We believe that our students and their needs come first. Most of our IB students speak English; however, we provide support and help for our students whose first language is other than English, encouraging diversity within our diploma program.

We acknowledge that all IB teachers are responsible for facilitating communication among our students. Our most important goal is to be able to provide information and instruction to our students in ways that help our students to learn, help our faculty to facilitate instruction, and help our school to provide avenues for success in IB and all programs of instruction. All IB students are required to take Language A1 English at the higher level; and in addition, they take one Language B, either French or Spanish at the standard level.

We strive to be welcoming to a broad and diverse group of students. In order to ensure that there is an atmosphere of inclusion, we provide tutors and mentors for students whose mother tongue is other than English. We encourage our students, IB students and non-IB, and our faculty to work together to meet the language needs of all our students. In this way, our students have equal access to our program. We also encourage participation in extra-curricular activities, international clubs, CAS activities, and sporting events as positive ways to become engaged in cross-cultural understanding of all our students.

We promote success and understanding of English through our classroom instruction, CAS activities and wide ranges of communication in and out of the IB classroom. Because English is our higher level language discipline, it is essential that all our students, regardless of their mother tongue, feel confident and comfortable speaking, writing and listening in English.

We provide instruction in both Spanish and French as part of the regular curriculum in our school, and as the Language B requirement in the International Baccalaureate diploma program, where students study these languages at the standard level. Our Language B faculty includes both native and non-native speakers, and we have access to an ESL/ English as a Second Language instructor. We also make every effort to provide access to written materials in languages other than English whenever possible. Parent and student conferences are facilitated to maximize understanding on both sides. Our Local Education Association/School System also provides a wide range of resources ranging from textbooks, newspapers, magazines, novels and bi-lingual materials to volunteers and ESL instruction.

We require official IB training of our entire IB faculty. Through that, our faculty is informed of the expectations for inclusion and access to all our students. The IB faculty meets regularly, collaborating and planning for instruction for all IB students in all IB disciplines, with an understanding that they are all “teachers of language” and responsible for the success of each student in our program.

We pledge to make learning and success for every student our top priority. We pledge to provide a nurturing instructional atmosphere through which all our students can find achievement a possibility. We pledge to reach out to our students and their families whose mother tongue is a language other than English, and to encourage and support them as they endeavor to pursue programs of study that will provide them with access to success beyond high school.

Revised 11/30/2020