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The International School at Mesa del Sol

Open HouseFebruary 27, 2010

Feature One

The International School is a New Mexico State-approved charter school and a

member of the New Mexico Coalition for Charter Schools.

It is currently pursuing authorization to become a member school of the

International Baccalaureate Organization.

Mission

The International School at Mesa del Sol will provide a meaningful, globally-connected and

comprehensive educational program to all students, regardless of personal circumstances, to

develop knowledgeable, reflective, critical and compassionate life-long learners who understand,

appreciate and respect the common bonds of humanity in a culturally-diverse world.

Vision

Our vision is to bring a meaningful, comprehensive contemporary education to all

students, regardless of personal circumstance, to motivate them to learn and

be actively engaged in our school community. It is our vision that with this

foundation, children will grow into adults with the hearts, minds, and hands to build a better

world.

The principles that support this vision include the following:

All students, regardless of personal circumstance, are entitled to a rich, relevant, challenging, and international academic program;

All students must be held to high standards and be expected to achieve them;

All students can and will learn given the appropriate context and support;

All students should expect that their education will not only prepare them for the next phase of their academic or vocational careers, but equip them with essential life-long skills;

All students should expect that their academic experience should be influenced by broad diversity in student and teacher makeup;

A meaningful education is a key to understanding the world today, recognizing that the development of new knowledge can be constructed both from individual cultural perspectives as well as from perspectives that draw across cultures;

The academic program will embrace international content, skills, assessment, and benchmarks as well as

that of local context;

The expectation that students will not only master foundational and threshold skills, but will become critical and creative thinkers who are confident in their abilities to independently construct, evaluate, modify, and apply knowledge.

The exponential growth of information in our world today, makes it impossible to teach and expect students to learn, all that is possible to know and learn.

Instead, it is our responsibility to teach students how to think, how to make sense of all the information they have access to, and how to know the difference between what is important and what is not.

To know which information is factual, which is speculative, and which is opinion

Our goal is to have students know how to learn what they need to know

to know what they do know and why it is important

To know what they do not know and what they need to know

to know what they are learning and what that learning will

do for them

Ask your student . . . What are you learning?

Why are you learning this and what will it do for you?

How do you know that you know something?

Everything we do is done with a purpose.

There is a reason why everything we do is done the way we do it, or we will not do it.

And the explanation of, “that is the way we have always done it”, is not good enough.

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Why International Baccalaureate Curriculum?

Traditionally, the International Baccalaureate diploma has been considered the world standard of high school diplomas.

One problem is that many students haven't been academically eligible to enroll in such a program in high school.

By starting IB at kindergarten, we believe we can open up IB to a much wider universe of students who can excel and earn a coveted IB diploma.

There are over 2,300 authorized IB schools in over 120 countries; over 1,100 authorized schools in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean

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IB is well suited to alignment with New Mexico standards

IB is very assessment focused

IB has an excellent track record of preparing students for a four-year college without remediation

IB has an international network which gives us the opportunity to collaborate and share curriculum ideas with other IB school around the country and world which serve highly diverse population

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Preparing children to understand and live in their communities and the world

The ability to manage differences, complexity, and ambiguity

The ability to embrace different cultural perspectives

The ability to communicate, negotiate, and work across cultures

The ability to speak a foreign language fluently

The ability to understand and build community

The ability to understand the world through multi-faceted prisms: the arts, humanities, social sciences, religions, natural sciences, mathematics, technology, communications, and languages

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The Academic Program: International Baccalaureate

TIS determined that the International Baccalaureate programs, services, standards, and network of schools best aligns with the school’s mission and vision.

Professional emphases on commitment to continuous school improvement, teacher professional development, and international best practices

Only 2 schools in New Mexico authorized by IB: The United World College in Montezuma (1982), and Desert Academy in Santa Fe (2008)

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International Baccalaureate’s Mission statement:

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

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Life at the International School at Mesa del Sol

Children and teachers at TIS will participate in the PYP and MYP

Children will have individualized learning goals in their education plan

Education plans developed in collaboration with teachers, parents and students

Inquirers Thinkers Communicators Risk-takers

Knowledgeable Principled Caring Open-minded

Well-balanced Reflective

IB Learner Profile Traits

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What People Say About International Baccalaureate:

The IB has provided the foundation for intellectual curiosity and academic rigor to thrive. ... In reality, the IB has been one of the most effective ways our school district has leveled the playing field for students no matter where they live, who their parents are, and despite their socio-economic status.— Delores Hopkins, Former Associate Superintendent, Jackson (Mississippi) Public Schools

The IB offers an integrated curriculum that provides students with the skill needed to be world-class scholars and an educational philosophy that prepares them to be first-class citizens. I do not know of a more comprehensive and appropriate learning model.— Jimm Crowder, Director of Admissions, Macalester College

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What Teachers Say about International Baccalaureate:

I have taught in many types of schools from public schools in South Central Los Angeles, to magnet schools, to Washington International School in DC, and now in a small private school in Santa Fe. I have taught the IB Primary Years Program for 10 years. Every child I have taught would benefit from the PYP program. It teaches thinking, deep understanding of concepts as well as the skills students need. It contains a "values" component in the Learner Profile and the behavior-discipline component in the Attitudes. This program has it all. But it is a framework so that anything a school needs to do in order to meet state standards can be incorporated in an authentic way, not just as an add on. Problems that are issues in New Mexico are faced by people around the world. Helping children understand that their world is more than Albuquerque or New Mexico is fundamental to their future role in life.

-- Julianne Wagner, Teacher, Desert Montessori School, Santa Fe, New Mexico

There’s nothing mystifying about this program, except perhaps for the name. It doesn’t supersede the existing curriculum at a school, it enhances it. It injects an element of global standardization that is very appealing in today’s world. Our graduates will be competing with young adults from all over the world in college and beyond – for jobs, for leadership positions, and simply to be heard. Offering the IB curriculum is a great way to give our students an advantage.

— Mollie Pilling, IB English Teacher, St. Paul’s School, Brooklandville, MD

Today . . . during this open house . . .

you will see and hear things that describe the world around us, today.

We do not know what the world we live in will be like in 5 years . . . 10 years . . . 20 years . . .

At The International School, we educate children today, for their world tomorrow . . . based upon what we do know and how we got to the world we live in today!

Five Core ValuesGlobal visionKnowledgeStewardshipDiversityCitizenship

2660 Eastman Crossing SEAlbuquerque, NM 87106

505.508.3295www.tisnm.org