LINCOLN SQUARE — After three years of preparation involving curriculum development and teacher training, St. Matthias School has been authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization to offer the IB Middle Years Programme to students in sixth through eighth grades.
St. Matthias is now the first Catholic elementary in Illinois authorized for IB, and only the seventh Catholic school in the country to offer the program.
"The Middle Years Programme has transformed our junior high program," Sandria Morten, St. Matthias IB coordinator, stated. "Our teachers are planning collaboratively across disciplines and challenging our students to think deeply and critically about real issues."
The school plans to apply for authorization for an IB Primary Years Programme for preschoolers through fifth graders in the future.
Enrollment at St. Matthias, 4910 N. Claremont Ave., has doubled in the last decade. The school is in the midst of a $1.8 million capital campaign aimed at funding the first phase of a planned expansion, which will add three classrooms.
Parents interested in learning more about St. Matthias and its IB programme are invited to an information session, 7 p.m., Tuesday, at DANK Haus, 4740 N. Western Ave.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
