International Baccalaureate World Reps to visit Riverview, Booker High Schools

SARASOTA – To mark the beginning of Open World, a pilot project designed to bring aspects of International Baccalaureate education to Booker High School through collaboration with Riverview High School’s established IB program, representatives from the European IB headquarters will visit Riverview and Booker high schools Monday (Oct. 29).

The IB leaders will meet at RHS with IB administrators and Principal Nook from 9-10:45 a.m., followed by a visit to BHS from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. to meet with Principal Shelley, Counselor Lem Andrews and students.

“There are four schools in the world that are lucky enough to participate in this program,” said Booker High principal Dr. Rachel Shelley. “One of those is Riverview High School, here in Sarasota. And I am thrilled to be affiliated with that school in this project.”

The project works like this: four IB diploma program schools from around the world were selected to participate as Open World schools, and each of those schools partners with one non-IB school, giving students at the “link” schools access to IB courses online. The Open World schools include Riverview High School and three other selected schools in Michigan, Switzerland and Japan.

Paul Gallagher, IB Coordinator at Riverview High School, said that while the other link schools still are developing strategic plans or have had few students participate, Booker High has seized the opportunity quickly, prompting the visit.

“Booker High School is the first school in the world to participate in this pilot in a demonstrative fashion,” Gallagher said. “This committed cohort of students is impressive!”

The project aligns with the mission of the International Baccalaureate Program, which is to broaden the reach of IB courses and allow students who are not attending an official IB school the opportunity to take IB classes. While Booker High already has established dual enrollment and advanced placement courses, IB offers a difference in approach and an international reputation.

“The students will benefit from a caliber of education that is second to none,” Gallagher noted. “The skill readiness for university studies will be phenomenal for the students, as will the chance for transfer credits.”

Sarasota County Schools Superintendent Lori White, who strongly supports Booker’s participation in this pilot, noted the benefits to be gained by Booker students.

“The collaboration represents a unique opportunity for Booker High students to more fully develop their academic knowledge and skills and to attain credentials that will serve them well in their future,” White said.

Executive Director of High Schools Steve Cantees notes that Riverview’s expertise with IB and the school’s collaboration with Booker High will help foster the success of the program. He noted that the project came to Booker in large part because of the visionary leadership of Shelley.

“The ability for Booker High School students to have access to this type of curriculum is a credit to the initiative of school administration to recognize and pursue this opportunity,” Cantees said.  

“Dr. Shelley wants our school to be a top-performing school, with rigorous courses that meet students’ academic needs,” said Booker High counselor and “IB link school mentor” Lem Andrews, who noted that the IB Open World program will offer a number of project-based learning opportunities.

The first phase involves Booker students taking online courses with the assistance and mentorship of Andrews, plus additional support from IB teachers at Riverview High School. The next phase will involve community service projects by Riverview and Booker IB students working together. Lectures and seminars are in the works that will be created and attended by students from both schools.

Riverview High School principal Linda Nook said she is thrilled about the school’s collaboration with Booker High.

“It is an amazing opportunity for our two schools,” she said. “I’m very pleased.”

Nook said that one main feature that distinguishes IB from other early-college curriculum is the international clout of the program. Since its inception in 1968, nearly 3,500 schools in 144 countries have become IB schools, and the number of participants makes it one of the most recognized advanced programs in the world. That reputation counts when students want their credits applied to college.

However, Nook noted, a school has to have the numbers of students to support an IB diploma program: about 25 students per class in a range of subjects. It also takes time and resources to train teachers in the IB method. As a result, although the IB program is sought-after by high schools worldwide, Riverview High School is the only comprehensive high school in Sarasota County offering the IB diploma. Booker, the smallest comprehensive high school in the district, may not have been able to participate in IB if not for the Open World program, if only because it has too few students to populate IB classes throughout the curriculum.

“Dr. Shelley was concerned about not being able to offer the full diploma program because of the size of the school,” Nook said. The Open World pilot program remedies that because it does not require a large group of students or new instructor training, so even a small school like Booker is able to participate. Currently, 11 students participate in the IB project at Booker; initially, there were about twice that number of students, but the remaining were seniors, and IB’s two-year commitment precluded their participation. The number of enrollees is expected to expand next year as more students become aware of the unique opportunity.

“To study in a virtual classroom with students from all over the world in a state-of-the-art curriculum will only make stronger learners, more capable individuals and more sensitive global citizens,” Gallagher said.