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The Loomis Basin Charter School's goal is to implement the International Baccalaureate Program designed for students in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade, which promotes the education of the whole person, emphasizing intellectual, personal, emotional and social growth through all domains of knowledge. Students will receive an international education, cemented on character education as a foundation to develop respect and responsibility. The school will educate students for a life of active, responsible citizenship that fosters students' recognition and development of universal human values. The learner profile is a profile of the whole person as a lifelong learner.

The schools education aim is to provide students with an education for life and to teach them to relate the content of the classroom to the realities of the world outside. While the objective of the program is to ensure academic challenge, this is not a selective program for a limited number of students. All children can benefit in different ways from the IB holistic, integrative approach to teaching, learning and thinking.

Six transdisciplinary themes

The Six transdisciplinary themes of global significance provide the framework for exploration and study:

who we are
where we are in place and time
how we express ourselves
how the world works
how we organize ourselves
sharing the planet.

Teachers are guided by these six transdisciplinary themes throughout the year as they design units of inquiry that both transcend and articulate conventional subject boundaries.

Program

Requires study across a broad and balanced range of knowledge domains including languages, humanities, science and technology, mathematics and the arts, drawing on content from the California State Frameworks and State Standards as well as from cultures across the world
Gives special emphasis to foreign language acquisition and development, specifically teaching Spanish and second foreign language (to be determined) starting at the kindergarten level
Requires a character education component that includes respect, responsibility, personal accountability, ethical behavior, and service
Builds and reinforces students’ sense of identity and fosters an appreciation and understanding of diverse cultures and differing points of view
Focuses on developing the skills of learning and of appropriate communication according to the audience, medium, and environment
Includes, to a varying extent, the study of individual subjects and of trans-disciplinary areas
Encourages diversity and flexibility in pedagogical approaches
Provides students with opportunities for individual and collaborative planning, research, visual and oral presentation of research findings, and reflection on learning
Provides appropriate forms of assessment and international benchmarking
Develops in students productive habits of work and mind
Includes a community service component requiring action and reflection
Requires strong parental involvement and commitment

Teachers & Staff Will:

Model and exemplify the outcomes expected of students: Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced, and Reflective.
Create and honor traditions that serve as a foundation for the school’s culture
Develop and deliver curriculum and lessons that support the IB framework and State Standards and which engage students in critical thinking applied to relevant projects and investigations
Demonstrate commitment to exemplifying lifelong learning and reflection on teaching
Engage in service projects, individually or as part of a team of colleagues
Commit to and participate in ongoing staff and personal development
Commit to reflection on student learning and progress and to collaborative planning and work
Commit to a reflective evaluation of one’s own performance as it relates to program implementation, student learning, collaboration with staff, professional development, parent interactions, and personal service projects
Utilize multiple materials, media and resources to fit the teaching objectives and to challenge students so that they can reach their goals and progress at their level.