International Baccalaureate (IB) is a nonprofit, educational foundation. It was founded in 1968 and offers three different educational programs that help students develop the intellectual, academic, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world.
Please visit the IB website for more detailed information on the programme.
Our Mission
The mission at West Ridge is to provide a rigorous, relevant and inquiry-based educational environment that challenges students to excel. We embrace a partnership with students, parents, educators and members of our community to attain these goals.
Learner Profile
The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. The Learner Profile has 10 attributes/qualities that build international-mindedness. These attributes are the most important in creating positive and productive citizens of the world. (Our students are creating Attribute of the Month videos. We will add links below as they are completed. Find 2021-2022 videos here)
We want our students to be:
- Inquirers
- Knowledgeable
- Thinkers
- Communicators
- Principled
- Open-minded
- Caring
- Risk-takers
- Balanced
- Reflective
Primary Years Programme
The Primary Years Programme (PYP) is the official curriculum framework and teaching methodology of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) developed to meet the needs of the whole child, in the classroom as well as the world outside, through other environments where children learn.
The PYP:
- Emphasizes learning through active inquiry.
- Provides a set of organizing themes that helps schools to incorporate state and district content standards into a balanced program of knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action that addresses the needs of the whole child.
- Combines the best practices to create a relevant, engaging, significant, and challenging educational framework.
Primary Years Programme Philosophy
The PYP is committed to structured inquiry as the main way of learning. Every year students will study six units of inquiry that are driven by a set of key concept questions matching six universal transdisciplinary themes. These themes are:
- Who We Are
- Where We Are in Place & Time
- How We Express Ourselves
- How the World Works
- How We Organize Ourselves
- Sharing the Planet
Students explore reading, math, social studies, science, health, physical education and the arts through these themes. These units of inquiry are interdisciplinary, meaning traditional subject areas are interwoven into the themes where possible.
For more information, please contact Mike Maxwell at michael.maxwell@rusd.org.