International Academy

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**International Academy**
Established	1996
School type	Public High School
District	Bloomfield Hills School District
Principal	Lambert (Bert) Okma
Students	576
Location	Bloomfield Hills (Oakland County), Michigan
Website	http://www.iatoday.org/

The International Academy, or IA, is a high school located in Bloomfield Hills, Oakland County, Michigan. It is a public, tuition-free, school of choice for students of 13 Oakland County school districts collaborating in consortium with university and business partners. Students have the opportunity to earn both high school and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme diplomas. About 88% of the students earn IB degrees.^[1]

The school is officially hosted by the Bloomfield Hills School District. It was founded at the initiative of Lambert (Bert) Okma, now principal, who was previously a respected economics teacher at Bloomfield Hills Lahser High School.

1 Recognition
2 Classes Offered
3 Student life
4 Facilities
5 News
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Recognition

IA was recognized by Newsweek as the top public school in the nation in 2003,^[2] second in 2004,^[3] second in 2005,^[4] and ninth in 2006.^[5] Newsweek's standings were based upon the number of IB or AP tests that the school averages per graduating senior. The IA maintains a high standard with this criteria because each student is required to sit for the IB tests each May as a diploma candidate. Each student therefore takes at least 6 IB tests (in addition to the Theory of Knowledge and Extended Essay requirements), giving the school a high average number of IB tests.

[edit] Classes Offered

All graduates of the International Academy are expected to complete the full International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. While a few students each year graduate without the Diploma, this is not because they are not taking the full 6 subjects required by the IBO. 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 an extensive knowledge of math or a foreign language that causes them to place out of all non-IB courses in those subjects.

The only Group 1 subject offered is English. 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. For those who do not, IA offers an English as a Second Language course.

French, German, and Spanish are all offered as Group 2 subjects. 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, and so students could elect to take Japanese as an elective in their freshman and sophomore years. This, however, 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.

Due to a large number of students considering careers in the sciences, as opposed to the arts or humanities, the International Academy offers almost all of the available Group 4 subjects. Students can elect to take Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Environmental Systems, and students are free to take an extra Group 4 subject in place of a Group 6 subject. This the option taken by the majority of IA students.

Traditionally, Group 5 subjects offered at the International Academy included Mathematical Studies, 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. Due to a large number of students in the classes of 2009 and 2010 coming in with an unusually advanced knowledge of mathematics, the IA has now added a 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 at the International Academy; 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 select the course. The Music course is not selective, yet IA students tend to perform very well, possibly due to IA's large number of acclaimed music ensembles. IA's ensembles include two concert bands; two jazz bands; string, full, and chamber orchestras; and three choirs, including an a cappella ensemble. 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.

It is not uncommon for IA students to take seven IB subjects, and there are a substantial number of students who choose this option every year. In the past, students have taken as many as eight IBs.

Students also take non-IB courses as well. In addition to the academic and arts courses required in freshman and sophomore year in preparation for IB, juniors are required to take 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. While many of the classes require little work from the majority of students, and for most students are viewed as "blow-off classes" or study periods, a few of these classes, such as yearbook, can be as demanding as any other non-IB class at IA.

[edit] Student life

Students are selected by lottery among the applicants.^[1] In 2004, the school enrollment was 576.^[6] International Academy has an extended school year (205 days) and an extended school day. It has an extra hour, when many students go home, but most stay to participate in after-school clubs, extra classes (jazz band or full orchestra), or meet with teachers for extra help. Students may participate in cocurricular activities at their home schools using this time at the end of the school day.

The 2005-2006 Physics Club is notable for its second-place finish at the University of Michigan Physics Olympiad, and one student won a $20,000 scholarship and gold medallion at the 2005 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.^[7]

The FIRST Robotics team qualified for national competition, winning the 2006 Detroit Regional competition and earning a silver medal in the Great Lakes Regional.^[8]

The IA Science Olympiad Team placed 11th in the 2006 Michigan Competition, their first state-competition.

An IA team won the Michigan region of the 2006 High School Fed Challenge.^[9]

[edit] Facilities

The International Academy is housed in the former site of Elizabeth Taylor Traub Elementary School. Though additions extending into the former playground have significantly increased its size, with over 550 students the building can seem overpopulated. Many teachers occupy several different rooms throughout the day to schedule sufficient classes. The building suffers from masonry issues, several leaks in the roof, heating and cooling issues, and a distinct shortage of hot water.

IA has no school-sponsored sports. When the IA was founded in 1996, it agreed not to sponsor sports teams when sending districts voiced concern that they would lose some of their star athletes to the IA. Students who wish to participate in sports or marching band must do so through their sending district. The school does have a small, student-founded intramural sports activities, such as an annual Paintball tournament. In the past, students have started their own competitive teams, including soccer teams called "IA Fire" and the "IA Gladiators" as well as an Ultimate Frisbee club called "UFIA" (Ultimate Frisbee International Academy).

The International Academy currently has a satellite campus, the International Academy West. This school first held classes in August 2006, and their first graduating class will be the Class of 2010. They share their campus with Lakeland High School of Huron Valley Schools in White Lake, Michigan. The sending districts include Huron Valley, Pontiac, Clarkston, South Lyon, Fenton, Holly, and Novi. Their experience is similar to that of students on the Eastern Campus, with the exception of fewer math (students will only be allowed to take Mathematical Studies and Mathematics SL in their junior and senior years, due to less advanced math curricula in western Oakland County middle schools) and foreign language (Spanish and French only) options. Unlike the Eastern Campus, Lakeland's recent remodeling promises to prevent building problems similar to those of the Eastern Campus. Like at the Eastern Campus, students play sports through their sending districts. Fine arts classes, which include band, choir, and visual arts, are also facilitated through Lakeland High School (though IB Group 6 subjects are likely to utilize teachers from the regular campus), as well as freshman-level economics, although it is projected that the latter may change for the 2007-2008 year.

[edit] News

In 2006, a group of IA students were caught hacking into the computer systems and changing their grades. Six students were expelled and twelve suspended.^[10]^[11]