About IB

International Baccalaureate MYP Magnet Programme

Admissions Information

The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) comprises eight subject groups:

The MYP requires at least 50 hours of teaching time for each subject group in each year of the programme.

Each year, students in the MYP also engage in at least one collaboratively planned interdisciplinary unit that involves at least two subject groups.

8th grade MYP students also complete a long-term project, where they decide what they want to learn about, identify what they already know, discovering what they will need to know to complete the project, and create a proposal or criteria for completing it.

Our approach to teaching and learning

The MYP aims to help students develop their personal understanding, their emerging sense of self and responsibility in their community.

Teaching and learning in the MYP is underpinned by the following concepts:

Teaching and learning in context

Students learn best when their learning experiences have context and are connected to their lives and their experience of the world that they have experienced.

Using global contexts, MYP students develop an understanding of their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet through developmentally appropriate explorations of:

identities and relationships
personal and cultural expression
orientations in space and time
scientific and technical innovation
fairness and development
globalization and sustainability.

Conceptual understanding

Concepts are big ideas that have relevance within specific disciplines and across subject areas. MYP students use concepts as a vehicle to inquire into issues and ideas of personal, local and global significance and examine knowledge holistically. The MYP prescribes sixteen key interdisciplinary concepts along with related concepts for each discipline.

Approaches to learning

A unifying thread throughout all MYP subject groups, approaches to learning (ATL) provide the foundation for independent learning and encourage the application of their knowledge and skills in unfamiliar contexts. Developing and applying these social, thinking, research, communication and self management skills helps students learn how to learn.

Service as action, through community service

Action and service have always been shared values of the IB community.

Students take action when they apply what they are learning in the classroom and beyond. IB learners strive to be caring members of the community who demonstrate a commitment to service—making a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment.

Service as action is an integral part of the programme, especially in the MYP community project.

Inclusion and learning diversity in MYP

As part of the MYP curriculum, schools address differentiation within the written, taught and assessed curriculum.

This is demonstrated in the unit planner and in the teaching environment, both of which are reviewed during programme authorization and evaluation.

The MYP allows schools to continue to meet state, provincial or national legal requirements for students with access needs. Schools must develop an inclusion/special educational needs (SEN) policy that explains assessment access arrangements, classroom accommodations and curriculum modification that meet individual student learning needs.

IB Mission Statement

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

What the MYP Offers Students

The MYP aims to develop active learners and internationally minded young people who can empathize with others and pursue lives of purpose and meaning.

The programme empowers students to inquire into a wide range of issues and ideas of significance locally, nationally and globally. The result is young people who are creative, critical and reflective thinkers.

Ammons Vision Statement

Action through Global Awareness

Ammons Mission Statement

The mission of the Herbert A. Ammons community is to engage students in developing their intellectual, emotional, and social talents while promoting responsible citizenship in a global society. Engaged in a holistic approach to education, students grow in intercultural awareness, becoming compassionate, independent, life-long learners.

Ammons Core Values

The core values stressed at Herbert A. Ammons Middle School come from the attributes of the International Baccalaureate learner profile. Students are encouraged to be inquirers who are knowledgeable thinkers and communicators, principled, open-minded, caring risk-takers who are balanced and reflective.

Where do Ammons Student Go to College?

Harvard · Penn · Yale · Columbia · University of Florida · University of Miami · Florida State University · Paris-Sorbonne University & University of Paris · Universitat de Barcelona & Universitat de Madrid · Northwestern · Columbia · MIT · Brown · New York University - NYU · Columbia · Stanford · Cornell · And So Many Others

IB Learner Profile

The aim of all IB programs 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.

IB Learners Strive To Be

Inquirers

They develop their natural curiosity. They acquire the skills necessary to conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning. They actively enjoy learning and this love of learning will be sustained throughout their lives.

Knowledgeable

They explore concepts, ideas and issues that have local and global significance. In so doing, they acquire in-depth knowledge and develop understanding across a broad and balanced range of disciplines.

Thinkers

They exercise initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively to recognize and approach complex problems, and make reasoned, ethical decisions.

Communicators

They understand and express ideas and information confidently and creatively in more than one language and in a variety of modes of communication. They work effectively and willingly in collaboration with others.

Principled

They act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities. They take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them.

Open-Minded

They understand and appreciate their own cultures and personal histories, and are open to the perspectives, values and traditions of other individuals and communities. They are accustomed to seeking and evaluating a range of points of view and are willing to grow from the experience.

Caring

They show empathy, compassion and respect towards the needs and feelings of others. They have a personal commitment to service, and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment.

Risk-Takers

They approach unfamiliar situations and uncertainty with courage and forethought and have the independence of spirit to explore new roles, ideas and strategies. They are brave and articulate in defending their beliefs.

Balanced

They understand the importance of intellectual, physical and emotional balance to achieve personal well-being for themselves and others.

Reflective

They give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and experience. They are able to assess and understand their strengths and limitations in order to support their learning and personal development.

EAGLES -Elated, Amazing, Grateful, Loving, Exciting and Supportive.

As a new 6th grade parent to Herbert A. Ammons Middle School and as the new PTSA President I am “E”lated to share with you just how “A”mazing Ammons truly is. My son and I are so “G”rateful and have felt so welcomed in our new school. From the instant we arrived we have been made to feel like we have been here for years. The teachers are “L”oving to their students and make sure that these students have an “E”xciting experience at Ammons. The administration and staff at Ammons are truly “S”upportive and go above and beyond to make parents and students feel like a welcomed member of the EAGLE family. Scholastic achievements are rewarded and students are motivated to accomplish their goals and are given the opportunity to achieve their highest potential through the IB program. Ammons also offers a variety of athletic and extracurricular activities allowing our students to become the most well-rounded middle schoolers in Miami Dade County.

Marisol Gomez Decena
6th Grade Parent
PTSA President