International Baccalaureate at Birchwood

Birchwood Elementary School is an authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) World school. IB World Schools share a common philosophy—a commitment to improve the teaching and learning of a diverse and inclusive community of students by delivering challenging, high quality programmes of international education that share a powerful vision.

Birchwood IB Mission Statement

At Birchwood Elementary School we strive to develop knowledgeable, skilled, compassionate, principled, and action-oriented young people. We want Birchwood students to become internationally-minded individuals who help create a better world.

To that end, we commit ourselves to:

Honor diversity and individuality in a safe learning environment
Build a community where students, families, and staff collaborate with each other to help students realize their academic, creative, social, and physical potential
Act with integrity and honesty
Take on new challenges, learn to be resourceful and resilient, and use these skills to become lifelong learners
Become caring, compassionate, and respectful people who have a global understanding of the world
Make balanced and healthy choices in our lives to achieve well-being for ourselves and others
Develop teamwork skills and share our learning with others

Only schools authorized by the International Baccalaureate can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.

For further information about the IB and its programs, visit www.ibo.org

Mission Statement from the IB

The IB Primary Years Program (PYP) develops inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through education that builds intercultural understanding and respect.

(from ibo.org – view full document here)

El IB Programa de Primaria (PYP) desarrolla jóvenes indagadores, conocedores y atentos que ayudan a crear un mundo mejor y más pacífico a través de una educación que construye la comprensión y el respeto interculturales.

(from ibo.org – view full document here)

More information about the IB Program of Inquiry at Birchwood

Program of Inquiry

Birchwood Program of Inquiry:

In our International Baccalaureate (IB) program, we employ an inquiry-based approach to education, actively involving students in a process of questioning, exploration, research, and critical thinking. This method empowers students to take charge of their learning journey. The Program of Inquiry (POI) serves as a guiding framework for the curriculum, highlighting the key concepts that students will delve into.

In addition to the IB curriculum, we also incorporate the Washington State Common Core Standards into our Program of Inquiry. These standards, which cover literacy, math, science, social studies, and social justice, are integrated into our curriculum to ensure a comprehensive and well-rounded education for our students. By aligning our program with these standards, we ensure that our students not only gain a global perspective through the IB curriculum but also meet and exceed the educational benchmarks set by our state. This fusion of international and local educational standards provides our students with a unique, balanced, and high-quality learning experience.

Our Program of Inquiry is not a static document, but a dynamic, evolving guide that is reviewed and updated multiple times throughout the year. This process allows us to ensure that our curriculum remains aligned with the Washington State Common Core Standards and adapts to any changes or updates in these standards.

Furthermore, this regular review process enables us to incorporate new educational insights, respond to the changing needs of our students, and continuously improve our program. By treating our Program of Inquiry as a living document, we commit to providing our students with the most relevant, comprehensive, and high-quality education possible.

Programa de Investigación de Birchwood

En nuestro programa del Bachillerato Internacional (BI), empleamos un enfoque de aprendizaje basado en la indagación, involucrando activamente a los estudiantes en un proceso de cuestionamiento, exploración, investigación y pensamiento crítico. Este método permite a los estudiantes tomar las riendas de su propio aprendizaje. El Programa de Indagación (PI) sirve como un marco guía para el currículo, destacando los conceptos clave que los estudiantes profundizarán.

Además del currículo del BI, también incorporamos los Estándares Comunes Básicos del Estado de Washington en nuestro Programa de Indagación. Estos estándares, que cubren alfabetización, matemáticas, ciencias, estudios sociales y justicia social, se integran en nuestro currículo para garantizar una educación completa y equilibrada para nuestros estudiantes. Al alinear nuestro programa con estos estándares, aseguramos que nuestros estudiantes no solo adquieran una perspectiva global a través del currículo del BI, sino que también cumplan y superen los estándares educativos establecidos por nuestro estado. Esta fusión de estándares educativos internacionales y locales proporciona a nuestros estudiantes una experiencia de aprendizaje única, equilibrada y de alta calidad.

Nuestro Programa de Investigación no es un documento estático, sino una guía dinámica y en constante evolución que se revisa y actualiza varias veces a lo largo del año. Este proceso iterativo nos permite asegurar que nuestro currículo se mantenga alineado con los Estándares Comunes del Estado de Washington y se adapte a cualquier cambio o actualización en estos estándares. Además, este proceso regular de revisión nos permite incorporar nuevos conocimientos educativos, responder a las necesidades cambiantes de nuestros estudiantes y mejorar continuamente nuestro programa. Al tratar nuestro Programa de Investigación como un documento vivo, nos comprometemos a proporcionar a nuestros estudiantes la educación más relevante, integral y de alta calidad posible.

