IB program in CCISD (Howe, Moody: credit, transfer, neighborhood)

[mamabear406]

We are moving to the Corpus area and are considering sending our son to Baker because of the IB program. My mom teaches IB classes in Florida and raves about how academically rigorous they are. Can anyone tell me their experiences?

[ObserverNY]

Dear Mamabear406,

My advice to parents who have the CHOICE of enrolling their children in AP or IB is to avoid IB like the plague.

I understand that your Mom is an IB teacher in Florida, which is only 2nd to California in its number of IB schools. I'm afraid I'm going to have to fine you $.50 for using the word "rigorous". You would think IBO holds the copyright on the word "rigorous" as it is nearly impossible to locate a press release about IB that doesn't include the word. Look up the definition of "rigorous". It's not a very positive adjective.

Let me put it bluntly - IB is indoctrination. The IBO is an NGO of UNESCO. It promotes global citizenship, radical environmentalism, disarmament and one world government. IB's philosophy is anti-American and supportive of radical Islam. In fact, IBO's most famous recent alumni is the Christmas Day Underwear Bomber.

Please read THIS LETTER from the Texas Mom about her daughter's experience in IB.

[loves2read]

also consider the fact that ObserverNY posts only to thread about IB education and always with a negative comment

frankly I taught at high school with IB program and the students had great success with acceptance by highly-desireable colleges/universities -- many of them entered college with all their freshman and some almost all sophomore credits...
some of them would cross-over and take the AP tests (which does not require an AP class as pre-requisite) and get AP credit in case they decided on school that did not accept IB credits--
that are colleges that don't--but more and more are coming to view IB as certainly college-level work...

[ObserverNY]

also consider the fact that ObserverNY posts only to thread about IB education and always with a negative comment

That's very funny. As I noted in another IB thread, I received an e-mail from City Data forums requesting that I come back and post again as my posts receive a lot of reads. Apparently, IB is a "hot topic" here and my input is appreciated - by some.

I suppose loves2read only thinks positive comments about the IB programmes should be allowed. If we were a communist country like China, such would be the case, but fortunately, the First Amendment still applies here in the U.S. (I wonder if loves2read also goes by the name voraciousreader somewhere else... hmmm)

Children have one high school experience and one shot at the college admissions process. AP courses and exams can be taken in 9th and 10th Grades - IB cannot. An AP student can earn AP Scholar status before they even submit their college aps - while the majority of IB exams aren't administered till the end of the senior year, long after colleges have made their decisions.

IB is still a "fringe" program in the United States with less than 700 high schools offering the program. I strongly recommend sticking with the tried and true AP.

[WUSTL '14]

@mamabear406

I'm a high school senior in Corpus who went through the "Athena" program at Baker M.S. To be candid, the IB program isn't really that strong in Corpus compared to schools in Florida, California, etc. AP classes are much more popular in the local high schools. I will let you know that Baker is undoubtedly the strongest middle school in CCISD (objectively speaking here; no bias). As for high schools, King and Carroll are the strongest academically and offer the most AP classes. However, I have heard that Ray H.S. will be offering the IB program in the near future.

[mamabear406]

Thanks for the input WUSTL '14. I have a son who is a senior this year too and know you definitely have insight into your schools.

You didn't say where you went to high school. Did you have problems making friends at your high school after attending Baker? I'm guessing you didn't go on to Ray after middle school. Also, did you participate in band or any other extra curriulur activities while at Baker?

[Marlow]

The IB program is new in CC. Ray HS started offering it only in the last year or so. Windsor Park Elementary is a magnet GT school that has an IB curriculum. Baker MS is both a neighborhood school and has a GT "school within a school" program that uses the IB curriculum. Kids from Windsor Park who want to continue in the GT program go to Baker.

[mamabear406]

We started looking at Baker because my son is in a GT program now and we wanted him to continue in Corpus. My husband went to an orientation at Kaffie and asked about how the district served GT kiddos and was directed to Baker. We are a little concerned about post Baker. Mostly about the socialization part of transitioning to a high school more than anything. I would think that there would be other Baker friends moving to the same high schools.

[Marlow]

If you decided to send your son to Baker, I wouldn't worry too much about where he'll go after that. I'm sure that lots of kids will go back to their neighborhood high schools after Baker. Others will go to Ray for the IB program. I imagine your son will be with people he knows regardless of where he goes.

Also, something to keep in mind is that the law in Texas right now is that if you graduate in the top 10%of your class (it might be 8% now, not sure), you are automatically admitted to Texas state universities. I'm wondering if it will be somewhat harder to do that at Ray if it's attracting the top students in the district because of the IB program. That's something we'll consider when my daughter gets closer to high school.

[WUSTL '14]

Actually, I attend Incarnate Word Academy, a small private Catholic school. I went to King for a semester and transferred to IWA because the classes were smaller, I knew several people at the school, and I didn't feel challenged at King. And yes, I was in the band and golf team at Baker.

Marlow brings up a couple good points that I should address. First about the "school within a school" deal: there was definitely some animosity between the neighborhood kids and the Athena (GT people from Windsor Park). Oftentimes, some neighborhood kids would instigate fights with Athena and things could get ugly in a hurry. I'm not trying to scare/discourage anyone, but it should be known that it can be rough. Other than that minor point (which could be different now), the Athena program really prepared me for the high school transition.

Regarding the top 8% rule (that's what it was for my class, I believe), it is probably easier to reach this echelon at Ray rather than King or Carroll because only a small percentage of Ray will be in the IB program and the average benchmark GPA for the top 8% is somewhat lower at Ray compared to King/Carroll. Of course, it is even easier to get top 8% at Moody or Miller, but both of those schools are rough and have been rated "Unacceptable" by TAKS in the past couple years.