Future Students

Tri-County International Academy was created out of an effort by your high school and several others in Ashland, Holmes, and Wayne counties to offer their students the International Baccalaureate Programme in a setting geared toward the goals and ambitions of future-minded students.

Students in this program receive a college preparatory education that is globally recognized for its excellence. In addition to receiving superior college preparation, students often receive advantageous admissions consideration, extra scholarship consideration, and actual college credits.

Students attend the academy on the campus of Wooster High School while participating in sports, music programs and other electives (as scheduling allows) at their local or “home” school. Students graduate with both a diploma from their local school and the opportunity to earn the International Baccalaureate Diploma.

The IB Diploma Programme is for highly motivated students. It is a total program in grades 11 and 12 that has an emphasis on international understanding as well as academic excellence. A student who wants a highly challenging, creative, and different kind of education will benefit from the IB Diploma Programme which college admissions officers recognize as providing top tier students.

Areas of Study

As noted, the IB Diploma Programme is a total program taught at an advanced level. Academically the curriculum emphasizes critical thinking and depth of understanding. Being a total program, students will have advanced two-year courses in:

•     English (World Literature)
•     Second Language (Spanish and French)
•     Social Studies (Global Politics which includes the government and financial literacy requirement)
•     Science (Chemistry and Advanced Biology)
•     Math (requires mastery through Algebra II and goes on to topics of functions,
      trigonometry, matrices, vectors, statistics, probability, and calculus)
•     Theory Of Knowledge (TOK) a philosophy of learning course
•     Completion of “Creativity, Action, and Service” hours emphasizing service-learning
•     Complete the extended essay, a comprehensive research paper

Individual Class Options

With home school permission, students may elect to participate in select classes rather than the full Diploma Programme. Successful completion of individual courses can earn students IB Certificates for those course areas and may ready students to take Advanced Placement tests in those areas. Participation in individual courses may be limited by schedule conflicts, space availability, and completion of necessary prerequisite classes.

Getting Ready

While this is a program for students in their junior and senior years, students need to be well prepared to succeed. That means students who are thinking about applying for admission to the Tri-County International Academy are encouraged to do the following in grades 7-10:

•     Take classes at advanced or honors levels
•     Take the most challenging math possible; complete Algebra I and II and Geometry by the end of
      grade 10; start H.S. math courses in middle school if possible
•     Start foreign language as soon as possible and progress as far as possible by the end of grade 10;
      completion of level II in a language is the absolute minimum for entry into any non-introductory
      (ab initio) IB language course.
•     Take classes that emphasize and teach critical thinking, writing skills, and research skills