Elementary schools seek to develop students of the world through the International Baccalaureate Organization's Primary Years Programme.
What makes a school “international”? Is it an international body of students? The teaching of one or more “foreign” languages? A foreign exchange program? A curriculum that includes the study of different cultures? The display of flags of different countries? A cafeteria that serves foods of different cultures? In fact, these are not the defining characteristics of an international school.
A few designated international schools might surprise you: A Title I school in South Carolina in which 60 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch; an American school in Bombay, India, that enrolls 200 students of 25 different nationalities and has an annual tuition about 35 times the average national income; and a neighborhood school in Colorado. What do these schools have in common? All three offer the Primary Years Programme, a curriculum framework for 3- to 12-year-olds developed by teachers and administrators at international schools. Since 1997, the Primary Years Programme has been administered and further developed by the International Baccalaureate Organization, best known for its rigorous college preparatory program.
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