Long Beach HS becomes International Baccalaureate school

The Long Beach School District has become the third district in Nassau County to offer the International Baccalaureate program at its high school.

"The program is going to enable many of our kids to perform in ways that they haven't performed before,” said Principal Nick Restivo.

The program, founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1968, will be implemented next year for students entering 11th grade. About 40 students signed up for the program even before the school had completed the application process.

"In the scheme of I.B., that's a very strong starting class," said social studies teacher and I.B. coordinator Dr. Andrew Smith. "Most schools don't start with that many students."

Restivo said he anticipates that more students will be interested in the program, and he is giving them the opportunity to enroll by "co-seating" some of the high school's Advanced Placement courses. For example, he said, those who are enrolled in A.P. biology as juniors are also enrolled in I.B. biology, so students who are interested in the second year of the two-year I.B. biology course can move into it their senior year.

Asked how adding the program might affect parents' decisions to move into the district or enroll their children in the high school, Restivo said, "There's no question it's going to put [the high school] in a higher ranking in their mind."

He recalled that in December, while the school was still awaiting a decision by I.B. administrators, three parents who were considering enrolling their children in private schools called his office to find out if the program was going to be offered. "[They said], ‘If I.B. is there, my kid is there,'" recalled Restivo, who also expects that the program will attract more students from Island Park, who have the option to attend Long Beach or West Hempstead High School.

Dr. Vincent Butera, superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said that implementing the I.B. program has forced the district to re-evaluate other courses. "There's no doubt that the I.B. program will raised the level of expectations for students," Butera said. "That will form the heart of what we plan for the 10th grade, ninth grade, middle and elementary schools."

He added that more courses will be focused on developing and improving writing skills because the I.B. curriculum is writing-intensive. The district will also increase the amount of educational support students get, like writing labs and extra help.

Like A.P. classes, students can enroll in the program themselves. Restivo said that during one training session, he discovered that districts across the country have strict requirements governing which students can take I.B. courses. Long Beach is making the courses available to any students who wish to take them.

Smith previously explained to the Herald that the greatest difference between A.P. and I.B. is that the former involves individual classes that end with an exam, while the latter is a diploma program. "Students go into it and walk out with a pre-college diploma, whereas in A.P. they take these classes and they may get credit, they may not get credit," said Smith.

The school will offer 10 I.B. courses in September, including History of the Americas, a two-year course, and Environmental Systems, a one-year course. Students must also take a philosophy-bases course called Theory of Knowledge, write a 12- to 15-page research essay and perform 150 hours of community service.

South Side High School in Rockville Centre was the first district on Long Island to implement the I.B. program, and has done away with most of its A.P. program, but A.P. courses, as well as college-level courses, will continued to be offered at LBHS.

Restivo said he noticed a positive side effect among students who have already enrolled in the program. "They had to really think ahead," he said, explaining that the students had to map out their course work through their senior year. "I think it will give these kids a really different focus for their last two years of high school."