Purcell Collegiate School has hit a significant milestone, getting approved for middle years programme (MYP) candidacy.
“The IB Middle Years Programme extends and enhances learning with a particular focus on international mindedness,” said the head of school Duncan MacLeod.
“It marries really well with what we are already doing at PCS, particularly in relation to STEAM, sustainable thinking, Indigenous Ways of Knowing, and First Peoples Principles of Learning. It engages educators and students in inquiry-based teaching and learning in a manner and for a purpose that is meaningful, even inspiring, particularly in the context of interdisciplinary projects, service learning, and community engagement.”
Purcell Collegiate will be the first International Baccalaureate school in the Kootenay Region.
“There are IB schools to the west of us, in the Okanagan, and of course in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island but there aren’t any in the Kootenays,” MacLeod added.
“We’re excited to be bringing the IB MYP to the Kimberley-ʔaq̓am-Cranbrook area, in the heart of the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa Peoples, creating regional access to a truly international education opportunity.”
The school has to meet the standards set by the IB and this includes appointing an MYP coordinator before the school can achieve full authorization as an IB World School.
Deputy Head of School Mark McWhinnie has taken on the role and will help guide Purcell Collegiate through the professional development and curriculum design process.
More information can be found here.
