Center Moriches schools reach an International Baccalaureate milestone 

The 1,500-student Center Moriches district has emerged as Long Island's first to offer globally minded International Baccalaureate programs with a seamless flow from preschool through 12th grade, local education leaders said.

Center Moriches officials said they reached that milestone last month when their Clayton Huey Elementary School won authorization to provide an International Baccalaureate "Primary Years" program for its 600 students. The district's high school and middle school already have IB programs.

The International Baccalaureate organization, based in Geneva, Switzerland, is recognized worldwide as a sponsor of college-level courses and exams used in thousands of public and private schools. Six years have passed since Center Moriches school administrators and teachers began exploratory work on adopting a baccalaureate curriculum; completion of the effort is viewed locally as a mark of distinction. 

"At Center Moriches, we pride ourselves on being a small town with deep roots and a global mindset," district Superintendent Ron Masera said.

International Baccalaureate is expanding on the Island, even though a rival program, Advanced Placement, remains the biggest sponsor of accelerated studies in the region. Since 2021, the number of IB schools in Nassau and Suffolk counties has increased from 16 to 24, with six of those newly designated schools located in Hempstead. 

All students enrolled in baccalaureate schools generally have access to instruction employing IB's approach, at least through the eighth grade. High school students also can enroll in IB courses, though their schools may provide other options as well. 

David Weiss, head of IB's system for U.S. schools, issued a statement from Washington, D.C., headquarters describing the Huey school's designation as "a great accomplishment for the children, teachers and leadership as now all students in the district have access." Weiss, a former director of local baccalaureate programs on the Island, also once served as superintendent in Long Beach. 

Beyond its advanced coursework, International Baccalaureate is known for a progressive curriculum that emphasizes cultural diversity around the globe, while encouraging students to think for themselves academically. Elementary classrooms, for example, often feature "Wonder Walls" where questions raised by students are posted and incorporated into lessons. 

IB also encourages public service. Middle school students enrolled in the program must complete community service projects such as neighborhood cleanups before moving on to ninth grade, and high school students must do the same on a more advanced level. 

"It'll give you a new perspective on life," said Elizabeth Smirnova, 13, an eighth-grader at Center Moriches Middle School. She recently joined two classmates, Ava Sadler, 14, and Samira Treadwell, 13, in collecting clothes for residents of a homeless shelter.

Staff training is a big part of the system. Dennis Ricci, principal of Huey Elementary, trained with IB experts for several days in St. Louis. Michelle Craig, the school's librarian and coordinator of its IB Primary Years program, took similar training in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Los Angeles. 

Training is accompanied by intensive rewriting of school curricula and individual lesson plans, resulting in instruction with an international accent. At the Huey school, teachers recently collaborated on lessons with colleagues in India. Meanwhile, students as young as kindergartners corresponded with contemporaries at an IB school in Singapore. 

"It's really just kind of opened our eyes to, when we're doing curriculum design, are we mindful of the global aspect of our curriculum and helping students to realize how small we really are and how big the world really is," Ricci said. 

Students opting to complete a high school program earn IB diplomas in 12th grade after passing at least seven advanced exams and writing 4,000-word research papers. Last year, 38 students at Center Moriches High School took a combined total of 89 exams and passed them all, according to Amy Meyer, the district's curriculum director. 

Masera said the success of the program is reflected in the observations of graduates who revisit the district after attending college. 

"What they tell us is that they feel so prepared for the college programs because of the rigor of what they went through in their high school and the challenge they put themselves through," he said.

By John Hildebrand

john.hildebrand@newsday.com@johnhnewsday

John Hildebrand is Newsday's senior education writer and has covered school news and policy issues affecting Long Island for more than 40 years.