Bertha Vos, the elementary school that closed four years ago due to TCAPS budget constraints, will re-open this fall as a TCAPS International School. The school will join more than 3,300 International Baccalaureate (IB) Schools in 141 countries, offering a global education to its students ages 3-12.

This week TCAPS will hold a series of informative meetings to answer questions and attract students to the Pre-K through five program.

TCAPS Superintendent Steve Cousins says the board conducted several studies and visioning sessions prior to pursuing the IB school. “When we put that information together, a lot jumped out,” he tells the Ticker. “Most significant is that we provide more resiliency in the programming that we are developing in our district.”

The majority of parents surveyed wanted to look at something beyond the traditional public education model. IB programming places emphasis on a multicultural understanding of the world around us, connecting the classroom with the surrounding community. In addition to core competency requirements, students participate in a wide-range of project-based programming.

Said Cousins, “Even at primary level, the students spend half of their day in project-focused learning where they are really trying to answer problem issues for the community.”

Cousins said emergence in a second language is also attractive to parents: “Students study a second language on a daily basis.”

TCAPS Director Alison Arnold says enrollment is learner-based, tuition-free, and open to all. “The choice is based on what parents perceive is the best learning environment for their child,” she said. She says the announcement has garnered positive responses from TCAPS families.

The district will begin interviewing for the position of Director to oversee implementation of the IB program. Already the district has received 40 applications.

TCAPS plans to spend an estimated $200,000 on infrastructure to support new information technology and an additional $400,000 in upgrades to the building over the summer.

Informational meetings will be held Thursday, May 10 at 6p.m. at the Acme Township Hall and the Traverse City District Library, and again at the Acme Hall on June 7 at 6p.m.