Park High School in Cottage Grove will begin offering an International Baccalaureate curriculum as the school and district officials strive to add more appealing education options for students and families.

News that Park High recently was certified by the International Baccalaureate (IB) organization marked the culmination of two years of planning and preparation by district officials, said Principal Efe Agbamu.

Agbamu started the school on the course for an IB program soon after she arrived in 2007. She had been principal at St. Paul's Highland Park High School, which was an IB school, and that experience led her to believe that offering IB courses at Park could help the school and the South Washington County School District keep students.

Each year more than 1,200 students who live in the district attend schools in other districts. Superintendent Mark Porter said the district is losing students to nearby South St. Paul High School and to St. Paul public schools, which have IB programs. Park's new IB program "will be a positive factor in retaining students in the district," Porter said.

Taking it a step further, Porter said the district is formally inviting all students who live in the district but don't attend its schools to meet with district officials "for a conversation on why they choose to be educated elsewhere."

In addition, the district is tripling the number of slots available for students to transfer into the district next year. The district had limited the number of such "inter-district" transfers to only 1 percent of the population of each grade. Next year it will be 3 percent, Porter said.

Added programs stem losses

Concern over losing students to private schools and charter schools isn't unique to the South Washington County district. Schools and districts across the metro area in recent years have added language immersion, gifted, and Advanced Placement programs, along with a host of others, to make themselves more attractive.

South Washington County, for example, has instituted the Lead the Way science and technology program at East Ridge High School and a growing College in the Schools program at its other high school in Woodbury. Porter said the IB program is part of the district's plan to offer rigorous programs in all its schools.

The district used state-sponsored integration funds to help set up its IB program at Park, which also required many of its teachers to be retrained in the IB curriculum. Park won't need or hire new teachers for the program, Agbamu said.

Porter said using integration funds on the IB program is reasonable because the program will be available to all students throughout the district and the east-metro area, including St. Paul. The IB program's international focus also makes it a worthwhile recipient of integration funds, he said.

The school will offer more than a dozen classes with the IB curriculum. Most will replace classes currently being offered, including the Advanced Placement classes targeted at 11^th graders. And, as for all classes taken under the open enrollment provisions, students are not likely to be provided with transportation.

Gregory A. Patterson • 612-673-7287