Charter Oak High Students Learn With an International Flavor

While Glendora Unified utilizes its Advanced Placement program, down the road at Charter Oak Unified School District, for the past two decades the focus has been on another prestigious academic curriculum. In contrast to all the tests and hard knowledge of AP, the International Baccalaureate program takes a more philosophical, college-emulating approach.

The IB, as it is known on the Charter Oak High School campus and worldwide, was founded in 1968 in Geneva Switzerland, and 140 countries participate in variations of the IB program. It was first initiated at Charter Oak in 1990, five years after the district’s 1985 inception, and was the first IB program in Los Angeles County.

Though the current faculty can’t speak to 20-year-old intentions, it is apparent that it was an active decision to focus on IB over AP—although COUSD does offer some AP options. The differences between the two methods are stark, but IB, though less expansive (129 students took IB exams this past year at COHS), gives students perhaps even a greater leg up than AP in terms of the college process.

“We really believe IB gives our students the tools to be successful in college,” says Charter Oak High Principal Kathie Wiard. “It really goes a step further in making them college-ready with the Socratic seminars and essay-based classes.”

The basic curriculum of the program is not unlike a typical education—junior and senior students take classes in five set disciplines, and pick a sixth from options such as a fine art or continuing foreign language education. In addition, at the core of the program is the Theory of Knowledge class.

The TOK, as it is referred to, encapsulates the kind of setting of an undergraduate seminar section, but with graduate level theoretical subject matter. The class is primarily discussion based, and largely uses current events to discuss more basic tenants of philosophical knowledge.

For instance, the summer prior, TOK students are tasked with reading “Sophie’s World” by Jostein Gaarder, a complex history of philosophy in the form of a novel. Once they get in to the class, they not only tackle the original works of Sigmund Freud, but even learn about the theoretical implications of such analysis in disciplines outside psychology.

“My friends give me odd looks if I try to talk about some of this stuff,” says Luke Augustyn about analyzing books through Freudian analysis. “They’re at a loss for words. They just can’t discuss the subjects in those kind of terms.”

Augustyn is perhaps one of the highest achievers to come through the program. He’ll be attending Tulane University in the fall, as a biochemistry major. His plan is to go through the rigors of medical school to become a pediatric oncologist. He absolutely credits IB with playing a big part in his high school development.

“Writing is probably the area in which the IB program helped me the most,” says Augustyn. “My understanding is that this is more like a college environment, and, as cliché as it sounds, it’s really helped my time management.”