NNCS Considers Future IB Program

NORFOLK - Norwood-Norfolk Central School officials say that, in their quest to provide more challenging courses and rewards for motivated students, they'd like to consider adding the International Baccalaureate program at some point down the road.

But right now, Superintendent Elizabeth A. Kirnie said, their focus has been on ensuring that all students are getting the best possible education.

"We live in a day and age where we can't really afford all of the best programs that we want for students," Mrs. Kirnie said. "Because there are mandates surrounding special education and there are Title 1 funds for students in poverty who need help with reading and math, we tend to focus a lot of our efforts on remediation."

At the same time, she said, "We have a whole population of bright, motivated students who tend not to get everything we'd like to give them because of limited resources."

As a result, Mrs. Kirnie said they are starting to look at "avenues of cooperation among school districts" that would allow them to offer the higher-achieving students more opportunities.

"In this current economy and in the foreseeable future the more school districts can share resources, the richer the programming will be for all students, in particular the brighter, motivated, college-bound students who tend to be successful no matter what and do not have mandates or funding behind them," Mrs. Kirnie said.

The Massena Central School District currently offers an International Baccalaureate program, and representatives recently gave a presentation to Norwood-Norfolk's school board members.

"Knowing that the International Baccalaureate is an expensive program that is labor-intensive, we wanted to look at what they're doing with the idea in mind that, under the right circumstances, we might be able to offer that program to our students in the future. Certainly we have not worked out all the details yet," Mrs. Kirnie said.

"It's just another avenue of potential sharing. There's no question that it's an excellent program. I think the board would agree that if any of our students wanted to take advantage of it in the future, we would take a hard look at it," she said.

Massena Central's IB Coordinator Steve Coffin said that, while the program is demanding, it does offer students benefits after their graduation.

"One of the nice perks of this program is you can gain college credit. It is a pre-university program," Mr. Coffin said.

He said the IB program attracts students who want to excel in the classroom both in high school and college. And the strength of the program, according to Mr. Coffin, is "developing better students."

"How do we get students to take risk? How do we get students to take harder courses? This is what we look at. It makes them more attractive to colleges," he said.

Among the courses offered in Massena's IB program are English, Spanish, French, History, Biology, Physics, Mathematics, Music and Visual Arts.

However, the IB program requires students to do more than participate in classrooms. They also have to write an extended essay of 4,000 words.

In addition, IB students are required to complete a Creativity, Action and Service component, which encourages them to be involved in artistic pursuits, sports and community service as well as education outside the classroom.

There is also a Theory of Knowledge component that encourages an appreciation of other cultural perspectives and explores the nature of knowledge across disciplines.

While the course is demanding, Mr. Coffin said the college credits make it worthwhile for many students. The highest number of credits an IB student has earned toward college so far is 34 credits as they entered their freshman year, he said.

"You start at a higher level. It gives you kind of an advanced track," he said.

While Norwood-Norfolk may not have an IB program anytime soon, they are making some headway toward providing more advanced courses through their proposed Academic Distinction Program, according to Mrs. Kirnie.

The program is designed to recognize students who meet the challenge of not only honors level and Advanced Placement courses, but "who develop into well-rounded, contributing and informed learners," high school Principal Robin J. Fetter had told school board members during a recent session.

That program will consist of six components - required courses, electives, weighted grading, community service, extracurricular activities and goal setting/exit interviews.

Students participating in the program are required to take English, social studies, math, science and three years of foreign language or five credit sequences in business, art, music or technology. They must take New York state Regents examinations and AP exams for all the classes in which the exam is offered.

They would also need to take at least one credit of a non-introductory level elective course in art, business, music, technology, English, foreign language, math, science or social studies.

Students will also be required to complete 20 hours of community service each year, which could be through participation in organizations like Key Club, Honor Society and Junior/Senior High Student Council, and must be involved in at least two extracurricular programs each year for four years of high school.

"The Academic Distinction Program shows a lot of promise in terms of being a program that gives incentives for students to enroll in more difficult courses," Mrs. Kirnie said, "but it also frames it within a very well-rounded program that requires citizenship and giving back to the community."

But while IB diplomas carry international recognition, Norwood-Norfolk's program won't have that same weight - at least right now.

"I believe, however, that a program like Norwood-Norfolk's Academic Distinction Program in the future is going to call attention to the best and most well-rounded students and eventually carry some weight in the application process," Mrs. Kirnie said.

"I think we're going to see a lot more of this. We're going to see more school districts finding creative ways of serving student needs within the extreme constraints of the local economy," she said.