Rye High School to offer International Baccalaureate Diploma Program starting fall 2025; board briefed on course structure and staffing needs

District administrators and Rye High School staff presented details of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program at the Jan. 28 board meeting and said the district plans to offer the Diploma Programme (DP) to 11th–12th graders beginning fall 2025.

Assistant/administrative presenter Dr. Murray and High School Principal Andrew Hara introduced IB coordinator Cody Bloom and described the IB diploma’s core elements, assessment model and how the program will fit alongside existing Advanced Placement (AP) and career/technical options.

Principal Andrew Hara described candidate fit and course-selection guidance: “The IB diploma program is really geared towards students who are interested in thinking on a global scale,” he said, adding that students may also take individual IB courses without pursuing the full diploma.

Coordinator Cody Bloom explained the DP requirements: students must earn at least 24 of 45 possible points, each course is graded up to seven points, and diploma candidates typically take three higher-level (HL) and three standard-level (SL) subjects (or four HL and two SL). The DP core—Theory of Knowledge (TOK), the 4,000-word extended essay (EE) and the Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) portfolio—are mandatory; an incomplete TOK, EE or CAS disqualifies a student from receiving the diploma. Bloom described HL courses as roughly 240 hours over two years and SL courses as approximately 150 hours.

The board heard examples of planned IB course offerings and levels: Language and Literature (HL), world languages (HL for Spanish/French/Latin; ab initio Spanish at SL), Business Management (HL), Environmental Systems and Societies (SL), Computer Science (HL), two math tracks at SL, and Visual Arts and Theatre at SL. Bloom described updated Digital Society course units (AI, data mining, algorithms) as reflective of contemporary topics and emphasized IB’s research and evidence-based assessment approach. He said that IB assessments rely less on multiple-choice testing and instead include internal assessments (graded locally, moderated by IB) and external assessments (sent to IB).

District staff reported growing early interest: more than 50 students have already requested the IB Business Management course as a single offering, and other IB course requests are appearing in draft course selections. Because of that demand, administrators told the board they expect to request at least one additional social studies teacher and one additional computer science teacher; final staffing requests will be incorporated into the superintendent’s upcoming budget presentation.

On authorization and timeline, the district said it is at step 5 of the IB authorization process and has submitted a request for authorization; a verification visit is expected in the spring and, if authorized, the district will undergo periodic IB audits every five to seven years. The district stressed that AP courses will remain available except for AP Spanish, AP French and AP Latin (those language AP offerings will be replaced by IB language courses where applicable).

Board members asked about alignment with existing tracks, prerequisites and schedule impacts. Administrators said most students from typical 9th–10th pathways can move into IB courses; the main curricular shift is assessment format and an emphasis on student-centered learning. Staffing implications and precise section counts will be finalized as course-request data firm up later in the scheduling and budget process.

What’s next: the district will complete its authorization steps, finalize teacher staffing requests for the 2025–26 budget, and begin delivering IB courses and the DP core if authorization is granted.