Richard Montgomery High School

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The MYP at Julius West Middle School and Richard Montgomery High School was the first of its kind to be authorized in the state of Maryland in June 2003. Our program remains open to all students who live in the Richard Montgomery High School attendance area. All 9th graders who articulate into Richard Montgomery from Julius West Middle School continue in the final two years of the program in high school. All other 9th graders also participate in the last two years of the program, whether they attended an MYP middle school or not.    

The diagram below represents the curriculum model of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP). Based on the international success of the IB Diploma Programme, the International Baccalaureate established the Middle Years Programme in 1992. The MYP is a five-year program for students aged 11 - 16 years. Like the IB Diploma Programme, the MYP is academically rigorous and promotes intercultural understanding and interdisciplinary study. However, the MYP offers schools the flexibility to follow locally-established curricula, while infusing such curricula with a focus on critical thinking, holistic development of the individual, communication in multiple languages and international-mindedness. The Middle Years Programme can also serve as excellent preparation for the IB Diploma Programme, as the two programs are part of one continuum of international education.

Each of the eight subject groups is taught through the MYP Global Contexts. The Global Contexts distinguish the MYP from either the IB Diploma Programme or a more traditional course of study and can best be understood as themes which are repeatedly addressed throughout the academic subjects. The Approaches to Learning, provide an additional focus on the explicit thinking and learning skills that are developed over the course of the five-year program. As a result of the interweaving of these contexts throughout the traditional academic subjects, students come to see the complex interrelationships between subject areas and content that have traditionally been taught in isolation. You can hear more from MYP students about their experience of the program in the video below. 

The Diploma Programme

Tenth graders at Richard Montgomery have an opportunity to continue on into the IB Diploma Programme for their 11th and 12th grade years. The process begins in December with an informational meeting for parents and students. Students complete an interest-based application. You can learn more about why students choose the Diploma Programme from the video below, which features students, teachers and parents from Gar-Field Senior High School in Woodbridge, Virginia.