Ocean Avenue Elementary School recently was named an authorized IB World School, Primary Years Programme. Principal Beverly Coursey, staff and students celebrated their achievement with the community on Oct. 5, hoisting the school’s new IB World School flag.
Ocean Avenue is the first and only elementary school in Maine to earn this distinction. It’s also one of just a handful in New England to attain this goal.
IB stands for International Baccalaureate. The International Baccalaureate Organization is a nonprofit education organization that supports learning models built on rigorous intellectual inquiry and personal growth for children. At the elementary level, it’s called the Primary Years Programme or PYP. PYP is a prestigious, rigorous, student-centered learning program.
In all IB programs, the focus is on helping students become “internationally-minded.” That means taking an active, principled, positive stance toward learning and making a difference in our increasingly globalized future.
Ocean Avenue School has worked through a rigorous, multiyear authorization process to become an IB World School. After an authorization visit this summer, IB notified the school that it had succeeded.
At the school-community celebration, those cheering on the event included Ocean Avenue School families, Portland Superintendent Xavier Botana, Mayor Ethan Strimling and representatives from the Portland Board of Public Education and City Council.
Ocean Avenue School is now a part of a recognized community of excellence in global education. Coursey said, “Every staff member is to be congratulated. We have much to be proud of.”
