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International Baccalaureate Program

IB is a globally recognized program.

George School is one of a few US boarding schools in the country offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program, an extraordinary and challenging two-year curriculum that prepares students for college anywhere around the world. 

Group photo of the Senior IBDP Class of 2024 standing together outside.

George School is not just a school that has the IB program. It is more than an IB school; it is a lived IB experience within a global community.

Since 1985, George School has been a certified and licensed International Baccalaureate (IB) School. 

As a George School student, you may choose to take one or several IB classes in your favorite subjects, earn a subject-specific IB Certificate, or work through the full two-year program towards the IB Diploma. And since many colleges and universities give you credit for IB courses, you’ll have some of your prerequisites out of the way, giving you time and energy to delve deeper into electives while you are there.

The IB mission of developing "inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people" is complementary with Quaker philosophy and George School's mission statement. IB encourages students to “become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.” George School encourages students to see the “light” in all and to let one’s life speak.

Points of Pride

Among the first boarding schools in the United States to offer the IB Diploma Program.

IB diploma completion rate in the mid-90%, one of the highest in the world.

39 years as a fully licensed and chartered IB World School.

The IB Diploma Program

IB Mission Statement

"The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to 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 programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes 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 IB

Students who pursue the IB diploma seek great challenges and accomplish amazing feats worthy of recognition. Our IB students are committed to excellence and have an intellectual curiosity to learn, not for the sake of a grade, but because they embrace the idea of learning. They choose this path because they share a common drive, ambition, and perseverance.


- Kim McGlynn, IB Coordinator


IB Courses

ENG417Z: IB HL English A: Literature

The first year of this course emphasizes a student’s ability to respond independently to works they have not seen before. Students work toward written and oral commentaries which pay particular attention to the writer’s craft. In the second year of this course, students are expected to formulate complex and nuanced interpretations of literature independently and to challenge the interpretations of others.

Read More about ENG417Z: IB HL English A: Literature
ARP117Y: IB Dance / ARP117Z: IB HL Dance

Students work both individually and in collaboration to experience the creative process as a way of learning to transform ideas into action through intellectual curiosity and creative thinking. The IB Dance curriculum is designed to help students come to appreciate the value and importance of researching, creating, preparing and presenting, and critically reflecting as modes of learning and communicating.

Read More about ARP117Y: IB Dance / ARP117Z: IB HL Dance
ARP217Y: IB Film / ARP217Z: IB HL Film

In this two-year course of study, students work both individually and in collaboration to experience the creative process as a way of learning to transform ideas into action through intellectual curiosity and creative thinking. The IB Film curriculum is designed to help students appreciate the value and importance of researching, creating, preparing and presenting, and critically reflecting as modes of learning and communicating.

Read More about ARP217Y: IB Film / ARP217Z: IB HL Film
ARP377Y: IB SL Music / ARP377Z: IB HL Music

In this course, students work both individually and in collaboration to experience the creative process as a way of learning to transform ideas into action through intellectual curiosity and creative thinking. The IB Music curriculum is designed to help students come to appreciate the value and importance of researching, creating, preparing and presenting, and critically reflecting as modes of learning and communicating.

Read More about ARP377Y: IB SL Music / ARP377Z: IB HL Music
ARP417Y: IB SL Theater - Focus on Acting & Directing / ARP417Z: IB HL Theater - Focus on Acting & Directing

In this two-year course of study, students work both individually and in collaboration to experience the creative process as a way of learning to transform ideas into action through intellectual curiosity and creative thinking. The curriculum is designed to engage students in the value and importance of researching, creating, preparing and presenting, and critically reflecting as means of learning and communicating. As participants in the IB Theater curriculum, students gain a richer understanding of themselves, their personal cultural perspectives, and cultural ideas and practices in the global community.

Read More about ARP417Y: IB SL Theater - Focus on Acting & Directing / ARP417Z: IB HL Theater - Focus on Acting & Directing
ARP427Y: IB SL Theater - Design & Production / ARP427Z: IB HL Theater: Design & Production

In this two-year course of study, students work both individually and in collaboration to experience the creative process as a way of learning to transform ideas into action through intellectual curiosity and creative thinking. The curriculum is designed to engage students in the value and importance of researching, creating, preparing and presenting, and critically reflecting as means of learning and communicating. As participants in the IB Theater curriculum, students gain a richer understanding of themselves, their personal cultural perspectives, and cultural ideas and practices in the global community.

Read More about ARP427Y: IB SL Theater - Design & Production / ARP427Z: IB HL Theater: Design & Production
ARV777Y: IB SL Visual Arts / ARV777Z: IB HL Visual Arts

IB Visual Arts is a two-year course of study during which students work in multiple media while selecting one of the following as their primary visual art: Ceramics, Graphic Design, Painting and Drawing, Photography, or Sculpture. Students develop analytical skills in problem-solving and divergent thinking while working towards technical proficiency and confidence as artists, and while learning to challenge their own creative and cultural expectations and boundaries. In addition to exploring and comparing visual arts from different perspectives and in different contexts, students are expected to engage in, experiment with, and critically reflect upon a wide range of contemporary practices and media

Read More about ARV777Y: IB SL Visual Arts / ARV777Z: IB HL Visual Arts
BIO517Z: IB HL Biology

This two-year sequence prepares students for the IB Higher Level (HL) Biology exam. Lecture-format classes are combined with frequent experiments to investigate all major topics in the IB HL Biology curriculum.

Read More about BIO517Z: IB HL Biology
CHI457Y: IB SL Chinese ab initio

In this course, students learn topics from the five themes of Chinese ab initio: identities, experiences, human ingenuity, social organization, and sharing the planet. Students read and write authentic texts from a variety of formats including email, letter, diary, social media, blog, speech, postcard, advertisement, booklet, article, and interview.

Read More about CHI457Y: IB SL Chinese ab initio

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