- The International Academy, or IA, is a high school located in Bloomfield Hills, Oakland County, Michigan, with additional campuses in White Lake Township, Michigan and Troy, Michigan. It is a public, tuition-free school of choice (although selection is by a lottery) for students across Oakland County, with about a dozen school districts (including Bloomfield Hills, Clawson, Berkley, Birmingham, Farmington, Lake Orion, Oxford, Rochester, Royal Oak, Walled Lake, and West Bloomfield districts) sending students to the central campus alone. Students are required to earn both high school and International Baccalaureate (IB) diplomas. According to IA, 95% of the Class of 2006 earned IB degrees. According to an article from 2004, 88% of enrolled students go on to earn IB degrees. Both statistics demonstrate that IA's diploma attainment is well above both the North American average (78%) and the world average (81%) for diploma attainment.
- Foundation
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The school was founded at the initiative of Lambert Okma, who proposed the school in 1992. Okma previously taught economics at Bloomfield Hills Lahser High School. International Academy opened in August 1996 with Okma as principal, and the school had its first graduates in May 2000. The school is officially hosted by the Bloomfield Hills School District.
- Okma retired at the end of the 2008-09 year.
- Recognition
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IA was recognized by Newsweek as the top public school in the nation in 2003, second in 2004, second in 2005, ninth in 2006, seventh in 2007, and twelfth in 2008. Newsweek's standings were based upon the number of IB (International Baccalaureate) or AP (Advanced Placement) tests that the school averages per graduating senior. The IA maintains a high standard with this criterion because each senior is required to sit for the IB tests each May as a diploma candidate. Each senior therefore takes at least six IB tests (in addition to the Theory of Knowledge and Extended Essay requirements), giving the school a high average number of IB tests.
- IA was recognized by the U.S. News as the sixth best public high school in the nation in 2009. The U.S. news used "quality-adjusted tests per student" as the criteria, and so the International Academy was also named the best public IB program in the country, with an "IB Diploma per Grade 12 student enrolled" rate of 90.4%.
- According to IA, on standardized tests the Class of 2009 averaged a 629 Verbal average and a 668 Math average for the SAT. The average ACT composite score was a 28.1. In addition, 42 members (27%) of the Class of 2009 were named National Merit Scholars, 18 of whom were named Finalists, 1 Semifinalist and 24 of whom were named Commended Scholars.
- Classes offered
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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. 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 - but usually because they either fail one or more IB tests, or get a D grade in at least one class and are therefore not eligible to sit for the tests in those subjects. (These students are a rarity, as most students at risk of this choose to leave long before the end of their senior year.) 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 Environmental Systems IB course is also offered as an elective to tenth-graders wishing to get a feel for a Group 4 course before entering the IB Diploma Programme the following year.
- 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). While many of these product team 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.
- Student life
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Students are selected by lottery among the applicants. In 2004, the school enrollment was 576. International Academy has an extended school year (205 days) and an extended school day. At the end of the school day at 2:35 (or 2:40 for the West Campus), many students go home, but most opt to 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 co-curricular activities at their home schools using this time at the end of the school day. Students typically only participate in activities at their home high schools that the International Academy does not offer, including sports teams and marching bands.
- Extracurricular activities
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Some of the extracurricular activities offered at IA's central campus include FIRST Robotics; buildOn (formerly known as Building with Books); Science, SCUBA diving classes and international dive trips; Biology and Physics Olympiads; Political Debate Club; Model United Nations; the Phoenix Theatre Company; Forensics; various ethnic organizations such as the Indian-American Student Association, the Asian Student Association, and the Black Student Association; religious organizations such as the Christian Student Initiative and the Muslim Student Association; a Gay-Straight-Whatever Alliance; an active photography club; Future Business Leaders of America; and various environmental groups. The International Academy also has chapters of various honor societies, including National Honor Society, French Honor Society, German Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and the Quill and Scroll Honor Society. The western campus has many of the same activities, including a Model UN team and a Christian club, in addition to some activities the central campus does not have such as Future Problem Solving. Most extracurricular activities at IA West, however, are done in conjunction with the activities offered at Lakeland High School.
- Achievements
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The FIRST Robotics team won the title of "National Champion" in the 2003 competition. It qualified for national competition in 2006, winning the 2006 Detroit Regional competition and earning a silver medal in the 2006 Great Lakes Regional. In 2007 the team won West Michigan Regional and came in with a silver at Detroit Regional. Similarly, in 2008, the team won the Detroit Regional, and earned a silver medal in the Great Lakes Regional. This year (2009), the team advanced to the State Championship in the new district model, and competed in the World Championship.
- The 2005-2006 Physics Club is notable for its second-place finish at the University of Michigan Physics Olympiad. One student (Alexander Chernyak, class of 2006) won a $20,000 scholarship and gold medallion (physics category) at the 2005 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and 1st place Grand Award (team competition) at the 2006 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
- The IA Science Olympiad Team placed 11th in the 2006 Michigan Science Olympiad Competition, their first state competition. In the 2007 state competition the team place 7th, in 2008 they placed 6th, and in 2009 they placed 5th.
- An IA team (Wesley Sudduth, Colin Motley, Tim Su, Kyle Morrison, Caitlin Kearns, and Barbara Baker) won the Michigan region of the 2006 High School Fed Challenge.
- The IA West Future Problem Solving group (Carolyn Diaz, Emily McMahan, Nikki Bender, and Chanel Roberts) placed third place in the Middle Division at the 2007 State Bowl.
- The IA Forensics Team also competes in various district, regional and state competitions. The team has been known for producing state champions and in 2009, IA took state championships in the categories of poetry, dramatic interpretation and duo. The team has been 4th overall in the Class BCD Category for two years running.
