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Northview IB gives new view
Bruce Matlock photo
Northview IB sixth-grader Ashley Hinson works on an assignment during her humanities class.
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Published: September 23, 2009
The environment inside the new Northview International Baccalaureate Candidate School is sure to spark students' interest about other cultures.
Hanging on the walls in the hallways are clocks displaying times in different time zones, pictures of foreign lands, the seven wonders of the world and quotes from the likes of Gandhi.
The school's mission is to develop internationally minded lifelong learners.
"The coursework is very rigorous and involves more higher order thinking skills," Principal Aron Gabriel said.
The 350-plus students are not only being taught a regular curriculum of math, science, humanities and language arts, but are also learning foreign languages, technology and arts.
The program is based on three foundational principles: holistic learning, communication and intellectual awareness.
IB learners strive to be reflective, communicators, balanced, thinkers, principled, inquirers, risk-takers, open minded, caring and knowledgeable.
The school currently serves students in grades six through nine and will add one more grade in subsequent years until it reaches the 12th grade.
The eventual sixth- through 10th-grades will be known as the middle years programme.
The 11th and 12th grades will be in the diploma programme.
Prior to being admitted, students had to go through an application process.
Differences between IB and traditional classrooms are readily apparent.
The curriculum follows the N.C. Course of Study, but all the subjects are integrated.
In Keely Smith-Ward's language arts class, for example, students worked on a character trait puzzle.
They chose a character from a book and described the person using the school's character traits.
For one of Smith-Ward's students, Emily Atchley, 11, attending the school affords her opportunities she didn't have in her previous school.
She admits the environment is more demanding but wouldn't have it any other way.
"It gives me more of a challenge and I get responsibility," she said. "It'll help me when I get older and I'm out in the world."
Sixth-grader Haley Freeze said she likes how her new school works because it's organized.
"I want to be more challenged because I felt like other schools would be too easy," the 10-year-old said.
Haley's friend, Ashley Hinson, 11, chose to attend IB to set a good foundation for her future aspirations.
"I felt it would be a good opportunity for me to go to a good college," she said.
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