What kinds of students will succeed in IB at WKHS?

A student does not have to be “a genius” or in any official way identified as “gifted” to qualify to participate in IB at WKHS. There are admissions requirements listed on the next page, but none of these specify that a student must be identified as “gifted.” The keys to success are:

• Ambition: because this is a comprehensive program that requires students to complete a lot of work over the course of two years
• Commitment: because the program will consume five to seven of a student’s eight periods during the school day, and will require a lot of work to be done outside the school day, as well
• Courage: because the program is academically challenging, intellectually rigorous, and it requires students to take on a lot of responsibility for their own learning
• Determination: because given the workload and long-term nature of the program, there will be moments when students will be tempted to give up
• Organization: because the workload will consist of short-term and long-term assignments, and the ability to plan and space out work will be helpful, if not essential

Students who possess these traits coming into the program are likely to be successful.  Structures are built into the program to assist students who require more individualized instruction. A lack of “giftedness” should not be a barrier to successful participation.