IB Happenings Newsletter

Although we often complain about the summer coming to an end, you have to admit there's nothing quite as hopeful as the beginning of a school year. I say it every year ... we are blessed in the world of education to have two "new years!" A fresh start with new school supplies, new teachers, new classes, and new routines. Right now, each student and teacher has the potential to make it their best year of school yet. We hope they will do just that.

Three years ago we began publishing an IB Happenings Newsletter on the first Friday of each month. The goal of this newsletter is to keep families up-to-date on all of the events taking place in the IB world, as well as the daily happenings in the lives of IB students. This year, we intend to continue the tradition. While last year we focused on the teachers of each course and the expectations of the course, we will turn our attention this year to the Approaches to Learning that are being utilized in each course. As a staff, we will be focusing on two approaches to learning: research skills and self-management skills. Expect to see quite a bit of those highlighted in classes across North Kansas City High School.

So, whether your student is one of our record number 140 IB juniors and just beginning their IB journey or one of our 92 IB seniors who has a year under their belt and is looking forward to all the "lasts" the senior year brings, we hope this newsletter that finds its way to your inbox on the first Friday of each month will paint a picture of that experience for you.

We are excited to welcome three new IB teachers to our esteemed faculty!

Ms. Cynthia Ballance is our new IB Sports, Exercise and Health Science teacher (replacing Dr. McSparin, who is our new Assistant to the Principal). She brings eight years of experience teaching science prior to joining the staff at NKCHS. This year, she is teaching Biology, PLTW Principles of Biomedical Science, and IB Sports, Exercise, and Health Science. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, traveling, and painting.

Ms. Diana Lehman comes to us after 18 years of teaching English. Most recently, she was an IB Literature at Lee's Summit High School. This year, she’s teaching IB Language and Literature HL1 and SL1, as well as ELA II and pre-IB/Honors ELA II. She enjoys reading, traveling, volunteering, and spending her summers at The K cheering on the Royals.

Last but certainly not least, Ms. Ashley Van Black is joining our career-related studies teachers in the Business Department. She is in her 9th year of teaching and has taught ELA, math, business/marketing, and AP Seminar courses across elementary, middle, and high school grades. This year, she is teaching College Marketing Advanced for IBCP. She loves traveling, attending KC Royals baseball games at home and away, reading, and relaxing with her cat, Pearl.

These ladies have hit the ground running, and we can't wait to see the thinkers they turn out!

Jourdan Martinez is beginning her first year as the IB admin assistant, but she has been with the district for six years. Outside work, she loves spending time with her dog, especially going on walks, and enjoys doing crafts with her friends.

We finished last year very hopeful that our IB Bill(s) would be passed by the House and the Senate. Well, it happened! Even more exciting, Senate Bill 68 was signed into law by Governor Kehoe on July 9. This bill had many components, but we were most exciited about this language:

"This act requires public institutions of higher education to adopt a policy to award undergraduate course credit to student who receives a score of four or higher on an International Baccalaureate exam."

We are very thankful for Representatives Chris Brown and Kemp Strickler and Senator Maggie Nurrenburn for the work they did in advocating for these bills.

While our Honors/Pre-IB courses are designed to prepare students for entry into the IB Program, the transition to Grade 11 for IB students can still be a big one for students and families alike. To help you and your student better understand the IB Program and the expectations, we are offering a meeting for all families of Grade 11 students during parent-teacher conferences on Oct. 1 and 2.

• Oct. 1 - 6:15-6:45 in the Library Media Center (2nd floor of Main)
  
• Oct. 2 - 4:00-4:30 in the Library Media Center (2nd floor of Main)

The meetings will each cover the same information, including overviews of both programs, course loads, exam structure and scoring, academic integrity policies, important dates, etc. For those not able to attend, we will share a link to the presentations used in our October IB Happenings Newletter.

As a September newsletter tradition, we must include an overview of the IB Program for our new families (or for those reading the newsletter for the first time!).

The International Baccalaureate was established in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1968. It emerged as a solution to the problem of varying curricula the children of diplomats were facing as they moved from country to country and school to school. The IB created schools that offered a consistent and rigorous curriculum, as well as aligned assessments, that prepared students for university admission and success. The IB offers a number of programs; but, in North Kansas City Schools, we are home to the IB Diploma Program (IBDP) and the IB Career-related Program (IBCP). The IB Diploma Program began at NKCHS in the 2002-2003 school year, with the first graduating class in 2004. Ten years later, we began offering the Career-related Program with the first class graduating in 2016. To date, we've had 726 students experience the IB Diploma Program and 167 students complete the IB Career-related program, as well as many other students successfully complete IB coursework.

Today, the International Baccalaureate is known across the world for its inquiry-based curriculum and instruction that prepares global learners for the demands of an ever-changing society. We are so fortunate that our district, the only one "north of the river" in the Kansas City metro area, supports these programs and fully funds the assessment fees and transportation needs of students. The 2-3 minute videos below outline a bit more about each program.

In the past we've held an "IB Junior Retreat," where we took our juniors off campus for half a day and taught them about "all things IB." With our IB students constituting 25% of our junior class, we had to adjust things this year. Dr. DeVries and Mrs. Nessa are visiting core classes of each program (TOK and PPS) to share some important information and get to know the students better. During our time together on 3-4 occasions over the next two months, we will dig into what it means to be an IB student, how IB diplomas are earned, and how to handle the demands of an IB student. Some of our wise IB Seniors will also join us for a panel in late October. Our first visit took place this week when we got to know the students through a "Would You Rather" game, looked at the growth we experience through failure, and the Core Component requirements of each program. Ask your student about it!

As a part of their "Group 4" studies in Biology, Chemistry, Sports, Exercise & Health Science, or Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS), every IB student is required to participate in the Collaborative Project.

Students will work with peers in other science courses to come up with a research question that will guide their Group 4 Collaborative Project. Students will meet with the Group 4 teachers to learn more about this project on Thursday, September 11, during MTSS. From there, they will determine a research question that will guide the studies they will perform at Line Creek on Friday, September 26. The final presentation is due on Friday, November 8.

This project will include students in ESS SL, SEHS SL, Biology SL, Biology HL 1, and Chemistry HL 1, as well as any senior in an HL 2 science course who did not attend last year.

Each year, this experience tends to be a favorite one in the eyes of many IB students!

Please remember that you have access to "all things IB" in our International Baccalaureate Canvas course. As a parent observer, you also have access to all of your student's classes, as well as this course. We keep meeting presentations, important dates, exam information, course syllabi, program policies, and so much more in this course. Please take a moment dig into all that's available to you!

While IB exams may seem quite a way off, May will be here before you know it! Actually, our first exams begin on April 28 this year. For your planning purposes, the exam schedule is linked below. Students in HL 2, SL 2, and SL classes take exams. Students in HL 1 or SL 1 classes will take exams next year.

As a program, we regularly visit our program's policies to revise and update them to ensure they are current and relevant. These policies are housed in the International Baccalaureate Canvas course; however, we also wanted to share them in this newsletter for easier access.

• Academic Integrity Policy
• Admissions Policy
• Assessment Policy
• Inclusion Policy
• Language Policy

Do you have topics you'd like to see covered or questions you'd like to have answered in an upcoming edition of the "IB Happenings" newsletter? If so, please take a moment to share those with us here: https://forms.gle/3gJM6DLqJTj5NAXf8

Email: jourdan.martinez@nkcschools.org
Website: https://nkhs.nkcschools.org/programs/ib
Location: 620 East 23rd Avenue, North Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone: 816.321.6508