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Hilton Head Island High School is stepping up to promote the value of its international baccalaureate program.
Two years ago Lauren Stuligross’ children switched from private school to public school for one main reason: Hilton Head Island High School’s International Baccalaureate program.
“It’s one of those ‘sky’s-thelimit’ kinds of curriculum,” said Stuligross, “where a kid who really wants to do a lot can.” Stuligross’ daughter, Haley, has thrived in the challenging IB Diploma Program and will graduate next month. Her son, Brian, is a freshman at the high school who hopes to follow the same rigorous course load as a junior — if it’s still an option.
“I’m hoping the program is still there when he gets there,” Stuligross said of the IB program, which was placed on a two-year probation by the Beaufort County School Board in February. “To lose it would be devastating.”
“Probation” is perhaps a misnomer, school district employees say, because it suggests some type of punitive action. On the contrary, the probation period was exactly what Hilton Head Island High School asked the board to grant, according to Sean Alford, chief instructional services officer for the school district. After an outside assessment of the IB program resulted in a recommendation to shut it down, the high school identified areas of needed improvement and asked the board for time to work on those areas instead.
“The probationary status is just a very, very simple way of saying, ‘We will allow you to continue as long as we all have the understanding that we’re nowhere close to perfection,’ ” Alford said.
The assessment that the IB program isn’t cost-effective was based largely on its relatively high training costs versus its relatively low rate of students earning the full IB diploma, Alford said, adding that because of its international scope, IB training is rarely held in the tri-state area. Instead, the school has had to pick up travel expenses for teachers to attend training sessions in various cities across the country.
“IB rolls out new curriculums every five years. When a curriculum change comes around, that’s when we look at sending teachers out,” said Michelle Hartman, IB coordinator for Hilton Head High School. Out of 71 certified teachers at the high school, 17 are trained IB teachers, she said. Additionally, two of the four guidance counselors, one of three assistant principals, and the principal herself are trained IB teachers.
The high school also offers Advanced Placement courses, and training for those costs far less and are often held close to home, Alford said.
Conversely, with training costs and other fees, the assessment conservatively estimated the school district spends about $188,000 annually on the IB Diploma Program at Hilton Head High and Battery Creek High School, which works out to be a pretty penny for each of the 10 IB diplomas that were handed out last year — all of them at Hilton Head High. Those 10 IB diploma earners were out of 27 students enrolled in the IB diploma program at the high school.
“Based on those numbers, they felt that we weren’t getting the bang for the buck,” Hartman said.
“But what they don’t see is even those kids who take one or more classes, whether they go for the diploma or not, they still get all the benefits of the program.”
Last year 172 students attempted one or more IB classes, each one of them learning critical skills for success in school and in life, Hartman said. “They learn those writing skills, inquiry skills, time management,” she said.
Hartman says the school needs to do a better job getting parents to encourage their children to try an IB course. That’s just one of four designated areas of improvement: The school also must increase the number of IB diplomas earned each year; enhance the diversity of students participating in IB courses; and increase the number of students who pass IB exams.
Stuligross is active in an IB parents advocacy group that is brainstorming ways to erase the stigma of IB being too difficult and time-consuming to even attempt.
“You don’t have to be a brainy kid; you have to be a hardworking one,” Stuligross said. “When students rise to those kinds of challenges they can do more than they even knew.”
IB VS. AP: Weighing the differences
International Baccalaureate (IB) is a collaborative approach to education that has a global focus with a heavy emphasis on language and living as a global citizen. The IB Diploma Program is a twoyear program for high school juniors and seniors that is comprised of six college-level courses, an essay, a Theory of Knowledge course, and a Creativity, Action, and Service component. Students who don’t earn the full IB Diploma can still earn IB Certificates for successfully completed classes. Students can earn college credit (depending on the college admissions policy) by scoring high enough on an IB course’s final exam.
Advanced Placement (AP) consists of several independent courses of college-level study that are fairly regimented and criterion-based. There is not much continuity between AP courses; it is segmented by subject area. Students can earn college credit in a particular subject by placing high enough on the AP final exam. Both are looked at favorably by college admissions as proof that students taking those classes are willing and able to challenge themselves.
Robyn Passante