- IA has also won a number of musical awards, including students selected for the Michigan Youth Honors Band and Honors Orchestra for the Michigan Young Arts Festival in May of each year. In 2007, one student was selected for the band, three for the orchestra, and an ensemble was selected to play at the festival. The International Academy also had a student selected as one of the top young composers in Michigan by the Michigan Music Educators Association, for its 2007 conference in Grand Rapids.
- Internationalism
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Although the IA often classifies itself as an international school, and its name implies that it is one, it is atypical of international schools in that the majority of the students at IA come from the surrounding community. The IA does have a number of international students - about 10 to 15 percent of the student body attended a school overseas previous to coming to the IA - but their families must move to one of the sending districts before coming to the IA. The IA does not have boarding students. Despite these differences, the IA gives preference to international students (classified as students who have lived in the US for less than one year), as well as students coming from other IB schools (in the United States or elsewhere). Even many of those students who attended area schools before coming to IA were born overseas, speak English as a second language, or could be otherwise classified as Third Culture Kids, and the school is particularly known for having a large number of Asian-American students (mainly from China, Korea, the Indian subcontinent, and the Middle East). IA is known for its strong sense of internationalism, and students report that they feel as though they are exposed to a wide variety of cultures and viewpoints by being at the IA. (This is less true of the Western campus, where the school is primarily white, English-speaking, and American-born, and therefore has less of an international atmosphere than the Central campus. The Eastern campus has a similar diversity to the Central campus since most students come from Troy, which is one of the most diverse Michigan cities and the one with the highest Asian-American population.)
- Athletics
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The International Academy 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 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", "IA Gladiators", and "ISC" (International Soccer Club) as well as an Ultimate Frisbee club called "UFIA" (Ultimate Frisbee International Academy). In the 2007-2008 school year, UFIA was replaced with UFO, or the Ultimate Frisbee Organization. Also, through 2007-2008, team ISC led an undefeated 8-0 season. In addition, beginning in the 2006-2007 school year, IA had a competitive boys' basketball team, organized by students. The IA is allowed to have teams that compete against other schools so long as they are completely student-run, with no funding from the school. About one-third of the school participates in competitive sports or marching band at their home high schools.
- Facilities
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The International Academy's Central Campus is housed in the former site of Elizabeth Taylor Traub Elementary School. Though additions extending into the former playground have significantly increased its size, as the school now has over 700 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.
However, there are some good features of the IA's facilities as well. The Central Campus's classrooms are organized by subjects into different hallways: the 100 hallways house the foreign language, music, and Theory of Knowledge classrooms; the 200 hallway houses the math and science classrooms; the 300 hallway houses the social studies classrooms, as well as the art room; and the 400 wing houses the English classrooms. This makes it relatively easy for students to figure out where each class is, especially in such a small school. The school also has an all-purpose room, called the International Student Center (ISC), where school assemblies, Adventure Challenge classes, school plays, and large social events such as dances are held. This is also where students eat lunch every day. However, the ISC is relatively small; it is about the size of a typical elementary school gymnasium. Larger events are usually held at other schools, such as Lahser High School (where orchestra, band, and choir concerts are held) and Lake Orion High School (where the IA graduation ceremony is held). - West Campus
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The International Academy currently has a satellite campus, the International Academy West. A satellite campus had been considered as early as 2003. This school first held classes in August 2006, and its first graduating class will be the Class of 2010. The IA West campus is located inside Lakeland High School of Huron Valley Schools. The sending districts include Huron Valley, Pontiac, Clarkston, South Lyon, Fenton, Holly, and Novi. Their experience is similar to that of students on the Central Campus, with the exception of fewer options in foreign language (Spanish and French only). Unlike the Central Campus, Lakeland's recent remodeling promises to prevent building problems similar to those of the Central Campus. Like at the Central 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 use IA West teachers), as well as freshman-level economics. With more press and acclaim awarded toward the IB program and the two International Academies, the IA West is meeting with considerable success, and Huron Valley Schools has opened up 10 spots for students in districts outside the International Academy consortium, including students living outside of Oakland County, for the Class of 2011 onward.
- East Campus
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IA has set up an Eastern campus in Troy, in the former Baker Middle School building. Classes were first held in the 2008-2009 school year. Like the other two campuses, the school will be beginning with one freshman class and add another each year, so the first class will be the Class of 2012. This district will be open to students in Troy as well as those outside of Oakland County, including students in Macomb, Wayne, Washtenaw, Lapeer, Livingston, and Genesee counties. Currently, there are students from as far away as Flint and Canton that make the morning commute. While this means that Troy will not be sending any classes after the Class of 2011 to the Central campus, Troy students currently attending the Central campus will be allowed to remain there, since they will be too old to attend the Eastern campus. The Eastern campus's student body will be about the same size as the Central campus and students will likely have access to the same classes as students at the Central campus, as they are offered the same four language options (French, Spanish, German and Mandarin) as the members of the IA Central Class of 2012. The Eastern campus also plans to offer the same fine arts options as the Central campus. As the Troy School District is known for having a very strong math program - with many of its most advanced middle school students taking classes at the high school level - it is likely to also offer the same math classes as IA Central. The Troy School District is a strong supporter of the IB Programme and has already started Primary Years and Middle Years programs in some of its elementary and middle schools.
- News
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- In 2006, a group of IA students were caught hacking into the Zangle computer systems and changing their grades. Six students were expelled and twelve suspended.
- On July 16, 2009 it was announced that the central campus was to be re-named the Lambert S. Okma campus of the International Academy to honor the retired principal and founder.
- See also
- International Baccalaureate
- Bloomfield Hills School District
- Huron Valley School District
- Lakeland High School
- Troy School District
- International school
- List of international schools
- External links
- International Academy Web Site
- Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
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