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International Baccalaureate

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Mission: To develop global leaders one child at a time.
Vision: By working together, we will create a better world through inquiry, intercultural understanding, and respect that will inspire hope for a better tomorrow.
Motto: One School. One Community. Connected.

We are an authorized International Baccalaureate World School.

The Primary Years Programme
In order for our students to be successful for the 21st Century, they must develop specific skills that encourages them to become international lifelong learners, and global citizens that communicate through rhetoric and technology. The International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme prepares students to become active learners and to participate in their lifelong journey of learning.

At Horace Mann, students begin the PYP at age 4.5 (TK) and complete their years in fifth grade. We encourage our students to continue in the IB programme by attending Burnett (MYP) and later San Jose High (MYP and DP). When attending Horace Mann, your child will receive an international education that is structured around six transdisciplinary themes. These themes are global and are focused around issues that are meaningful, current and important to our lives. This written curriculum offers your child a balanced education. Even though students learn through subject matter they are challenged to reflect and think “outside of the box” and move beyond the restrictions of subject matter. At Horace Mann, we want learning to be meaningful, applicable in a quickly changing global society, and relevant to what is happening in your child’s life.

The Transdisciplinary Themes:

  1. Who we are
  2. Where we are in place and time
  3. How we express ourselves
  4. How the world works
  5. How we organize ourselves
  6. Sharing the planet

These six themes assists our teachers in collaborating and in creating a curriculum that allows for in-depth investigation. Through grade level collaboration and planning as a team, teachers foster an environment where inquiry, research and reflection, encourages action throughout the school community.

The assessed curriculum:
In order for teachers to know that students are learning, the PYP structures their units of inquiry to include summative and formative assessments. Assessment is a crucial part of every unit that is taught in the PYP. Formative assessments that are given throughout the unit are tools for students and teachers to reflect on how the learning is progressing. The summative is given at the end of each inquiry unit, and assesses what students were able to understand of the central idea of each unit. Assessments in the PYP provide immediate feedback on the effectiveness of the planning, teaching and learning opportunities that were provided in the school environment.

The IB Learner Profile:
The Learner Profile reflects the IB Mission Statement (www.IBO.org). The PYP, MYP, and DP all promote the Learner Profile. At Horace Mann, we encourage our students, faculty, parents and community members to embrace and be an IB Learner. Our Husky Way and school-wide expectations were developed around the Learner Profile.

At Horace Mann Elementary, we strive to become:

Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Open-minded, Caring, Risk takers, Balanced, Communicators, Principled, and Reflective