St. Edward Officially Earns International Baccalaureate World School Authorization

St. Edward High School received notice on Thursday, March 15, 2012 that it has been authorized by the International Baccalaureate (IB) Organization in Geneva, Switzerland as an International Baccalaureate World School.  As an IB World School, St. Edward joins a global community of the most prestigious secondary schools in 141 countries around the globe.

The IB incorporates global themes for 21^st century students into a college preparatory curriculum that is recognized as the most rigorous worldwide and includes advanced honors coursework in all content areas, significant research requirements, and community service involvement.  The IB Programme aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect, while encouraging students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners.

"Today we’ve become members of a community of the most prestigious schools in the world,” said Dr. Gregg Good, a 20-year veteran IB administrator who moved to Cleveland from Phoenix in 2010 to launch the programme at St. Edward.  "I am incredibly proud of the hard work and commitment of our faculty who spent countless hours in the past two years attending trainings, writing new coursework and preparing students to be part of this global community of scholars.”

St. Edward’s announcement of its recent authorization is particularly impressive because it comes just 20 months after the school declared its candidacy.  The typical IB World School authorization takes at least three years.  During those 20 months, 43 St. Edward teachers – traveling as far as Paris and Vancouver - were trained by the top IB educators in the world.  St. Edward is one of just 30 Catholic high schools in the United States to be recognized as an IB World School, and the first Catholic IB World School in Northeast Ohio.  By fall 2013, St. Edward will be IB’s largest diploma-only programme in the state of Ohio.

"This is a great day for the St. Edward Community and all of Northeast Ohio,” said Jim Kubacki, St. Edward President.  "The opportunities that will be available to students who take advantage of the IB Programme are endless, and more importantly, they’ll be prepared to assume leadership roles in ‘their’ world, which is becoming increasingly global.”

Students in St. Edward’s Class of 2014 will officially begin their IB coursework in August 2012.

For more information on the International Baccalaureate Programme visit www.ibo.org.

Facts About the IB Programme at St. Edward High School

-        The IB works with 3,342 schools in 141 countries to offer the three IB programmes (Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma) to approximately 999,000 students.

 -        St. Edward is the first Catholic School in Northeast Ohio to be authorized as an IB World School.  There are 30 Catholic IB World Schools in the United States.

 -        St. Edward is the 23^rd IB Diploma School in the state of Ohio.

 -        There are fewer than 800 schools in the United States authorized to offer the IB Diploma Programme.

 -        St. Edward earned its IB authorization after just 20 months as an IB candidate.  The typical IB school takes 3 or more years to be authorized.

 -        St. Edward has already trained 43 faculty members to teach IB coursework, sending teachers as far as Paris and Vancouver to learn from the top IB educators in the world.

 -        Dr. Gregg Good, St. Edward’s chief academic administrator and IB coordinator, has more than 20 years experience as an IB teacher and administrator.  He has been Vice President of the Ohio Association of IB Schools since 2010.

 -        By the fall of 2013, St. Edward will be IB’s largest diploma-only programme in the state of Ohio.

 -        St. Edward High School co-hosted Ohio’s first-ever International Baccalaureate Teacher Training from March 10-11, 2012, bringing more than 350 educators from throughout North America to Greater Cleveland.

 -        Aligning with the school’s renowned Pre-Engineering Program, St. Edward will be one of only 5 schools in the United States offering the CAD/CAM and Electronic Product Design strands of IB Design Technology HL.

 -        St. Edward is launching a new film program as part of its IB curriculum, and will open a new film production studio in the summer of 2012.

 -        30 St. Edward IB students and faculty will travel to China for two weeks in the summer of 2012 as part of a cultural immersion trip sponsored by the Ohio Association of IB World Schools.