International Baccalaureate: What’s the Deal?

IB; two simple letters that have the potential to strike fear into the hearts of many at the Post Oak High School. Is IB a bad thing? Not at all. In fact, some may argue that the International Baccalaureate program provides for a more well-rounded and enriching education than any other system available. The reason it may strike fear is because it has been long associated with academic rigor and challenge surpassing that of most AP classes. But, with the right attitude and work ethic, it isn’t impossible to complete.

All juniors and seniors at POHS take their every class as part of the IB curriculum, which may seem daunting at first, but each class offers different levels of difficulty which provides plenty of flexibility; only two classes are actually required to take at the higher level (or HL): Literature and either Economics or Global Politics as part of the social studies requirement. Other than that, various classes can be chosen according to the student’s skill level.

For example, if one student isn’t very strong in math but excels in the arts and humanities, they can take Math Studies SL (a lower level math course than the standard math SL and higher-level math HL) but can take a higher-level art to compensate for this, or if their skills are more STEM-based, they could take math SL or HL and two sciences instead of an art. In either case, their education is varied and is built upon what they will likely study at the college level.

Another unique feature of IB is the Theory of Knowledge course, a course that lies in no specific subject but seeks to ask and think about how knowledge is made and understood. In order to obtain their diploma for the program, students must also complete CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service), logging extracurricular and service pursuits

In essence, the IB program seeks to make its students ready to become global citizens, whether through teaching them a foreign language, the universal languages of mathematics and science, the beauty of art, and much more. And because Post Oak is one of the only high schools in the nation to combine IB with the Montessori school environment, I believe that the best of both worlds are brought to my education and pre-collegiate experience.