News from the MNPS Communications Office

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Media Contact: Olivia Brown, MNPS, 615-259-8405 Olivia.brown@mnps.org Noelle Mashburn, MNPS, 615-259-8405 Noelle.mashburn@mnps.org

Hillsboro High School earns International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme authorization

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Jan. 26, 2011) – Hillsboro High School has been granted authorization for its Middle Years Programme (MYP), a version of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme designed for 9th and 10th grade students. This authorization will enable Hillsboro to offer a full MYP and IB Diploma Programme (DP) pathway for students entering Hillsboro from JT Moore and West End middle schools, both of which are also MYP authorized. “This authorization is significant not only for Hillsboro High School, but for our entire cluster,” said Dr. Terry Shrader, principal of Hillsboro. “We will now be able to offer the IB Middle Years program for students grades 5-10 in partnership with our authorized IB feeder middle schools. This designation will provide unlimited possibilities for the students in the Hillsboro cluster and continues our vision of creating an international high school at Hillsboro. It’s very exciting.” Hillsboro began the process of becoming an MYP school in the spring of 2008. It is a lengthy process that includes multiple applications, staff training, program implementation and documentation. The authorization visit occurred on Dec. 2 and 3, 2010, when Hillsboro hosted two visitors representing the IBO. The visit consisted of classroom observations and interviewing staff, students and parents involved in the program. The authorization team submitted a recommendation to the IB based on findings during the visit. The school received official notification Jan. 25, 2011, from the IBO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Julia Green Elementary School, a Hillsboro Cluster feeder school, also had an authorization visit this past fall. If authorized, Julia Green will become the first school in the district to offer the Primary Years Program (PYP). It will also complete a K-12 continuum of IB schools in the Hillsboro cluster, the first of its kind in Tennessee and only one of about 30 in North America. Hillsboro High School received authorization for implementation of the IB Diploma Programme in 2004 and has since become the most successful program in the state with 68 students earning an IB Diploma. Currently, Hillsboro High School and Hunters Lane High School offer the IB Diploma Programme. Hillsboro 9th/10th has become the 8th MYP authorized Metro School, along with Hunters Lane 9th/10th, Bellevue Middle,

Brick Church Middle, Goodlettsville Middle, JT Moore, Neely’s Bend Middle, and West End Middle. The programs fall under the direction of Dr. Sharon Chaney, MNPS Coordinator of Advanced Placement, IB, and AVID. About IB: PYP, MYP & DP The MYP is a program designed appropriately for students ages 11-16. It is designed around student-inquiry, developing learning skills, and the areas of interaction: approaches to learning, community and service, environments, human ingenuity, health and social education. Each year, students take classes in eight subject areas that are linked through the interdisciplinary lenses of the areas of interaction. This approach allows students to see how content knowledge interacts with the world around them. In all classes, students learn how to inquire about their knowledge and ensure they understand what they are learning. In the final year of the program, the 10th grade year, students complete a personal project, which is created over an extended period of time and carries personal significance to the student. The Diploma Programme (DP) is a program open to students in the junior and senior year. Students take courses on six subject areas and Theory of Knowledge, complete Creativity, Action and Service requirements as well as an extended essay as a research project in an area of academic interest. Students who meet all requirements in the State of Tennessee earn a second diploma that is recognized internationally. Primary Years Programme (PYP) focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside. The PYP offers a balance between learning about or through the subject areas, and learning beyond them through six interdisciplinary themes of global significance: who we are, where we are in place and time, how we express ourselves, how the world works, how we organize ourselves, and sharing the planet. Introduction to the IB Learner Profile, which connects all three programs, begins in the first year of PYP and runs through 12th grade. The IB wants it learners to strive to be knowledgeable, caring, risk-takers, principled, thinkers, communicators, inquirers, open-minded, balanced, and reflective. For more information about IB programs, visit www.ibo.org

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Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools serve more than 78,000 students with the goal of being the first choice for families in Nashville and Davidson County. The governing body for MNPS is the Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County Board of Public Education, a nine-member group elected by residents of Metropolitan Nashville. For more information, please visit www.mnps.org.

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