International Baccalaureate

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International Baccalaureate

Lausanne is the only school in Tennessee, Arkansas or Mississippi with a full-continuum, preschool-to-diploma International Baccalaureate (IB) programme, having achieved the designation for our Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma Programmes. The International Baccalaureate is a natural fit for Lausanne’s global mindset and for families seeking more breadth and depth in the learning process for their students. In 2018, we became the 24th school in the country to reach the achievement.

It’s not just what we do, it’s who we are. It’s the Lausanne Way.

As the world gets smaller, we need to be able to communicate with people from around the world, not just across languages but also across cultures.

The International Baccalaureate Programme helps students understand how the subjects they are learning are related to each other, and how to see the things that they are learning from many different points of view and across disciplines, an essential skill when working with people from around the world and in many different fields of study.

The IB Programme is an internationally renowned program for preparing students with the skills they need to succeed in a world that is increasingly competitive.

The IB World School Continuum

Building blocks to the IB Diploma Programme can be found in every grade level throughout the Lausanne experience and teams of teachers work together by subject to make sure the curriculum is aligned from age 2 through 12th grade.

This alignment fosters foundation building from year to year and from subject to subject, giving Lausanne students the opportunity for success in the IB Programme.

Lausanne’s challenging college preparatory curriculum not only prepares students for college but also for life in a global environment. The school is dedicated to the idea that all students should meet their potential as described by the IB learner profile as well as The Lausanne Way.

Primary Years Programme (PYP)

As a Primary Years Programme (PYP) school, Lausanne helps our students grow to be caring and knowledgeable inquirers providing a foundation of learning that our students build upon in their journey through Lausanne. The curriculum is designed to teach our students to build connections across subject areas and be able to develop investigations into their own ideas as the students explore the world through six transdisciplinary themes:

Who we are.
Where we are in place and time.
How we express ourselves.
How the world works.
How we organize ourselves.
Sharing the planet.

Lausanne nurtures the whole child through the PYP, helping them grow socially, emotionally, and academically. Using the Learner Profile as the foundational lens through which all Units of Inquiry are taught, students are encouraged to be principled risk-takers as well as communicators to prepare them for college and life. The PYP at Lausanne culminates in the 4th-grade Exhibition, where students apply the global skills and concepts they learned through their time in the Lower School.

Learn more about Lausanne's Primary Years Programme here.

Middle Years Programme (MYP)

Lausanne is accredited as an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme school, bringing its curriculum framework to our 5th to 10th grades. The MYP is designed to drive inquiry-based, holistic teaching in the classroom. The program focuses on interdisciplinary planning and helping students use Real World situations to draw connections between all areas of study. The MYP bridges the learning between the Primary Years Programme and the Diploma Programme by teaching students to effectively collaborate, research, and think creatively.

The program has 8 subject areas in grades 5 to 8:

Language and Literature
Language Acquisition (Spanish, Mandarin, and French)
Individuals and Societies
Sciences
Mathematics
Physical and Health Education
Design
Arts (both visual and performing)

In grades 9 and 10, students can choose between Design and the Arts. Upper School students who are interested in Physical and Health Education are encouraged to participate in varsity sports.

In the 10th grade, students work on a personal project, a culminating assessment that allows them to reflect on all skill sets and areas of knowledge that they gained over the five years of the program.

The Programme showcase the student's versatile academic experiences in both the 8th grade with the Community Project and in the 10th grade with the Personal Project by drawing on all skill sets and areas of knowledge that they gained throughout their journey of the program. Lausanne became fully accredited for the MYP by the International Baccalaureate Organization in the fall of 2018.

Click here to learn more about the Middle Years Programme (MYP).

IB Diploma Programme (DP)

Lausanne is a Diploma Programme (DP) school, bringing the IB DP curriculum to our 11th and 12th grades since 2010. The DP framework capitalizes on the inquiry-based, holistic classroom skills learned and applied in Lower and Middle School. This gives students the opportunity to focus on discipline-specific curricula that is enriched by interdisciplinary collaboration. It also allows students to explore areas of interest in each of six content areas in preparation for college and life outside of Lausanne.

The program consists of two-year-long courses from the following subject groups:

Language A – literary studies in the student’s native language
Language B – acquisition of an additional language
Social Sciences
Natural Sciences
Mathematics
Arts

Students either take one class from each group or have the choice of doubling up in a group (except for Maths) by substituting out Arts. In most areas students have a variety of choices offered within each group, and students are required to take at least three courses at the higher level (HL), meaning that the course meets 240 hours, and three at the standard level (SL), which meets 150 hours.

Additionally, full diploma students also have an additional requirement, called the core, composed of the following elements:

Extended Essay (EE)
Theory of Knowledge course (TOK)
Creativity, Activity and Service Program (CAS)

The EE gives students the opportunity to develop focused research skills through a discipline-specific investigation paper. TOK allows them to explore philosophical perspectives in learning. Through CAS, students practice and reflect on their personal interests and their potential contributions to the communities to which they belong.

All DP assessments are scored using a scale from 1-7 accompanied by discipline- and task-specific rubrics that guide both the learning process and the final examinations. Additionally, at various points throughout the two-year sequence, students complete IB mandated internal assessments and externally moderated assessments, as well. At the end of the second year, students sit for a final examination in each of the subject areas.

