International Academy - Classes Offered

Classes Offered

All graduates of the International Academy are expected to complete the full International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. All students are enrolled in at least six IB subjects in their junior and senior years. Some students take IBs in their freshman and sophomore years, usually due to placement tests. The Environmental Systems IB course is also offered as an elective to tenth-graders when not filled by older students.

The only Group 1 subject offered is English. Pre-IB courses are English courses in World Literature (9th grade) and American Literature (10th grade), as well as a course in public speaking skills (9th grade). Students who are non-native speakers are still expected to take English as their Language A, so most have a near-native degree of fluency.

French, German, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish are all offered as Group 2 subjects, which the student studies for two years at IA before beginning the IB Language B class in that language. Students are also allowed to take an extra language ab initio in place of a Group 6 subject. In the early years of the school, the current English wing was occupied by the Japanese School of Metropolitan Detroit (currently located at Birmingham Seaholm High School), and students could choose to take Japanese as an elective in their freshman and sophomore years. However, this is no longer available as an option.

All students are required to take IB History as their Group 3 subject. IB Economics is also offered as a replacement for a Group 6 subject. To prepare for IB history, freshmen must take a course in world history and geography and sophomores take a history course focused on American history as well as including information on the French and Latin American revolutions. A semester-long course in micro-economics is also required for freshmen.

The International Academy offers almost all of the available Group 4 subjects. Students can elect to take Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Environmental Systems, as well as an extra Group 4 subject in place of a Group 6 subject. This is the option taken by the majority of IA students. To prepare for the IB sciences, students must complete one course in biology during freshman year, one in chemistry during sophomore year, and a half-semester physics course each year.

Traditionally, Group 5 subjects offered at the International Academy included Mathematical Studies SL, and Mathematics HL and SL. IA students, upon entrance to the International Academy, are placed on a math tracking system based on a score on a placement test and math classes taken in middle school. Students who have taken Algebra 1 only in middle school are offered the option of eventually studying Mathematical Studies or Mathematics SL, whereas students who have taken both Algebra 1 and Geometry are given the option of Mathematics HL as well. The IA has added an IB Further Mathematics course for very advanced students.

The International Academy offers two Group 6 subjects: Music and Visual Arts. The Visual Arts course is highly selective: students usually must demonstrate a great deal of talent at art, and must have taken art courses in 9th and 10th grade, in order to be allowed to apply for the course. The Music course is not selective, and while most students who take the course have previous training on an instrument or voice, it is not required.

In addition, the school offers the Theory of Knowledge course as mandated by the IBO. This one-year course is divided into one semester each during grades 11 and 12.

It is not uncommon for IA students to take seven IB subjects, and the option is open to students who meet certain academic requirements.

Students also take non-IB courses as well. Along with the normal academic courses preparing students for their IB equivalents, students are required to take at least one and normally two years of either music or art. IA offers two non-IB art courses, taken in the freshman and sophomore year and intended as preparation for IB Visual Arts. There are also a number of musical ensembles open to all four grades, including two concert bands; one jazz band; string, full, and chamber orchestras; and three choirs, including an a cappella ensemble. The International Academy Orchestra has received first division ratings at the State level from the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA) in the past, and the International Academy Jazz Band received a first division rating and an invitation to the Detroit International Jazz Festival in 2007. About 60% of the student body participates in one of the musical ensembles at the IA. The IA also has an active theatre department, but it operates as an after-school club, and IB Theatre is not offered as a sixth IB course.

Juniors must take a course in American government as required by the state of Michigan's high school educational standards. Sophomores also are required to take a semester-long physical education course, called "Adventure Challenge," a non-traditional gym course that focuses more on teamwork than on competition and traditional sports. As well as the school's numerous musical ensembles, the IA also offers a number of "product teams," usually student-directed classes that often focus on community service or athletics, as well as school publications such as the yearbook and student newspaper. The work level in these courses vary; they can range from "blow-off classes" or unofficial "study periods" to just as demanding as other non-IB courses, though product team teachers are prohibited from giving students work to do outside of classroom time.