Learner Profile

At Birchwood, students and staff strive to embody the IB Learner Profile, which is a set of ten attributes:

Click on image for PDF version

View in Spanish / Ver en español (PDF)

Each month at Birchwood, the entire school focuses on one of the attributes of the learner profile. Below are some examples of the IB learner profile in action at Birchwood:

Assemblies
At our weekly assemblies, students have the opportunity to share a variety of ways that they demonstrate the monthly attribute at school and at home. This includes skits, student-led Q&As, videos, stories and more.

Literature & Resources
Each month, our library displays a collection of books that support the current learner attribute. Students and teachers have access to these books for classroom and home use. Click each attribute below for a collection of supporting texts and resources available in our library.

Principled (September)

Communicator (October)

Balanced (November)

Caring (December)

Open-Minded (January)

Thinker (February)

Inquirer (March)

Courageous / Risk-taker (April)

Reflective (May)

Knowledgeable (June)

Resources for Families

IB Info for Families

IB Units of Inquiry: Bringing it Home!

One way to connect with the IB program is to engage with your child’s current unit of inquiry at home. For example, you could:

point out real life examples
read books
visit relevant locations around town
speak to knowledgeable family members

Here are some ideas for things you can do at home to help support your child’s understanding of the Learner Profile attributes we are working on this fall. We started with Principled in September and will keep adding new attributes each month!

Principled: September

Notice when your child has done something without being reminded or asked to and let them know that they made a “principled” choice.
Play a board game with them and talk about how following the rules make the game more fun.
When your child wins a game, insist that they be a well-mannered winner by shaking hands with their opponent or thanking them.
At school, we give “grow leaves” when a child has made a principled choice. You can make your own tree at home for them to post their grow leaves when they bring them home. Encourage your child to think of ways they might earn a grow leaf at school. You could even give them “grow leaves” for things they do at home!

Communicator: October

Encourage your child to stay in touch with relatives and friends who live in other countries. Use whatever technology you have at home to write, draw pictures, or even make videos to help keep in touch!
Model being a good listener. Listen closely when your child talks to you and ask them questions about what they are telling you.
Learn a new language with them! We have books in English and Spanish in our library that your child can check out and bring home.

Balanced: November

Model this attribute as a parent—spend time as a family doing many different activities.
On a weekend day, ask your child or help your child to keep track of how much time they spend in active play and how much in quiet activities. Talk about what they could do to have time for both.
Monitor “screen time”. It’s easy to get caught up in a television show or video game or computer game and lose track of time. Make an agreement for how much screen time your child can have and set a timer. Make a plan for something to do together when the timer goes off, like make dinner together or go play in the leaves!

Caring: December

Model the caring behavior you would like to see in your child. Use kind words, help others, hold a door for a person coming in behind you—even the little things matter!
Care for the earth by reusing and recycling everything you can. Ask your child how they do this at school and have them help make a plan for how they could help do it at home.
Volunteer with your child to help a neighbor or to work in the school garden or with a Birchwood neighborhood group. Write your child a thank-you note for helping!

Open-Minded: January

Talk with your children at dinner about the foods that they are eating that come from your background or culture. Even better, teach them how to make those foods!
When you serve new foods to your children, encourage them to respond with either “that was good” or “that was interesting” rather than respond negatively to new foods. If they don’t like something, reassure them that they may develop a taste for it as they get older.
Look for events to attend that highlight different cultures. In March, for example, the Jewish community offers a Purim carnival for everyone at Bloedel Donovan Park with lots of fun games for kids and great food! The Bellingham Herald event calendar has a list of local events at: http://calendar.bellinghamherald.com/events.aspx

Thinker: February

Encourage your child to think of solutions to problems independently rather than offer them solutions. When it’s possible, let them decide something for themselves.
Pose real life problems and questions to your child. “How can we arrange these toys to fit in this cupboard?” “How can we make it easier in the morning to get ready for school?”
Ask your child questions when they are working on a problem. “Do you have any ideas of how we can begin?” Listen to answers and ask them to “tell me more about it”.

Inquirer: March

Ask questions openly with your child, without pressure to know the answers!
Support your child to find out answers to his/her questions and wonders by looking online, speaking to experts, reading books, etc.

Courageous / Risk-taker: April

Be open with your child in sharing times that you feel nervous to do something. Talk through how you found the courage and how it felt afterwards
Point out when family members and friends take responsible risks (eg. a new job)
Complement your child in being a risk-taker when they try something new!

Reflective: May

Look back at photos of your child as a baby. Reflect together on how he or she has changed
After a family event, outing or new experience, take time to reflect by talking about what you liked, noticed, learned, would change next time, etc.
Model the idea that even as adults, we don’t always get things right the first time. Show how you think about a situation after the fact and discuss what changes you might make next time

Knowledgeable: June

Take your child to the public Library to gather books about a topic your child is passionate to learn more about. Do the same with a topic you are interested in.
Use the term knowledgeable in place of “smart”

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