AN INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE CONTINUUM SCHOOL

Baldwin is fully authorized in the Primary Years (PYP), Middle Years (MYP), and Diploma (DP) programs, the 318th school in the world, and the first in Puerto Rico, to be designated as an IB Continuum School.

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Primary Years Program

We continue our unwavering commitment to the growth of the PYP curriculum in benefit of the learning experiences our students have to participate in during their time in the OECC and Elementary grades. Our effort is steadfast in offering an in-depth, rigorous curriculum in a nurturing environment.

The PYP faculty practices continuous reflection in order to optimize the written, taught and assessed curriculum. This year our faculty participated in various professional learning opportunities that contribute meaningfully to this optimization. These experiences also support the self-study process that is part of the school’s re-accreditation to the Middle States Association and the International Baccalaureate. In addition to conferences with external resources, we spent nearly twenty hours learning together - all teachers and teacher assistants PPK -5th. We used that time to truly explore our Program of Inquiry and learn from each other what and how students are learning in each grade and subject area. We also used that time to delve further into best practices in learning, teaching, and assessment. As is customary, the school year wrapped up with the faculty focused on planning and preparing the next steps for the 2019-20 school year.

A brief summary of other actions taken this school year:

• Continuous review and revision of curricular documents including skills maps, unit planners, mid-term and semester reports;

• Celebration of Semana de español, Spanish week, in April 2019; students participated in a variety of learning experiences in their Spanish classes including author visits, spelling bees in grades 1st -5th, and others all culminating in a Town Hall meeting dedicated and held entirely in Spanish;

• Student-Led Conferences offered in the Spring of 2019 by all grades PPK - 5th;

• Presentation of the PYP Exhibition by the 5th grade students on a variety of topics framed within the How We Express Ourselves theme with related concepts drawn from the units of inquiry explored in the fifth grade year;

• Parent orientation sessions for new families focused on the PYP curriculum by grade levels (including the Essential Elements of the program, assessment and reporting, as well as 5th Grade Exhibition);

• Continued professional learning with a variety of opportunities including:

  • September 2018 - Diversity Workshop: Ms. Jennifer Bryan - Team Finch Consultants

  • February 2019 - Motivation Conference: Dr. Robyn R. Jackson - Mindsteps

  • March 2019 - Executive Function Skills Conference: Dr. Peg Dawson

  • September 2018 - May 2019 Deep Dives into the Program of Inquiry Workshops (6 sessions): OECC & Elementary faculty

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Middle Years Program

The 2018-2019 school year was our third with a fully authorized IB Middle Years Program. The Baldwin faculty continues to be busy with the optimization of the MYP.  This year we continued to prepare for our upcoming Program Evaluation (which will take place in 2021) and participated in Building Quality Curriculum, an IB-required curricular revision.  As part of this process, we received feedback on unit planners from each of the subject areas and years of Baldwin’s MYP. The MYP Coordinator and faculty are working on integrating the feedback from IB into our Program Evaluation Action Plan.

A brief summary of additional actions taken this school year:

• Continuous revision of curricular documents, including unit planners, academic policies, Subject-Area Overviews and skills maps.

• Ongoing professional development in topics that include differentiation, backwards planning, and inquiry. 

• The class of 2021, which will be the third Baldwin class to go through our authorized Diploma Program, completed their Personal Projects. The class of 2023 completed their Community Projects. Both groups presented their projects to the community at the end of the second semester.

• Continuous parent and student workshops including those focused on assessment in the MYP and the MYP projects.

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Diploma Program

Diploma Program students in grades 11 and 12 continued to work diligently in order to pursue the full diploma or certificate options offered to them. Again, in October, we held an orientation for ninth and tenth Grade parents to introduce them to the details of the Diploma Program.

Our first Diploma Class submitted their extended essays, completed all their internal assessment requirements and experienced mock exams in February which helped them to prepare for their May external assessments. The Class of 2019 had extraordinary college acceptances and more importantly, they demonstrated significant growth throughout these two years in their problem-solving, writing, communication, and critical reflection skills.

The results that we received from IB in the month of July demonstrated the hard work, collaboration, perseverance, and commitment of our teachers and students.

OXMAN EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER

Maícha Porrata, OECC Principal

This year was very special for Baldwin School.  We celebrated, alongside our community, the school’s 50th anniversary with a great Family Day.

In the Oxman Early Childhood Center (OECC), our students continued their development through the International Baccalaureate (IB) Units of Inquiry. 

During the academic year, our traditional activities such as Grandparent’s Day, Thanksgiving Luncheon, Día Puertorriqueño, Holiday Programs, Fun Day and Art Week took place. Also, the kindergarten class had the unique learning experience of spending the night at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. In our commitment to helping others, funds from Helping Fridays were donated to CAP (Fundación de Cáncer Pediátrico).

Through the Student-Led Conferences, the children took ownership and pride in their own learning, while sharing their knowledge with their parents.  The school year came to an end with a wonderful Kindergarten Advancement Ceremony.

We would like to acknowledge the OECC faculty and staff for their continued unconditional support.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Nancy Pagán, Elementary School Principal

Our students have enjoyed another successful school year. They have excelled in so many fields. These achievements have been in their academic studies, sports, music, and the arts. You can be very proud of them and how they represent you, their families and their school on a daily basis.  As we progress on our journey to become a ‘thinking school’ and making excellence a habit, the Elementary School continues to grow as one that tries to bring out the best in every single child, irrespective of their background, race, previous achievement or perceived ability.

MIDDLE & UPPER SCHOOL

Elimari Sánchez, Middle & Upper School Principal

2018-2019 was another year full of excitement and accomplishments for the Middle and Upper School. We proudly graduated Puerto Rico's very first IB Diploma Program scholars. Our students and faculty successfully produced many events throughout the year such as Shakespeare Festival, Art Week, Spring Musical, Spirit Week, Sports Fest, Music Fest, Next Generation, The Girl in You, French Night and more. Our many clubs stood out in competitions and gave their time towards community service and donations to many local organizations. We finished the year strong with outstanding college acceptances.