Fair-Mont-Egan School is broadening the minds of students on an international level.

The school has applied to become an International Baccalaureate candidate. 

It will be an extensive process before the school becomes authorized as an International Baccalaureate World School. The estimated two-year process to get there will look for compatibility with the structure and culture of the school with the International Baccalaureate program, according to Fair-Mont-Egan Principal Christine Schmidt-Anthony. 

The application process is to offer the Primary Years Programme for students ages 3 through 12. It costs $4,000 for the application and candidacy process.

“We’re using money the state distributed to us years ago for making annual yearly progress — not taxpayer dollars from our district,” Schmidt-Anthony said.

If the kindergarten- through eighth-grade school became an International Baccalaureate school, it will join Flathead High School, which offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

The International Baccalaureate program is slowly gaining traction in Montana, particularly in high schools.  Hellgate and Big Sky high schools in Missoula recently became International Baccalaureate schools.

At the elementary level, Missoula International School is the only one offering the Primary Years Programme in the state. If Fair-Mont-Egan becomes an International Baccalaureate school, it would be the only public elementary school in Montana to do so.

What turned Fair-Mont-Egan’s eye toward the International Baccalaureate program was a time in 2012 when Flathead High School International Baccalaureate coordinator Kelli Higgins asked partner schools if they were interested in applying. Higgins said she is excited Fair-Mont-Egan is going through the application process.

“I think it will make a difference,” Higgins said. “We feel like it’s raised the bar for our students and opened the door for them.”

Prior to Higgins’ visit, Fair-Mont-Egan board chairwoman Denise VanArtsdale said parents had approached the board about offering a gifted-and-talented program, or something similar, for students.

“Those programs didn’t work for us for various reasons,” VanArtsdale said. “It’s a great program, but in our small classrooms to start labeling children even more in the classroom — it didn’t feel good as a board member. When Kelli showed up we went, ‘Ah, this is what we’re looking for,’ which is the next more comprehensive program that gives opportunities to all of our children.”

Schmidt-Anthony said staff and board members began exploring the International Baccalaureate program through visits to the Missoula International School and a couple of teachers started training. 

Schmidt-Anthony is excited about the International Baccalaureate program for the student-centered approach. Also at the heart of International Baccalaureate programs is inquiry-based learning, which piqued the interest of Fair-Mont-Egan first-grade teacher Jean White, who has received some training in the program.

“I like it because it’s building confidence in their own selves as learners and they are curious about wanting to learn, then taking that sense of wonder a step further to the research part to find the answers to the things they wonder about,” White said.

What makes International Baccalaureate different from traditional methods of teaching is the thematic approach to all subjects over four to six weeks, Schmidt-Anthony said.

“What the IB does it divides what needs to be covered by students in a ‘Unit of Inquiry.’ Traditionally, we approach lesson planning on a weekly basis — so math, social studies, science — as standalone subjects. With the IB approach everything is approached from a unit perspective, so if my unit is the rainforest then I’m going to focus literature on the rainforest, social studies on the rainforest, science on the rainforest,” Schmidt-Anthony said.

Fair-Mont-Egan has progressively introduced some of the teaching methods of International Baccalaureate such as incorporating Spanish into instruction or having students take what they learn in the classroom outside through community projects.

“One of the reasons I think it’s a really good fit is that we’re already doing some of those things [required by the program], so it’s not that far of a leap for us to want to go that direction.”

An annual fee of $8,000 will be assessed if Fair-Mont-Egan becomes an International Baccalaureate school. The fee provides the school with access to materials and professional development. There would be no requirement to replace current textbooks.

VanArtsdale said this fee represents a cost that would be used toward education anyway and spoke to the board’s commitment to improve educational opportunities for students.

The next step in the process is to have four more teachers get trained. 

“It’s going to be a lot of work — a lot of hard work — but you’re going to have children who are much more equipped to think deeply and just have so much more than just a surface knowledge,” White said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.