It’s official. Akron’s Litchfield middle school has completed the authorization process and can call itself an International Baccalaureate World School.
The school was notified last week in a letter from the International Baccalaureate Governing Board, school board member the Rev. Dr. Curtis T. Walker Sr. said at Monday night’s school board meeting.
Walker recognized Principal Dyan Floyd and IB coordinator Sandy Cline for their work in bringing about the middle years program, which will offer enriched curricula to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. Litchfield is a feeder school for Firestone High School, which has an IB diploma program. Unlike the high school program, which students must apply to get into, the Litchfield program will be schoolwide.
“As an IB World School, you are part of a global community of schools committed to developing knowledgeable, caring young people who will be ready to negotiate their futures successfully and make contributions resulting in a more harmonious and peaceful world,” Walker read from the letter.
The designation is awarded after a rigorous on-site review, said Karen Gegick, Akron Public Schools’ director of teaching and learning. It took from 2013 until this fall to go through the preparation, including professional development and adding programs such as French and Spanish and arts integration.
The school is implementing some of its study units now, and the process should be complete by this time next year, Gegick said.
“It’s a way to connect the learning with what’s happening in the real world,” she said. “We really think that this is a world-class standard that will help increase the academic achievement of students.”
Other news
Case Elementary School also had its authorization visit in October and could be receiving its approval letter soon, Gegick said.
Also Monday, Superintendent David James updated the board on the status of a group of 40 Akron high schoolers who were visiting Columbus when an attack occurred on the Ohio State University campus. The students from Buchtel, East, Firestone and Kenmore high schools were at the convention center for a career education program and were unharmed.
James also informed the board about a fire in the boiler room at East on Thursday. Insulation caught fire and the sprinkler system went off after an issue with the damper on the flue.
Monica L. Thomas can be reached at 330-996-3827 or mthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @MLThomasABJ and https://www.facebook.com/MLThomasABJ.