About the International Baccalaureate

International Baccalaureate (IB) is a Swiss-based education program renowned for its academic rigor, international curriculum and high standards. IB schools develop intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills for students to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world. Currently, there are more than 3,718 IB schools in 147 countries.

The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) is designed for students aged 3 to 12 and focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside. The most significant and distinctive feature of the IB PYP are the six transdisciplinary themes. These themes provide IB World Schools with the opportunity to incorporate local and global issues into the curriculum and effectively allow students to go beyond the confines of learning within subject areas. These six transdisciplinary themes are:

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

IB World School authorization is a process designed to ensure schools employ the program to IB standards. Authorization typically takes between three and four years. GALA is in the early stages of this process. Learn more at: ibo.org

IB World School authorization is a process designed to ensure schools employ the program to IB standards. The authorization process requires extensive training for instructional and administrative staff, parent education, shared leadership and collaborative teaching practices throughout the school. Authorization typically takes three years from the time a school submits its candidacy application. GALA is in the early stages of this process in pursuing authorization as an IB World School. GALA will submit a candidacy application in April 2019 to receive authorization by August 2021.