Diploma Programme (Grades 11-12)
Over a million students and thousands of IB World Schools know through first-hand experience that this is no ordinary high school diploma. Here are some of the ways in which the IB Diploma stands out and is outstanding:
- Students undertake a program of study like a mini-degree for the final two years of high school, and universities and colleges appreciate such appropriate preparation for their programs.
- The Diploma is not a collection of unrelated high school subjects, but rather is a coherent approach to teaching and learning.
- Students are able to customize their program according to their strengths, interests and passions.
- The Diploma promotes reflective learning as students ponder the nature, frameworks and methodologies of their subjects.
- The Diploma provides global recognition and sits beyond and above any local, state, provincial or national equivalent.
When you graduate from TMS with an IB Diploma, who are you?
At TMS, we focus on the individual student which is a key aspect of the Diploma Programme. We want to send forth into the wider world active and engaged individuals who will be lifelong learners. Our goal is to foster and nurture young men and women who bring something special to TMS and take something unique away from it.
When a student graduates from TMS, he or she can:
- Interact effectively with others
- Manage a wide variety of responsibilities and obligations simultaneously
- Reflect introspectively
- Lead
- Communicate to persuade, entertain, express and instruct
- Take risks
- Undertake independent research
- Accept varying and opposing viewpoints
Our students are highly comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. They know that there are no right answers in the world and expect to struggle for clarity and understanding. In essence, they know how to learn.
- Theresa Hurley, DP Coordinator
Why DP at TMS?
- DP students start school early in what we call Week Zero, during which teachers provide overviews of the program, courses and assessments.
- Guidance classes emphasize the university application process, reflections for CAS, and self-management modules.
- TMS offers all three experimental sciences, at both the Higher and Standard Levels.
- In the Extended Essay, a dynamic supervisor works with students and their disciplinary advisors.
- We offer after-school Diploma tutorials much like any university or college, and students can undertake learning and teaching roles.
- Our annual CAS Fair underscores how our Diploma graduates are Renaissance men and women who have many more facets to them besides grades.
The CAS Long Term Service Project
The IB Programme aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. Academics alone do not make good citizens or get students to make good choices. CAS enables students to use their academic knowledge to foster citizenship skills in today’s world and to put our TMS Ideals into action. CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) is at the heart of the Diploma Programme.
CAS has three strands in which students discover and learn new activities or continue involvement in activities they are already enjoying.
- Creativity – Arts, and other experiences that involve creative thinking.
- Activity – Physical activities that contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
- Service – Voluntary work in the immediate or global community that benefits others and the student.
TMS students have covered topics such as:
- Building awareness of art as a form of expression
- Connecting school community to social and health-related causes such as the Red Cross
- Starting a public speaking club
