The IB Experience

Program sets the bar higher at Flathead High School

Seven diploma candidates, seven graduates, seven scholarship-studded starts to college careers.

Six hundred nineteen students enrolled, 61 who sat for 107 exams and passed 100 percent of them.

At Flathead High School, home of Montana's only International Baccalaureate Programme, the first-crop numbers are all good.

So is the feedback.

"Whether you use your IB experience to get ahead in college or to challenge yourself academically, the type and amount of knowledge you will receive will forever change the way you think and perceive the world around you," International Baccalaureate full-diploma graduate Heather Keller wrote. She was one of the first seven to choose - and succeed in - the two-year diploma program for juniors and seniors.

"It's a lot of work," Keller said, "but well worth what you can take away from it."

This fall, Keller is enrolled at Montana Tech at Butte. Her fellow International Baccalaureate graduates are similarly launched:

Dianna Brosten received a full-ride scholarship to the honors program at University of Washington, Seattle.

Andrew Creighton is attending Purdue University.

Clelia Leopold won a $40,000 trustee scholarship to Gonzaga University.

Liz Myers is at Notre Dame in Indiana.

Kirsten Koslosky is enrolled at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden.

Natasha Tanner is studying at University of Portland.

Not one of them enrolled without scholarships.

Math teacher Lisa Schlange, in her first fall after taking over from John York, now coordinates Flathead High's International Baccalaureate Programme which delivers a curriculum far more rigorous than that of traditional U.S. high schools.

Some students opt for the full diploma; others earn certificates by completing one or more courses.

With that kind of education, Schlange is excited about prospects for graduates and current students. And, with Flathead Principal Peter Fusaro making it a schoolwide priority this year, she sees a bright future for the local program.

Developed as organizers blended exceptional educational standards from countries around the globe, an International Baccalaureate course of study equips students for a seamless transition to the most demanding universities.

A study at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver showed International Baccalaureate graduates in their first

year at college scored 12 percent to 13 percent above average. Beyond that, graduates who accepted first-year university credit and went straight into college sophomore courses scored from 7 percent to 12 percent above average.

"They were outperforming students who had already spent a year at university," the study noted.

Most colleges give credit for high-level International Baccalaureate courses. Even a student's record of sitting for exams in standard-level International Baccalaureate courses can be a "tipping point," Schlange said, when colleges make admission decisions.

Schlange said the Montana Board of Regents found that many Montana university freshmen take below-level courses which serve as a review of high school math, English and other curriculum rather than launch into college-level work.

"With IB, they won't do that," she Schlange said. "They will go straight to four-year college courses."

At Flathead High, Schlange can testify to her students' results. Fourteen of her International Baccalaureate mathematics students sat for exams. Exams are scored on a scale from one to seven; a score of three or better is passing.

"I had been hoping for a lot of threes and fours but the lowest score was a five," she said. "I was blown away, because five of them scored a seven. There were only seven 7's in the whole school."

It's not all academics, though.

One of the program's goals is to develop "caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect." International Baccalaureate - with its requirement for 50 hours each of some creative endeavor, offering service and becoming involved in the community - fosters well-rounded people with diverse interests contributing to their communities.

"I believe that the IB program, along with the volunteer hours, made me the type of well-rounded individual that appeals to colleges, as I received numerous generous scholarships," Clelia Leopold wrote. "I also still had time to do the things that I enjoy."

Schlange said that a spring talent show by International Baccalaureate students has raised money for such needs as earthquake and hurricane relief. They gave every cent to the charity, she said, overcame new challenges and had fun doing it.

"The idea is that they recognize there is joy in learning," Schlange said.

Flathead High completed an exhaustive process to become an International Baccalaureate campus and continued training much of the staff the past two years.

Although Flathead will remain the only authorized campus in Kalispell for the foreseeable future, Glacier High School students will not be left out when the new school opens in fall 2007.

One proposal would allow Glacier students to take up to three International Baccalaureate courses a semester without going through the transfer process. Under that proposal, to take four or more courses - which would be required for the full-diploma program - a student would need to request a transfer and make Flathead High his or her "school of record."

Glacier High Principal Callie Langohr promised a decision will be made in time for class registration next February and March.

Speaking on behalf of Fusaro's International Baccalaureate emphasis for the entire school this year, Schlange said he wants people to recognize the value of the program.

"If a student is college bound," she said, "they just should be in IB and challenge themselves."

Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com