part of a global citizenry and community of achievers,” Logan said. “It shows students that if they focus and work hard, they can achieve anything.”
