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

Hillsboro Cluster first in state to offer full International Baccalaureate Continuum:

Julia Green Elementary School earns Primary Years Programme authorization

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 8, 2011) – Julia Green Elementary School is the first school within Metro Nashville Public Schools to be authorized to offer the Primary Years Programme (PYP), an International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme developed for students in elementary grades. Julia Green’s PYP authorization completes an IB continuum in the Hillsboro Cluster: one PYP school (Julia Green), three Middle Years Programme schools (J. T. Moore, West End, Hillsboro 9th/10th), and the Diploma Programme at Hillsboro High for grades 11 and 12. “This continuum of IB services is unprecedented in our state,” said Dr. Sharon Chaney, MNPS Coordinator of Advanced Placement, IB, and AVID. “In fact, few school districts in the entire U.S. are able to offer this rigorous level of uninterrupted education. The staffs at authorized IB schools commit a great deal of collaborative time and intellectual energy in their programs, and we are so pleased to be able to offer this internationally recognized program of study to students from kindergarten through 12th grade.” Julia Green began the written process of becoming a PYP school in the spring of 2008. It is a lengthy process that includes multiple applications, staff training, program implementation, and documentation. In November 2010, the school hosted a committee of IB professionals who assessed the school’s readiness to offer the PYP. During the visit, committee members observed in classrooms and interviewed staff, students, and parents involved in the program. The school received official notification March 3, in a letter from the IB Director General in Geneva, Switzerland. “We are so excited and proud to earn this authorization,” said Dr. Eileen Wills, principal of Julia Green. “The support and excitement we’ve witnessed from our community show this is the right step for Julia Green. The practices and lessons our students, both current and future, will now be able to access will help them excel in middle school, high school, college, and career. Hillsboro High School received Middle Years Programme (MYP) authorization for grades 9 and 10 in January 2011, and was authorized to implement the IB Diploma Programme for juniors and seniors in 2004. The school has since become the most successful program in the state with 68

students earning an IB Diploma. J.T. Moore received MYP authorization in August 2007; West End’s MYP was authorized in February 2009. Currently, Hillsboro High School and Hunters Lane High School offer the IB Diploma Programme. Hillsboro 9th/10th, Hunters Lane 9th/10th, Bellevue Middle, Brick Church Middle, Goodlettsville Middle, J.T. Moore, Neely’s Bend Middle, and West End Middle are the district’s eight MYP authorized schools. Julia Green becomes the 11th IB school in the district, and the first authorized to implement PYP. Eakin Elementary is a PYP candidate school and expects to host an authorization committee during the 2011-12 school year. About IB: PYP, MYP & DP The 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 its learners to strive to be knowledgeable, caring, risk-takers, principled, thinkers, communicators, inquirers, open-minded, balanced, and reflective. The Middle Years Programme (MYP) is a framework of academic challenge offered by the International Baccalaureate (IB) Organization to students across the world, ages 11-16. MYP students study each of eight subjects for a minimum of fifty (50) hours each year: English, Language B, mathematics, sciences, humanities, arts, physical education, and technology. Teachers plan collaboratively their disciplinary and interdisciplinary units of study, each of which emphasizes one or two of the five Areas of Interaction: approaches to learning, community and service, environments, health and social education, and human ingenuity. Teams of teachers design criterion-based assessment tasks that are assessed internally within the school against worldwide standards. 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 open to students ages 16-19. Students experience an academically challenging and balanced education with courses in six subject areas and culminating international examinations. DP students must complete a Theory of Knowledge course, write an Extended Essay in an area of personal academic interest, and participate in Creativity, Action, and Service hours to extend and share their learning beyond the classroom. IB Diploma earners are expected to possess and demonstrate the 10 characteristics of the IB Learner Profile.

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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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