District Considers Making Streams Elementary an All-IB School

The is considering the possibility of converting into a full International Baccalaureate (IB) school.

Parents of students will soon be receiving letters from Superintendent Patrick O'Toole. He will hold a meeting for parents in June and August to seek public input.

The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) is recommending the district make a decision whether to convert the elementary school into an all-IB school by the end of September 2011. If implemented, the change would not take place until the 2012-13 school year.

Rebecca Stern, vice president of the Upper St. Clair School Board, stressed that no decision has been made.

"Any decision would be made after careful consideration and would be part of a comprehensive review of the distribution of all elementary students," Stern said in an email.

The IB Primary Years Program (PYP), offered only at Streams Elementary in Upper St. Clair, is becoming increasingly popular. The participation has grown from 20 percent of the students at Streams to 80 percent, according to Dr. O'Toole. He said there is a waiting list that varies in length in each grade level, but averages to about 15 students in each grade who would like to join IB PYP.

"We do have parents who come to Upper St. Clair for the IB program, therefore it has remained a choice for them," O'Toole said. "It's been popular. Numbers have grown in the PYP and Middle Years programs."

It's too early to determine whether the move would be a cost-saving or cost-adding move for the district, according to O'Toole. The move could reduce staffing costs if less staffing were needed for the traditional classrooms. It could also increase costs due to additional training. 

"It will depend on the enrollment," O'Toole said.

The superintendent said he does not yet know where the students enrolled in the traditional program at Streams Elementary would go. However, he did say has the lowest enrollment in the district. Baker has about 100 fewer students than and has classroom space, according to O'Toole.

The IB PYP program is available to first through fourth grades. It does not affect kindergarten. No changes in the IB programs are anticipated at the middle school or high school levels.

O'Toole said more information will be going out in his letters and he encourages parents to attend the meeting in June or August.