Non-diploma students can also enroll in IB classes and, thus, reap the benefits of an IB education. Students enroll in any IB course, diploma or non-diploma students, are required to complete all IB mandated assessments, including the final examinations.

Learn more about our Diploma Programme here.

Students at Lausanne are prepared for the IB through our Pre-Kindergarten to 10th-grade curriculum carried out through a research and inquiry-based process. From Early Childhood to Upper School, we use student-centered learning to guide students in discovering the world around them. From the project-based approach in Early Childhood to the Community Project in the Middle School, Lausanne teaches students to reach their highest potential as personified in the IB Learner Profile and the Lausanne Way.

In addition, universities in the United States and around the world are becoming increasingly competitive and look for students who choose a rigorous course of study in high school. The IB program clearly demonstrates to universities that they are ready for the challenges of college. Lausanne students embark on a journey that includes organizing service projects, writing an extensive thesis paper, and more. Our PK-12 curriculum has been structured in a way in which students have a tremendously independent course of study, while under the care of a school that fosters the whole child.

How Do Universities View The IB?

The rigor of the IB Diploma requirement meets our recommendation for the strongest high school preparation possible…In sum, the IB diploma candidate who has met the challenge successfully receives strong consideration from the William and Mary admission committee.
Allison Jesse, Former Associate Director of Undergraduate Admission, College of William and Mary

I have always been a supporter of the International Baccalaureate. It is a thoughtful and genuinely intellectual curriculum with an unusually high degree of integrity and connectedness. There is no other curriculum anywhere that does a superior job of both educating students and inspiring a true and broad-based love of learning.
William Shain, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Vanderbilt University

IB is special in that, students have an opportunity, especially if they pursue the full Diploma Programme (DP), to be involved with research and doing independent thinking. Whether it’s the extended essay or CAS, there is an opportunity to explore areas of academic interest and extracurricular interests. That is going to prepare them for the type of independent opportunities they have on a college campus to explore the variety of programming available at the university.
Kevin Hudson, Assistant Director for College Opportunity at Princeton University

IB students who attended that university (Virginia Tech) as freshmen significantly outperformed all other freshmen, including students who had taken Advanced Placement courses.
Dr. Eugene Carson, Virginia Tech

One of the advantages of an IB curriculum is its structure and quality. It is a coordinated program, well established, well known and well respected. We know the quality of IB courses, and we think the IB curriculum is terrific.
Christoph Guttentag, Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Duke University

Success in an IB program correlates well with success at Harvard. We are always pleased to see the credentials of the IB Diploma Program on the transcript. GPA is not nearly as important a factor in university admission as the IB Diploma. If a student has to choose, choose the Diploma over protecting the GPA.
Marilyn McGrath Lewis, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Harvard University

A transcript that reveals a student’s enrollment in International Baccalaureate courses serves notice to the admissions officer that the applicant is someone who accepts rather than avoids educational challenges. Further, a successful IB student will enroll at Michigan with some advantages over students who have taken less intensive programs.
Cliff Sjorgren, former Director of Admissions, University of Michigan

What Our 2021 Graduates Have To Say

Full Matriculation List

The IB gives you a wide variety of classes to choose from. With me being much more science-oriented, I was able to double up in the sciences rather than other subject areas. It prompts me to think beyond the surface level of a subject. It’s about applying your knowledge to the real world and understanding its importance.
- Alex Rochkind, Michigan, '21

There is truly never a dull moment as we all want each other to reach our fullest potential. The rigorous IB coursework has definitely helped me prepare for college not only academically but mentally as I am confident in my work and time management.
- Kewe Chin, Boston College, '21

The part of the IB that I enjoy the most is the payoff you see at the end. Taking a rigorous IB course load was not easy in any way. I struggled at times just like everyone else, but opening my college acceptance letter to Brown University and being filled with all that joy, well, that makes all the studying and test-taking worth it.
- Jad Hamze, Brown, '21

With the ability to choose the topics that I wanted to focus on in my coursework, I could cater to what I was truly passionate about. The program has made me a more conceptual learner that comprehends better when I understand the real-world applications of topics that we learn in school.
- Sophie Manis, Chapman, '21

Elizabeth Surbrook, Trinity University (London) hat

I have been able to draw connections and appreciate the differences between us and our partner classes by gaining specific information about them that I would not have otherwise. I feel more prepared having participated in the IB program because it has forced me to develop good study habits that I know will be useful.
- Elizabeth Surbrook, Trinity University (London), '21

Ali Devji, Washington University in St. Louis hat

It has truly helped me with utilizing my knowledge across courses in addition to pushing me to become a better student and leader. I believe that community engagement is vital to a person's growth since it teaches people to keep an open mind and cooperate with others to alleviate issues people have.
- Ali Devji, Washington University in St. Louis , '21

I enjoy how well the IB Curriculum prepares me for collegiate studies. It may be challenging, but the IB has changed my study habits and my ability to write papers efficiently. I feel as though it prepares me for interdisciplinary studies to cross over & to be well-rounded as a student and human.
- Dallas Brown, Davidson , '21

I think that it is very easy to get stuck in your perspective and think of issues only pertaining to the compounds of where you live, such as Memphis or the United States. However, IB forces you to leave this mindset and learn about other parts of the world, to which I am very thankful.
- Anne Rack, Wake Forest , '21