School board members in South St. Paul, Minn., have voted to expand the district’s rigorous International Baccalaureate Diploma Program to the primary and middle school levels.
The vote is the first step toward becoming authorized to teach all three programs, said Paul Campbell, the head of outreach for International Baccalaureate North America. The expansion of the IB programs to the grades K-5 and 6-10 levels would make South St. Paul the first district in Minnesota, and one of only seven public school districts in nation, to offer the program districtwide.
The IB diploma program is the foundation of the curriculum at South St. Paul High School for 11th and 12th graders.
Dana H. Babbitt, the superintendent of the 3,400-student district, said the teacher training and curriculum makeover associated with the program would take about three years. “Hopefully, we will be a model for many school districts in the state of Minnesota,” the superintendent said.
