The Rock School authorized as an IB World School

MARCH 20, 2023 – The Rock School announced today that it has been authorized by the International Baccalaureate organization as an official IB World School to offer the Diploma Programme (DP) in grades 11 & 12 in fall 2023.

The Rock School joins Eastside High School as just the second school in Alachua County to offer the Diploma Programme. But unlike Eastside’s magnet program which limits access to the county’s highest-performing students, The Rock School will be available to all students under the banner of its “IB for All” philosophy. Every student at TRS will be an IB student, even if some choose not to pursue the requirements for the full IB diploma.

The Rock School is also a Candidate School* for the IB’s Primary Years and Middle Years Programmes and expects to complete authorization of the MYP (grades 6-10) in fall 2023 and PYP (grades PK-5) in fall 2024. In doing so, The Rock School will be a full IB Continuum School, providing an IB to all students in all grades. The Rock School would be just the third such school in Florida and one of only four IB Christian schools to offer the continuum in North America.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) describes itself as “a global leader in international education—developing inquiring, knowledgeable, confident, and caring young people” with programmes that “empower school-aged students to take ownership in their own learning and help them develop future-ready skills to make a difference and thrive in a world that changes fast.”

According to Headmaster Jim McKenzie, the journey toward authorization has been challenging, but rewarding: “We chose IB because it met the five requirements of our renewed academic vision that we established in 2020 – unity, identity, accessibility, complexity, and accountability. DP authorization is just the first step in our larger vision to become an IB continuum school over the next few years.”

The authorization efforts for the Diploma Programme were steered largely by the school’s DP Coordinator and TRS alumnae, Erica Littauer. “When I came to the school as a freshman in 1999, there were no honors classes offered. During my high school career, honors and AP courses were added and I was one of the first to complete them. It’s an honor to now get to bring the next level of academic rigor and opportunity to this generation of TRS students.”

The Rock School is an accredited PK-12 private Christian school in Gainesville, Florida. It currently serves about 570 students with more than 150 families on the waitlist for enrollment.

*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme, or the Career-related Programme (CP).  Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org.