IB Career-related Programme
Welcome to Robert E. Fitch High School’s IB Career-related Programme
Dear Parents and Students,
Welcome to the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme at Robert E. Fitch High School. We are very excited to add this program to our existing IB programs.
The International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (IB CP) is a framework of international education that incorporates the vision and educational principles of the IB into a unique program, specifically developed for students who wish to engage in career-related learning. In the IB CP students engage with a rigorous study program that genuinely interests them while gaining transferable and lifelong skills. The CP provides a comprehensive educational framework that combines highly regarded and internationally recognized courses from the IB Diploma Programme, with a unique CP core and an approved career-related study. The Career-related Programme at Fitch is focused on getting you ready for the world of industry right after high school.
As part of your Career-related Programme experience, you will be challenged to go beyond the classroom in your learning. You will be required to complete the core of the IB CP, which includes: Personal and Professional Skills, Reflective Project, Service Learning, and Language Development. In addition to this, you will be participating in community partnerships in various industry, providing you with hands on, real-world experience. At the end of your two years of IB CP, you will have the skills and experience for success beyond high school.
Things are changing in today’s world at a rapid pace. It can be hard to predict what knowledge will be important to your career in the future, but through the IB CP you will gain critical skills that will help you be successful in any career path that you choose. We will challenge your ability to think critically, communicate effectively, work collaboratively, maintain an open –mind, and consider things from an international perspective. The International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme will prepare you with all of these skills, which you can apply both in and outside of the workplace.
You have begun a journey that will never end – you are a life-long learner. The IB CP at Fitch exists to guide you in your learning experiences. You will have a close-knit cohort of fellow students and teachers who will provide you with support and assistance as you grow and develop. We’re so glad to have in the program.
Sincerely,
Anne Keefe-Forbotnick, Ed.D
IB Career-related Programme Coordinator
Robert E. Fitch High School
akeefeforbotnick@groton.k12.ct.us
Learn more about the IB CP Programme below including:
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What is the cp?
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Who is the CP for?
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THE CP Core and Educational Framework
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The CP and Courses at Fitch High SchooL
What is the CP?
The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Career-related Programme (CP) is a framework of international education that incorporates the vision and educational principles of the IB into a unique programme specifically developed for students who wish to engage in career-related learning.
The CP’s flexible educational framework allows schools to meet the needs, backgrounds and contexts of students. CP students engage with a rigorous study programme that genuinely interests them while gaining transferable and lifelong skills.
What the CP offers students
The CP provides a comprehensive educational framework that combines highly regarded and internationally recognized courses, from the IB Diploma Programme (DP), with a unique CP core and an approved career-related study.
Who is the CP for?
The CP is designed for students interested in pursuing a career-related education in the final two years of secondary school. It provides them with an excellent foundation to support their further studies as well as ensure their preparedness for success in the workforce.
The CP develops students to be:
- Academically strong
- Skilled in a practical field
- Critical and ethical thinkers
- Self-directed
- Collaborative
- Resilient and determined
- Confident and assured
- Caring and reflective
- Inquirers
Career-related Programme at Fitch High School
PROJECT LEAD THE WAY (PLTW)
Engineering Program
PLTW Engineering is more than just another high school engineering program. It is about applying engineering, science, math, and technology to solve complex, open-ended problems in a real-world context. Students focus on the process of defining and solving a problem, not on getting the "right" answer. They learn how to apply STEM knowledge, skills, and habits of mind to make the world a better place through innovation. PLTW students have said that PLTW Engineering influenced their post-secondary decisions and helped shape their future. Even for students who do not plan to pursue engineering after high school, the PLTW Engineering program provides opportunities to develop highly transferable skills in collaboration, communication, and critical thinking, which are relevant for any coursework or career.
Future Offerings
Culinary Arts
Expected 2023-2024 School Year
Certified Nursing Assistant
Expected 2023-2024 School Year
PLTW Courses Offered at Fitch High School
PLTW Introduction to Engineering (1 credit)
Students dig deep into the engineering design process, applying math, science, and engineering standards to hands-on projects. They work both individually and in teams to design solutions to a variety of problems using 3D modeling software, and use an engineering notebook to document their work.
