International School of Beaverton

Infobox Secondary school
name = International School of Beaverton
type = Public secondary
grades = 6-11
established = 2006
principal= Shelia Baumgardner
city = Beaverton

state = Oregon
country = USA
oversight = Beaverton School District
enrollment = 437 (2007-2008)
faculty =
campus = Suburban
mascot = Dragon
colors = Red and Black
website = [http://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/isb/ www.beaverton.k12.or.us/isb] The International School of Beaverton (ISB) is a school in Aloha, Oregon, United States that first opened in 2006. It is part of the Beaverton School District and is the only school in the district to offer MYP (Middle Years Program) and (IB Diploma Programme} courses. It currently serves sixth grade through tenth grade, with eleventh grade starting in the 2008-2009 school year. The school is permitted to teach the International Baccalaureate,it teaches eleventh grade as the Diploma Program, with plans to offer the twelfth grade in 2009, making the International School of Beaverton the only school in the district offering both the IB Middle Years program and Diploma Program. .cite web|url= http://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/home/schools/ISB/|title=Beaverton School District - Home - Schools - ISB|accessdate=2007-06-20|date=2007-06-20|publisher=Beaverton School District]

Classes

ISB follows the IB guidelines toward education. All students are enrolled a foreign language class, unless they are in an English as a Second Language Course. Currently, the available languages are Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. The curriculum also includes Humanities, History, Mathematics, Sciences, visual and performing arts, English literature, Health, and Physical Education. ISB works in coordination with Beaverton School District's high school schedule, with classes beginning at 7:40 am and concluding at 2:05 pm. This schedule also incorporates an A/B day class order. Students are given an hour long "Dragontime" once a week, during which they can have studyhall or a variety of other extra activities such as scrapbooking, video broadcasting, anime, etc. Only students with passing grades are allowed to do any activities besides studyhall.

Extracurricular activities

ISB offers the following extracurricular activities (excluding high school sports):

*Jazz Band
*Model United Nations
*Anime Club
*Gay-Straight Alliance
*Drama Club
*Student Parliament
*Homework Club

Jazz band

Jazz Band is an after-school program headed by Walter Bates, the band director, which is open to all students except members of the Beginning Concert Band. The band is smaller than a regular concert band and omits the standard concert band instruments, replacing them with brass and saxophone instruments, backed by percussion and electric guitar and basses. The band generally plays more upbeat and jazzy songs than the concert bands. The advanced jazz band meets from 2:15 to 3:15 on Mondays and Thursdays, while the intermediate jazz group meets during the same time on Wednesdays.

Model United Nations

ISB participates in Model United Nations, sponsored by the UNESCO organization. In the 2007-2008 school year, the school represented the countries of India and Nigeria, while they only participated as Mauritius in the 2006-2007 school year.

tudent Parliament

Starting with the 2008-2009 school year, ISB students will be served by parliament officers and senators. The elections are held prior to the end of the previous school year, and the first elections consequently took place during the final two months of the 2007-2008 school year. The thirty senators, 15 from high school and 15 from middle school, then elected 12 officers from among themselves, a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, PR Official, and IT Specialist each for high school and middle school.

ISB World Store

The ISB World Store is open to students of all grades to work in before and after school, and during lunch break. The store was founded by FRISB (Friends of ISB) and offers a variety of gifts from throughout the world along with school supplies and snacks.

ISB Emissary

"The Emissary" is ISB's school newspaper and is a high school student-run organization. The paper focuses on current school and world events. It also features "Ask Roxie", a popular advice column. It is currently a quarterly publication.

Diploma programme

As of August 2008 ISB is offering Diploma Programme classes to eleventh grade students, with the following classes for the first year of IB:
*IB European History
*IB Pre-Calculus, Calculus, or Math Studies
*IB Biology and Chemistry
*IB Music, Visual Arts or Choir
*IB Theory of Knowledge
*non-IB Japanese, Mandarin, or Spanish

The school intends to offer twelfth grade IB classes in the 2009-2010 school year, as part of a planned rollout of the grades at the school. The classes will be taught in full accordance with the IBO Diploma Programme's grading systems, which is then recalculated into a letter grade more suitable: a 4 grade on an IB exam with a maximum of 7 would not equate to the number 4/7 on a report card, rather, the grades are recalculated to a more appropriate grade.

Gates Foundation

ISB is currently applying for a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In order to receive this grant, they must become a Diploma Programme school and a full high school.

Past Intercultural Visitors/Guests

*Arun Gandhi - fifth grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and head of M. K. Gandhi Institute for Non-violence
* Alan Wiener- Holocaust survivor
* Tibetan Monks
* They have also had foreign exchange students from their sister city in Japan, Takashima city.

Referenced

External links

* [http://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/isb ISB homepage]
* [http://www.beaverton.k12.or.us Beaverton School District homepage]
* [http://www.isb.munclub.org Model United Nations Website]