In

and for the most part, parents have been very on board with the extra work,” she explains.

However, IB isn’t just for the smart kids.

“It can be for anybody, but it’s not for everybody,” Ritchie says. “There are students that lend themselves to this type of learning. There are very successful students who you might not identify as the most academic in their class, but they find a way to really connect with this, and it opens something they haven’t really gotten anywhere else. It really ignites a passion for learning, and that’s the point of the program, is to really tap into that.”