The IB at Vanguard
Vanguard IB Office Contacts:
For assistance or questions, please contact the IB Office at (352) 671-4908.
GENERAL INFORMATION
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a rigorous pre-university course of study that meets the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical needs of the highly motivated secondary school student. Designed as a comprehensive curriculum that allows its graduates to fulfill requirements of the various national systems of education, the IB program is based on the pattern of no single country. It provides students of different linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds with the critical perspectives and collaborative experiences necessary for the adult world that lies ahead of them.
The education of the “whole person” takes on a special significance as we navigate through the twenty-first century when knowledge continues to expand dramatically; when advanced technologies and global economies have tied together vastly different cultures; when the world is bound too closely for provincial ideologies to guide political thought; when to exist in a world community requires appreciation and understanding of cultural diversity; and when cooperation alone will solve global problems. It is essential, therefore, that academic training provide students with the values and opportunities that will enable them to succeed in a competitive modern world.
All IB diploma candidates are required to engage in the study of languages, sciences, mathematics, and social studies in the final two years of secondary schooling. The high standards implicit in the IB examinations assume high levels of achievement and preparation during Vanguard's Pre-Diploma coursework in 9th and 10th grade. This program is a deliberate compromise between the preference for specialization in some countries and the emphasis on breadth often preferred in others. The intent is that students should learn HOW to learn, HOW to analyze, HOW to reach considered conclusions about people, their languages and literature, their ways in society and the scientific forces of the environment.
Students are often accorded advanced standing and college credit based on the IB work. For example, Florida universities award up to 45 credit hours for the IB Diploma. Credits earned through credit-by-exam exceeding 45 credit hours may be transferred at the discretion of the receiving institution.
Vanguard High School was authorized as an IB World School in 1996. Since then, Vanguard's IB students have been accepted to prestigious schools including Harvard, Boston, Cornell, Davidson, Duke, Emory, Furman, Stanford, Wake Forest, U.S. Naval Academy, University of Miami (6-year med program), NYU, Yale, Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, and MIT.
In the 2023-2024 school year there are 240 students enrolled in the program, grades 9-12.
General Information updated 09.01.2023