It’s official - Aiken High School will be South Carolina’s first Cambridge International School. The announcement came yesterday from Cambridge following a review of Aiken High School’s application and an on-site visit to the campus.
“We’re extremely honored to be South Carolina’s first Cambridge school,” Aiken High’s Principal Garen Cofer commented. “To be able to offer advanced coursework in areas of interest to all students through Cambridge is really the right fit for our school and our young people.”
Cambridge International was the hands-down favorite among school, community and teacher leaders who studied accelerated learning opportunities through their service on a high school thematic focus committee. Aiken High was once home to an underutilized International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Because of its limited student participation, IB was part of 2009 budget cuts. A renowned foreign language program and highly competent instructors, coupled with the school’s active international exchange program allowed an international focus to remain at the school.
With Aiken High’s history of international involvement, the Cambridge Program (CIE) was selected as Aiken High’s accelerated learning focus, as it will offer every student in the school the flexibility and rigor of an International curriculum in pursuing a Cambridge diploma or taking college credit courses.
Cambridge is taught in more than 10,000 schools worldwide and prepares students to become global citizens able to compete on the world academic and economic stage. With a Global Studies course required of all students, every student will expand their knowledge of world events through an overview and have the opportunity to explore further a single area in which to complete an in-depth research project.
The Cambridge model focuses on creative thinking, inquiry and problem solving in order to prepare independent learners. Students may choose to enroll in just a few Cambridge courses or to pursue an internationally recognized Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) diploma, offering a broad selection of courses in Math and Science, Languages, Arts and Humanities and Interdisciplinary skills-based courses. Successfully passing a Cambridge course’s final exam allows college credit at a growing list of more than 500 college and universities nationwide, including seven in South Carolina (Clemson University, University of South Carolina, College of Charleston, Lander University, Furman University, Presbyterian College and Wofford College) and all Ivy League institutions. A trademark of Cambridge’s flexibility is that students may retake an exam as many times as they wish or as necessary for credit.
Teacher training and curriculum development will begin in fall 2017. Cambridge courses will begin with freshman students in the 2018-19 school year, with the graduating Class of 2022 being the first eligible for AICE diplomas.
LINK TO DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2017 PR AIKEN HIGH CAMBRIDGE APPROVAL