The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at CHS

• The mission of IB is to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
• The IB Learner Profile states that IB Learners strive to be: Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced, and Reflective.
• City Honors is home to one of the oldest IB Diploma Programmes in the world and was New York State's first IB Diploma Programme outside of the New York Metro area.
• The Diploma Programme services juniors and seniors in high school. IB Diploma Candidates at City Honors take three IB Higher Level (HL) courses (240 course hours) and three IB Standard Level (SL) courses (150 course hours). The HL classes are English A1, Biology or Physics, and History of the Americas. The SL classes are Math Studies or Mathematics, French B or Spanish B, and Economics.
• In addition to the balance between the humanities and sciences, the IB Diploma Program includes three core requirements:
  • Theory of Knowledge (TOK): an interdisciplinary course designed to provide coherence by exploring the nature of knowledge across disciplines, encouraging an appreciation of other cultural perspectives.
  • Creativity, Action, Service (CAS): encourages students to be involved in artistic pursuits, sports, and community service work, thus fostering students' awareness and appreciation of life outside the academic arena. The goal is to complete 150 hours over two years with a balance of hours between the three areas.
  • Extended Essay (EE): has a prescribed limit of 4,000 words. It offers the opportunity to investigate a topic of individual interest, and acquaints students with the independent research and writing skills expected in college.
• The rigor of the IB Diploma Programme is recognized by the world's leading universities and IB Diploma Candidates are accepted into colleges and universities at higher rates than those who are not.
• Our candidates go on to attend such universities as: Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Penn, Cornell, Brown, Howard, NYU, University at Buffalo Honor's College, and SUNY Geneseo's Honors Program.
• The programme not only prepares students for the academic challenges of college, but it also gives them a chance to receive college credit. Many of our graduates have received 18-36 college credits for their IB Diploma and sophomore standing. This directly translates into monetary savings because enough credit can be gained to eliminate an entire year of college.