IB Diploma Program

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) and the International Baccalaureate Career-related Program (IBCP) are rigorous pre-university courses of study, leading to exit examinations. The program meets the needs of highly motivated secondary school students. The IBDP and IBCP are the capstone programs in the IB continuum. In June 2019, there were 6,659 IB programs comprised of the Primary Years Program (PYP) for elementary age students, the Middle Years Program (MYP) for grades 6-10, the IB Diploma Program (IBDP) for grades 11-12 and the IB Career-Related Program for grades 11-12. These programs are being offered worldwide, across 5,088 K-12 schools in 156 countries. In the United States, there are 1,836 schools offering one or more IB Programs: 571 PYP, 658 MYP, 947 IBDP and 107 IBCP.

Riverview High School was accredited as an IB Diploma school in January 1999, and as an IB Career-Related school in 2014.  The class of 2018 was comprised of 131 (108 IBDP, 23 IBCP) students, one of the nation’s largest IB cohorts, representing our 18th graduating class. We are in our 19th year of administering exams.  Over the years, we have consistently surpassed world averages for IB diploma holders with an average of almost 90% IB Diploma pass rate.

Serving as a school-within-a-school at Riverview High School, the IBDP and IBCP programs provide some 800 motivated students with an opportunity to pursue a rigorous, globally recognized university preparatory curriculum.

Broken down into pre-IB (grades 9 & 10) and IBDP or IBCP (grades 11& 12), this program stresses education of the “whole person”. The course of study utilizes international standards, is based on an integrated curriculum with interconnected themes and concepts, stresses a global perspective, and provides for multiple forms of learning techniques and assessments. Given its high expectations, the IBDP and IBCP gives graduates the tools to soar, and it is highly sought by the most renowned colleges and universities.

The IBDP and IBCP enables students to pursue their own learning styles, strengths and challenges, based on their unique and shared patterns of values, knowledge and experience of the world and their place in it.  Students can tailor their studies to fit their academic interests.  Teachers serve as teammates planning and sequencing course offerings of the very best in contemporary high school studies.

In the IBDP curriculum students pursue rigorous coursework in six subject groups and the DP core, comprised of the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course, creativity, activity, service (CAS) which is our service learning component, and the extended essay (a 3,000-4,000 word paper of original research chosen by the IBDP candidate).

In the IBCP program, students undertake a minimum of two IB Diploma Program courses, a core program consisting of four components with an emphasis on personal and professional skills and a career-related study.  There are six career-related tracks in Riverview IB:  Marine Science, Engineering, International Business, Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), Computer Science and Theater Arts.

For IBCP students, IBDP courses provide the theoretical underpinning and academic rigor of the program; the career-related study further supports the program’s academic strength and provides practical, real-world approaches to learning; and the CP core helps them to develop skills and competencies required for lifelong learning.

Promoting open communication based on understanding and respect, the IBDP and IBCP encourages students to become lifelong learners. An IB education is holistic in nature—it is concerned with the whole person and life preparation, going beyond intellectual development in academic success as evidenced by the required community service component.  The 2018-2019 IBDP and IBCP seniors completed over 27,000 hours of community service.   Along with cognitive development, the IB programs address students’ social, emotional and physical well-being. They value and offer opportunities for students to become active and caring members of local, national and global communities.