Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, which remains the only Catholic school in the country with all three of the major levels of International Baccalaureate, announced last month that 92% of those enrolled in the school's IB Diploma Program (DP) successfully earned an IB Diploma, an outcome ahead of last year’s IB-Diploma Program graduation result of 85%.
International Baccalaureate has not yet released 2015 worldwide and U.S. averages, but across the U.S. last year, 70 percent of IB students earn the prestigious diploma.
Also, Notre Dame DP students in 2015 averaged a 30 score for all components of the diploma examination, which surpasses the worldwide average of 29.8.
Statistics about Notre Dame and its IB programs:
• NDPMA is one of only 17 schools in the U.S., public or private, with “full IB,” which means offering the three main levels of the innovative curriculum: Primary Years Program (jr.-kindergarten through 5th grade), Middle Years Program (for students in grades 6-10) and the Diploma Program (for juniors and seniors).
• Notre Dame is the only full IB school, public or private, in Michigan.
• Notre Dame is one of only two faith-based, full IB programs in the U.S., the other being St. Andrews School in Florida, which is Episcopal.
Notre Dame International Baccalaureate Diploma Program candidates were celebrated on April 16 in a ceremony held in the school media center.
• Notre Dame is one of 23 PYP programs in Michigan.
• Notre Dame is one of 28 MYP programs in Michigan.
• Notre Dame is one of 34 DP programs in Michigan.
Kim Anderson, who is an IB Diploma program coordinator at NDPMA and chair of the modern language department, said that last month’s diploma examination results were stellar. “Our kids did an amazing job,” she said. “And I could not be more proud of them!”
Anderson also noted that in the past five years, Notre Dame has not had any student in its IB Diploma program fail the Theory of Knowledge course or the extended essay, two very critical components of the program.
More than 141,831 IB Diploma Program students around the world received their results from the May 2015 examination session on July 6. They joined a community of more than 1,300,000 DP graduates in 140 countries across the world. The number of students receiving their diplomas this year marks a 4.8% increase compared to last year’s exam session.
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Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.