Schoolwide Academics
International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program
PS 9 is an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School candidate, delivering the IB Primary Years Program (PYP) in Grades Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 5. The program nurtures and develops young students and caring, active participants in a lifelong journey of learning. The PYP offers an inquiry-based, transdisciplinary curriculum framework that builds conceptual understanding. It is a student-centered approach to education for children aged 3-12. It reflects the best of educational research, thought leadership and experience derived from IB World Schools.
The PYP curriculum framework begins with the premise that students are agents of their own learning and partners in the learning process. It prioritizes people and their relationships to build a strong learning community.
PYP students use their initiative to take responsibility and ownership of their learning. By learning through inquiry and reflecting on their own learning, PYP students develop knowledge, conceptual understandings, skills and the attributes of the IB Learner Profile to make a difference to their own lives, their communities, and beyond.
Each grade develops a program that fits under the 6 International Baccalaureate transdisciplinary themes:
• Who We Are
• How We Express Ourselves
• Where We Are in Place and Time
• Sharing the Planet
• How the World Works
• How We Organize Ourselves
Students work in these concept-based units of study, incorporating elements and learning standards of reading, writing, social studies and science necessary for each grade. Students engage in project-based learning that promotes taking action in the school, at home, in the community and around the world.