International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme
Integrating the MYP with the PYP and the IBDP has enabled us to create an academic continuum and sequenced learning from K-12. Atlanta International School, the first in the Southeast to integrate all three program sections, is at the forefront of IB K-12 programmes.
Design Technology
The design technology component is a critical feature of the MYP and constitutes an important link across the curriculum. By drawing from different curriculum areas such as math, science, art and language, the design technology program compels students to integrate and use skill sets from other disciplines as they develop and refine their design technology skills.
Three main concepts form the basis of the design technology program:
- Information: How we use technology within the context of design to solve problems, achieve goals and meet specific needs
- Materials: How we transform raw materials into finished products to meet specific, real-world needs
- Systems: How humans interact with processes, how processes interact with each other, and how processes integrate into each other to solve problems and to meet specific goals
The program recognizes that technology is constantly changing and that students must develop skills to deal with these changes rather than merely learn to use current technology. Students are therefore provided with tools and frameworks for approaching change and for interacting with technology in the future.
As your children progress through the program, they:
- develop critical thinking abilities
- acquire problem solving skills
- become independent learners
- apply their knowledge to real-world situations
- understand the links between different disciplines
- build confidence in their abilities to achieve goals
- support and enhance their performance in existing programs and activities such as Robotics
AIS Adds the MYP
Over the past two years, our Curriculum Development Coordinator, Tobin Bechtel, has been leading a project to study the benefits of integrating the Middle Years Programme (MYP) into AIS.
This five year program links the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), for grades 4K-5 and the IB Diploma Programme for grades 11–12, philosophically, conceptually and academically.
Upon completion of the feasibility study it was decided that the Middle Years Programme will be rolled out in the Secondary School over the next four years, commencing with Grades 6 and 7 in August 2006. Part of the ninth and tenth grade program will also be implemented in the coming school year (Grade 10 Personal Project). Tobin Bechtel will coordinate the implementation of the MYP.
Once the Middle Years Programme is fully integrated and authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), AIS will stand out in Georgia as the only school to offer the full IB Programme from Grades 4K through 12, and one of only four schools in the United States to do so.
For more information on any aspect of the International Baccalaureate Programme, please see the IBO Web site.
