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Is it ok to go to a Newly Started IB School?


ovoxo_say1

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I recently got accepted into 2 IB schools in my region, one in the regular school board and one in the catholic school board. This year, our board announced that there would be 4 new schools to the 1 (I am in the York Region District School Board) already in place. Is it ok to go to a school which is starting it's IB program next year and is still training teachers? I can't say it is a too stellar school outside of the IB program. I would love to go to the school in the Catholic School board, but it is too far for my parents to drive and is a 1 hr and 15 min bus ride. 

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Because IB is a 2-year program and you are accepted into a 4-year high school, your best bet is to hope that by the time you enter grade 11, that the school and teachers will have accumulated some experience. In grade 12, I commuted about 50 min to school everyday to an IB school in Toronto and there were many other students like me. I guess it's really up to you as most IB school in York Region are still quite new. You should be prepared to do additional work outside the boatload your teacher will assign, as well as invest in IB past papers when you get to grade 12. IB is an expensive program so be sure you want to put up the money. 

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I actually see no problem with the commute. My school is about an hour away from where I live by train, and I manage to have free time. If you believe the school would provide you a better education the you should make this sacrifice. There are different ways to spend the ride, I personally like to read through my notes before tests etc.

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Yea, I guess so. I am actually in the new IB school in PDSB and it's alright. They will probably pull some IB teachers from other schools, that's what my school's done. The grade 9 and 10 curriculum is mostly the same in everything but math so don't worry about that. The only major addition is the Personal Project which is pretty easy too. I'd say go to the new school because really there won't be much of a difference. 

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I'd personally go with the more established school just because I would assume it would already be experienced in all of the IB's policies, mark schemes, and required components. A newer school may bring in teachers who have never done IB before, so that is often a huge struggle.

However, pre-IB really is pretty generic and falls under the district policies, not IB, so there should be fewer hiccups with that. The only downside I can see is if the first year pre-IB courses are poorly run, in which case a lot of students would simply drop out (this was the case with the new pre-AP program in a high school near me. They almost had to cancel it because enrollment dropped to 7 kids)

 

In the end, go where you're happiest. If one school stands out more socially/academically/financially/athletically then definitely consider going there.

 

PS commuting isn't bad. I spent 2 hours a day on a bus to get to my IB school (Halton region)

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