Reply to W-L IB. Worth it for college admissions?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a kid doing full IB at W-L (he's in 11th grade).  I think there are about 100 kids doing full IB, so if they add 80 spots, that would be 180 kids, which is almost 1/3 of the class.  Don't think its really a tiny niche program.[/quote]

And there are also in-zone kids who are taking a few IB classes without doing full IB.[/quote]

180 students out of 7 or 8 thousand is indeed a "tiny niche."
In-zone kids part-time in IB doesn't count the same as full-time IB and is another issue.  If IB is going to be offered, IB should be its own program available as a full-time program for the students who want to do it full-time.  [b]WL students shouldn't have access to IB classes that all the students at all the other high schools and high school programs don't have access to just because they live in the WL attendance zone[/b].[/quote]

Some IB classes the in-zone kids have access to are instead of AP classes on the same subject that students at Yorktown/Wakefield have (like Economics or Environmental Science).  Also, letting in-zone kids take IB electives lets them offer a wider variety since if you limited them to IB Diploma students only they may only have a handful of kids signed up for any one elective class and then the class might not go. IME with two in-zone kids those not in the diploma program who opt for some IB classes are generally taking them for the electives or some sciences. Regardless of whether or not in-zone kids take IB classes, the capacity of W-L is what it is so limiting those isn't going to expand the options for out-of-zone students. The IB teachers would just end up teaching more sections of AP instead of IB and fewer IB electives would be offered.[/quote]

That's similar to the AT students having priority access to the CTE classes at the Career Center. The 3 high schools don't all offer all the same electives and classes.  HBW doesn't have nearly the AP (just a few?) or electives the comprehensive schools have.  There are electives at Wakefield that "don't go" due to insufficient enrollment. If APS made the investment in an independent IB program, the enrollment might be higher.  But fact is, the small programs don't have as many electives at their disposal.  It's one of the trade-offs people need to consider and be willing to make when they choose an option program.

The capacity at WL is absolutely affecting the # of transfers that can come to the IB program.  There are solutions to that:  decreasing the attendance zone to WL (and opening more seats for IB and not penalizing transfers who ultimately find it too much and don't continue at a full-time pace by sending them back to their neighborhood school mid-high school); or moving the IB program out of the WL building.  [/quote]

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