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.

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

What is IB?

The IB is an international organization that offers a range of globally recognized educational programs. In the case of George School, we offer the IB Diploma Program (IBDP) for students aged 16-19.

The IBDP provides a criteria-based international curriculum in which students take an academically challenging two-year course of study completed during junior and senior year.

This series of advanced and rigorous academic courses, including externally assessed exams, leads to the completion of a diploma. If candidates successfully complete the IBDP, they can earn two diplomas: a GS diploma and an IB diploma.

IB Core

IB uses a holistic liberal arts model with the goal of developing “active, compassionate, and lifelong learners” and educating the “whole person.” The IB balances this challenging academic curriculum with core elements that require IBDP candidates to demonstrate skills and interests outside of the classroom (Creativity, Activity, Service), to produce an independent research essay of significant length (Extended Essay), and to critically inquire into the process of knowledge itself (Theory of Knowledge).

Core Elements:

Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS): 3-4 hours a week devoted to creativity, activity, and service.
Extended Essay (EE): a 4,000-word independent research essay.
Theory of Knowledge (TOK): a critical thinking course that asks students to “reflect on the nature, scope and limitations of knowledge and the process of knowing” through the core theme, “knowledge and the knower."

George School offers over thirty-five IB courses and has had an incredible success rate. In the past ten years, George School has earned a diploma pass rate in the mid-nineties, well above the global average.

IBDP Requirements

IBDP candidates must satisfy distribution requirements in the six IB subject groups. They also submit a range of internally assessed and externally moderated and assessed work, including external exams. These assessments focus on process and skills rather than mere information retention.

IB Subject Groups:

Group 1: Studies in Language and Literature
Group 2: Language Acquisition
Group 3: Individuals and Societies
Group 4: Experimental Sciences
Group 5: Mathematics
Group 6: The Arts

Core Elements:

Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS): 3-4 hours a week devoted to creativity, activity, and service.
Extended Essay (EE): a 4,000-word independent research essay.
Theory of Knowledge (TOK): a critical thinking course that asks students to “reflect on the nature, scope and limitations of knowledge and the process of knowing” through the core theme, “knowledge and the knower."

IBDP Model

IB Learner Profile

IB Approaches to Teaching

IB Approaches to Learning

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

IB Program This Week
IB students and families: Review the latest George School IB announcements, project deadlines, exam updates, and upcoming meetings.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.