PLTW Principles of Engineering (1 credit)
Through problems that engage and challenge, students explore a broad range of engineering topics, including mechanisms, the strength of structures and materials, and automation. Students develop skills in problem solving, research, and design while learning strategies for design process documentation, collaboration, and presentation. Minimum requirement of Algebra 2
PLTW Computer Integrated Manufacturing (1 credit)
Manufactured items are part of everyday life, yet most students have not been introduced to the high-tech, innovative nature of modern manufacturing. This course illuminates the opportunities related to understanding manufacturing. At the same time, it teaches students about manufacturing processes, product design, robotics, and automation. Students can earn a virtual manufacturing badge recognized by the National Manufacturing Badge system.
PLTW Civil Engineering (1 Credit) Not Offered for the 2021/22 School Year
Students learn important aspects of building and site design and development. They apply math, science, and standard engineering practices to design both residential and commercial projects and document their work using 30 architecture design software. CEA is one of the specialized courses in TCD's Project Lead The Way Pathway to Engineering course sequence. Students who have successfully completed the IED and POE foundation courses at TCD or their high school can easily transition to this course. To receive maximum recognition or credit from PLTW-affiliated colleges and universities, students should successfully complete the two foundation courses, one specialized course, and the capstone course. Some affiliates offer recognition or credit on a course by course basis
The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Career-related Programme (CP) is a three-part educational framework.
It consists of:
The CP Core
A key element of the International Baccalaureate® Career-related Programme (CP), the CP core enhances student’s personal and interpersonal development, with an emphasis on experiential learning.
The CP core bridges the IB academic courses and the career-related study and provides students with a combination of academic and practical skills.
Four inter-related components form the core.
Personal and Professional Skills is designed for students to develop attitudes, skills and strategies to be applied to personal and professional situations and contexts now and in the future.
In this course the emphasis is on skills development for the workplace, as these are transferable and can be applied in a range of situations.
Service Learning is the development and application of knowledge and skills towards meeting an identified and authentic community need.
In this research-based approach, students often undertake service initiatives related to topics studied previously in their academic disciplines, utilizing skills, understandings and values developed in these studies.
The Reflective Project is an in-depth body of work produced over an extended period of time and submitted towards the end of the CP.
Through a reflective project students identify, analyze, critically discuss and evaluate an ethical issue arising from their career-related studies. The Reflective Project is intended to promote high-level research, writing and extended communication skills, intellectual discovery and creativity.
Language Development ensures that all students have access to to a language programme that will assist and further their understanding of the wider world. The ability to communicate in more than one language is essential to the IB’s concept of an international education.
Language development encourages students to improve their proficiency in a language other than their best language.
How can students benefit from the CP?
The CP enables students to:
- follow their chosen education and career pathways in life
- combine academic subjects with their personal and professional interests and skills
- engage in learning that makes a positive difference to their community
- think critically and creatively
- communicate clearly and effectively in a variety of situations
- work independently and in collaboration with others
- consider new perspectives and other points of view
- develop greater self-confidence and self-awareness
- demonstrate high levels of resilience and flexibility
- be internationally-minded and globally aware
- apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios and situations.
How the CP Links with Other IB Programmes at Fitch
The CP builds on prior learning in the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) and incorporates elements of the IB Diploma Programme, which provides the theoretical underpinning and academic rigor of the CP.
The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. As IB learners, we strive to be:
Inquirers • Knowledgeable • Thinkers • Communicators • Principled Open-minded • Caring • Risk-takers • Balanced • Reflective
Approaches to teaching and learning
IB programmes are taught by teachers who explicitly help students learn how to develop the attitudes and skills they need for both academic and personal success.
Approaches to teaching
There are six key pedagogical principles that underpin all IB programmes. Teaching in IB programmes is:
- based on inquiry
- focused on conceptual understanding
- developed in local and global contexts
- focused on effective teamwork and collaboration
- differentiated to meet the needs of all learners
- informed by assessment (formative and summative).
Approaches to learning
This area develops essential skills that include skills of behaviour and emotional management, skills that allow the student to monitor their own effectiveness in their learning and skills that allow them to process information effectively (often called “study skills” in a school environment). Although these skills may be in use when developing a certain natural ability or talent, they are different from both ability and talent themselves because proficiency in any skill can be increased through the deliberate use of techniques and strategies, feedback and challenge. Skills are therefore highly teachable.
Teaching and learning in the Diploma Programme (DP) therefore incorporates the development of:
- thinking skills
- communication skills
- social skills
- self-management skills
- research skills.
Although these are presented as distinct categories, there is some overlap and close connections between them. These categories should be seen as interrelated, as well as linking closely with the attributes highlighted in the IB learner profile. IB students work to become inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective.