Sean Collins, head of school for Loveland High School, told the Thompson School District R-2J board at its Sept. 3 study session that Loveland’s International Baccalaureate (IB) program is expanding and that the school will offer college-credit opportunities to every student.

Collins said Loveland High has adopted IB approaches that emphasize inquiry, conceptual understanding, global context, collaboration, universal design for learning and assessment-informed instruction. “Every student who goes through Loveland High School will have a chance to earn college credit,” Collins said, describing a standard-level IB English course the school will offer to all juniors with an optional exam for college credit.

The presentation included three students who described how IB affected their learning. Marley, a student, said IB “made me a better student” by improving organization, time management and risk-taking; Leila, also a senior, said IB “teaches how to teach yourself and others” and makes lessons feel like “an immersive conversation.”

Collins gave enrollment figures and program details: he said 1,325 students at the school participate in IB coursework at the middle-years (ninth and tenth grade) and diploma (11th and 12th grade) levels. He said the school currently has roughly 17 full-diploma candidates (about nine seniors and eight or nine juniors) and that 75 students took individual IB courses last year without pursuing the full diploma. Collins said the district recently received approval for an IB career-related program, which the school plans to start with robotics and engineering and with consumer science courses.

School officials described staffing and course structure. Collins said teachers commonly instruct both standard-level (SL) and higher-level (HL) IB courses and that the IB philosophy is applied across ninth- and tenth-grade classes to build foundations for DP-level work.

Board members and attendees asked about transitions for students coming from non-IB middle schools and about how many students earned college credit under existing arrangements. Collins acknowledged that there were no DP candidates last year but said the number of students taking IB exams and earning college credit is expected to grow substantially because the district will offer the SL English course to all juniors this year.

The presentation closed with board praise for the student speakers and a note that the district intends to provide IB access and pathways broadly across the high school.

Ending: Board members thanked presenters and said the administration and students would follow up with any additional materials requested by the board.