York Region District School Board is proud to offer students the opportunity to earn the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma in addition to the Ontario Secondary School Diploma at the following schools:
- Alexander Mackenzie High School
- Bayview Secondary School
- Dr. G.W. Williams Secondary School
- Maple High School
- Milliken Mills High School
IB Mission Statement
The International Baccalaureate (IB) aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment. These programs encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
Learn more about the application process and timelines.
IB Programme
Throughout all IB programmes, students develop approaches to learning skills and the attributes of the IB learner profile. The IB learner is positively challenged to think critically and to learn in a flexible environment crossing disciplinary, cultural and national boundaries.
IB students take responsibility for their own learning and understand how knowledge itself is constructed, underpinned by our unique theory of knowledge (TOK) course.
The YRDSB IB programmes help students:
- ask challenging questions
- think critically
- learn across disciplines
- develop research skills
Our programmes also encourage students to be active in their communities and to take their learning beyond academic study.
The IB Diploma programme recognizes that students come to school with unique and shared patterns of values, knowledge and experience of the world and their place in it. It is our goal to remove barriers to learning for every member of the school community.
The four principles of good practice identified by the IB as promoting equal access to the curriculum for all learners are:
- affirming identity and building self-esteem
- valuing prior knowledge
- scaffolding
- extending learning
Student learning is enhanced when these four principles of good practice are considered in conjunction with the IB approaches to teaching and learning.
IB Curriculum
The curriculum is made up of the Diploma Programme (DP) core and six subject groups.
Made up of the three required components, the Diploma Programme (DP) core aims to broaden students’ educational experience and challenge them to apply their knowledge and skills.
The three core elements are:
- Theory of knowledge, in which students reflect on the nature of knowledge and on how we know what we claim to know.
- The extended essay, which is an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a 4,000-word paper.
- Creativity, activity, service, in which students complete a project related to those three concepts.
The six subject groups are:
- Studies in Language and Literature
- Language Acquisition
- Individuals and Societies
- Sciences
- Mathematics
- The Arts
There are different courses within each subject group offered at each of the YRDSB IB schools. Please refer to the information provided by your school for details on the courses offered.
