CCPS has aligned our 6-12 curriculum to prepare students for success in pursuing the International Baccalaureate Diploma. The IB Diploma is a 2 year program (11th and 12th) that is recognized around the world as the most advanced secondary diploma available. Our 6-12 curriculum is delivered using the Paideia instructional approach to education. Paideia emphasizes student centered instruction and the integration of Socratic Seminars in an effort to maintain students at the center of the learning process. p
Paideia
The Paideia Program advocates that all learners practice the critical thinking, communication skills, and attitudes necessary to earn a living, be an active citizen, and pursue a meaningful life. Paideia is active learning—fostering critical and creative thinking through Paideia Socratic seminar, intellectual coaching, and authentic action. Paideia is high-quality education for all—preparing children of all backgrounds, in all kinds of schools, to live up to their full and resonant potential. Paideia is preparation for a full life—teaching all students to Think, Discuss, and Act in ways that will help them thrive in the volatile world of the 21st century.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program
The curriculum is made up of the DP core and six subject groups. Made up of the three required components, the DP core aims to broaden students’ educational experience and challenge them to apply their knowledge and skills.
The three core elements are:
- Theory of knowledge, in which students reflect on the nature of knowledge and on how we know what we claim to know.
- The extended essay, which is an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a 4,000-word paper.
- Creativity, activity, service, in which students complete a project related to those three concepts.
The six subject groups are:
- Studies in language and literature
- Language acquisition
- Individuals and societies
- Sciences
- Mathematics
- Arts
IB Learner Profile Traits
The IB learner profile represents ten attributes and characteristics valued at Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School that can help our students become responsible participants in their local, national, and global communities (IB, 2013). We promote and encourage the discussion of, and reference to, these traits across all content areas and grade-levels at CCPS through a variety of mediums.