International Baccalaureate
at Bartow High School

Interested?
The Application Process

Entry into the IB School is only available to qualified eighth graders for their upcoming ninth grade year. In early September each year, notification letters are sent to all eighth grade students in the area of Polk County we serve who meet the 3.5 or higher grade point average criterion that makes them eligible to apply to the International Baccalaureate School at BHS. It is important that all of these students realize that regardless of whether or not they are accepted to the International Baccalaureate School, they are already winners because they have been successful in middle school. We hope they will continue to do their best and continue their success in high school - no matter which high school they attend.

During the month of October, Dr. Edwin A. Vetter, IB School Principal, will conduct information meetings on the Bartow High/IB School campus to inform interested students and their parents about the program. At this time, students also register to become candidates for admission and receive an application for the school.

All applications are due at the IB School office at Bartow High by October 31, 2011.

2011 Schedule of Meetings Meetings are held in the BHS Auditorium from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

• October 6 - for students from Kathleen Middle, Sleepy Hill Middle and Blake Academy and McKeel Academy zones.
• October 13 - for students from Lawton Chiles Middle, Rochelle School of Arts and Crystal Lake Middle zones.
• October 20 - for students from Lakeland Highlands Middle, Southwest Middle, Ft. Meade Middle and McLaughlin Middle zones.
• October 27 - for students from Bartow Middle, Union Academy, Frostproof Middle and Mulberry Middle zones.

Qualified students zoned for Auburndale Senior, Tenoroc, Haines City Senior, Lake Gibson Senior, Lake Region High School, Ridge Community or Winter Haven High School should attend meetings for the IB School at Haines City High School. Contact Haines City IB at 863-419-3371 for more information.

Students and parents are welcome to attend any of the meetings. However, they are encouraged to attend on the date designated for the school for which they attend or are zoned (if a private or home-schooled student) and complete and then mail to the school the form that was attached to the Notifcation Letter designating the date they plan to attend an informational meeting.

Selection of the students will be made based on the following data:

• 6th grade, 7th grade and 1st semester 8th grade unweighted GPA.
   
• 6th grade and 7th grade FCAT scores.
  Home schooled or private school students must provide standardized test scores equivalent to FCAT.
   
• ReadiStep test administered by students' middle school.
   
• Private and Charter School students must notify Mrs. Braaten, Director of Academic Rigor, 863-534-0632 to receive information on and register for the ReadiStep test.

All information is compiled in a way that masks personal identifying information about the candidates. Temporarily anyway, they do lose their names and become numbers. Using the masked compilations, a panel of educators makes the difficult decisions to select the candidates for the next fall's pre-IB freshman class.

Then comes the hard part for the student candidates - waiting for the results!

Before the end of March, all applicants to the IB School will receive a letter notifying them of their status in the eligibility procedure. Students who have been accepted must notify the school of their decision to attend.

You can e-mail us at ibatbhs@gate.net.

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