Bentonville High Contemplates Baccalaureate Program
Payoff is scholarships, college credit, more knowledge
Last updated Thursday, November 2, 2006 10:07 PM CST in News
By Lana F. Flowers
The Morning News
BENTONVILLE --The International Baccalaureate Program is like advanced placement courses on steroids, according to Katie Largent, 18.
She's in her first year at the University of Tulsa but has enough credits already to be a college sophomore.
High school students get to pick and choose which advanced placement courses to take, but the baccalaureate program entails dedication, time management and critical thinking in courses throughout the junior and senior years of high school, Largent said.
The payoff? Scholarship money, getting college credit before setting foot on a university campus, excellent time management skills and a higher level of thinking, according to Rick Arrington, baccalaureate program coordinator at the University of Tulsa.
Approximately 50 people, including parents, teachers and students, attended a talk Thursday at Bentonville High School to find out more about the baccalaureate program.
International Baccalaureate North America representatives will visit Bentonville High School on Dec. 14-15 to start accrediting the high school for participation in the program.
Several teachers already have gone for training in teaching the specialized courses, according to Jeff Hagers, a Bentonville High School Spanish teacher. Hagers is the International Baccalaureate Program coordinator designate for Bentonville High School.
The high school will enroll students in the baccalaureate program beginning this spring, Hagers said, and likely will be accredited in the baccalaureate program by June or July. Students who now are sophomores can start the baccalaureate program next fall.
Springdale High School also participates in the baccalaureate program. Other Arkansas schools in the program include private Mount St. Mary's High School in Little Rock and public schools North Little Rock High School and Hot Springs High School.
Nathan Brooks, attending his second year at the University of Tulsa, already is a junior thanks to his work in the baccalaureate program at a Texas high school.
He is pursuing a double major in electrical engineering and computer science. Brooks said he can handle the course load because of learning time management through the baccalaureate program.
"Time management is the only way to survive. You learn to apply those skills as the workload increases," Brooks said.
There were days he would come home from school, "pass out on the couch" so tired his parents would not wake him to do chores. Brooks said he'd awaken later and do his homework.
The baccalaureate program includes standard level courses, which last about one year. Students take three standard level courses and take tests on the subjects at the end of the junior year, Largent said.
The program also involves taking three higher level courses, some of which last both the junior and senior years of high school. Students also must write extended essays of 3,500 to 4,000 words, which translates into 16 or 17 typed, double-spaced pages with footnotes and a bibliography, Largent said. She spent an average of 10 to 15 hours per week on homework while in the program at a Scottsdale, Ariz., high school.
There still is plenty of time to participate in sports, hold a part-time job or travel while in the baccalaureate program, Largent said.
Baccalaureate program students don't have to be "geniuses," but "have to be motivated and you have to work hard," Arrington said.
That might be the case with Dong Huynh, a Bentonville High School sophomore who is pursuing enough concurrent credits through NorthWest Arkansas Community College that he almost has completed his freshman year of college.
Huynh said he's interested in the baccalaureate program because "it has a stricter curriculum than the AP (advanced placement) courses offer."
He's done research on the curriculum and is confident he could get the baccalaureate program diploma. That might get Huynh an instant 12 hours of college credit at the University of Arkansas or 36 credit hours at the University of Tulsa.
Baccalaureate program participants also qualify for scholarships based on a combination of their program scores and whether they earn a program diploma.
Reader Comments (No comments posted.)
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.
Not already registered?
