International School of Beaverton
The International School of Beaverton is an option school that serves grades 6-12 in the Beaverton School District. It is the only school in the district to be a full International Baccalaureate school, where all students take IB courses and complete additional work for the Middle Years Programme and the Diploma Programme, including the personal project and the extended essay. In 2012 and various other years, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school as the best public high school in the state, and 20th in the nation. The current principal is Andrew Gilford and the assistant principal is Kelly Bordwell.
Academics
The school offers various courses in the areas of English, math, science, and social studies, as well as electives such as band, art, and choir. ISB also offers language courses, including Spanish, Japanese, and Mandarin.Students in sixth grade are placed in regular classes, but they have the option to choose whether to take the Band elective for the whole year, or to take Choir and Art each for a semester. Students may also try out two of the three language courses offered at ISB for a semester each, and they may choose which they wish to take for the rest of their time at ISB. Native Speakers of a language or those with prior experience may enroll in a language course one level maximum higher than their peers, however, it is recommended that students take a course in a language they do not speak. Students may also take Spanish and Japanese AB in 11th and 12th grade.
In 6th grade, students are either placed in math 6/7, or math 6/7/8. In math 6/7/8, if students achieve a grade of at least a 6 in criterion A, and 5in criterion B-D, they make take AGS 1-3 in 7-9th grade, precalculus in 10th grade, and IB Math HL in 11th and 12th grade. Students in math 6/7 will then take math 7/8, and should they receive a score of at least 5in criterion A and 4 in Criterion B-D, they will take AGS 1-3 in 8-10th grade and take IB Math SL in 11th and 12th grade. Should they not receive a satisfactory score, they will take Math 8 in 8th grade, and take AGS 1-2 in 9 and 10th grade, and take IB Math studies for 11th and 12th grade.