See here for a list of IB teachers at DMHS.  The IBO (International Baccalaureate Organization) requires and administers specialized teacher training.  All IB teachers have or are scheduled for such training. 

Information on the IB diploma requirements as well as course selection can be found in the Navigating IB section of this website. 

Yes, a student must complete one semester of American and Arizona Government and one of Economics/Free Enterprise.  In addition, there is a State and District graduation requirement of one credit in Career/Technical Education or Fine Arts.  All students who did not meet the computer proficiency requirement at an SUSD middle school will be required to pass a District high school proficiency test for computer skills or successfully complete the Computer Basics course.  In addition, a student must meet the standard on the reading, writing, and mathematics portions of AIMS in order to graduate from high school.  For those students graduating 2012 and beyond, there are different graduation requirements for the higher levels of diploma.  For more information, please go to the High School Planning Guide:  Graduation Requirements.

Beginning with the class of 2012, three years of lab sciences are needed.  All sciences offered at DMHS are lab sciences.  Students are encouraged to take all three laboratory sciences:  biology, chemistry, and physics.

IB Diploma candidates must fulfill the Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) core requirement of the IB Diploma Program.  They are not required to additionally fulfill the DMHS PE Graduation Requirement.  The "action" component of CAS, consisting of approximately 50 hours over a two year period, serves as a satisfactory non-credited equivalent.  

The IB diploma is separate from the SUSD diploma.  As long as a student completes the requirements of the SUSD diploma, he or she will graduate from high school.

Starting with the class of 2013, Algebra I taken in middle school will appear on a student’s transcript.

The students actually receive two diplomas:  one is the standard high school diploma received at graduation; the other is an IB diploma awarded by the IBO in July following the student’s senior year, assuming he or she has earned the requisite 24 points out of a possible 45.

Despite demands of the IB curriculum, the DMHS IB students are community leaders and among the most active students on campus. Most IB students are members of, and hold offices in, many of the 71 campus organizations. They also participate in student government and perform extensive community service.  

In 2007, IB students participated in a wide variety of varsity athletics resulting in eight team championships for DMHS. IB students also lead internationally focused organizations such as “Invisible Children,” “Model UN,” “Seeds of Peace” and Spanish Honor Society. The International Baccalaureate Student Association organizes an annual DMHS International Fair and invites all members of the student body and community to attend.  IB students are involved in many aspects of student life at DMHS.  Sports, theatre, band, and clubs are all areas in which IB students participate.   

In fact, one of the requirements of the Diploma program, the CAS (Creativity, Action, and Service) aspect, encourages students to be well-rounded in their activities by mandating 75 hours of these types of activities in both the junior and senior years, for a total of 150 hours.

Since completion of the pre-Diploma and Diploma programs give students a waiver for Physical Education, there is an extra period in three out of four years.  A high proportion of students participating in the arts are IB students.  Music, theatre, art, and dance can fit into your regular day, your extra-curriculars, and even your zero hour.  Marching band, Jazz I, and a vocal music are held in zero hour.  Theatre has something going on all the time.  You can even take IB Theatre, IB Music or IB Art as one of your SL courses. The arts at DMHS are great and help IB students to decompress.  Whatever your passion – follow it!

Freshman pre-Diploma English and pre-Diploma History are scheduled as a “block” or two consecutive periods.  The two classes frequently work on parallel topics and sometimes meet together.  An example is the annual Freshmen Nuremburg Trial Reenactment. 

Four grade point averages are listed on a student's transcript. The student's GPA is listed at the end of each semester that reflects the GPA for that semester only. The other GPA's are cumulative for grades nine through twelve. The academic GPA includes only English, Math, Social Studies, Science and Foreign Language courses. The overall grade point average (OGPA) includes all courses for which a letter grade is given, including additional weight for honors, IB and AP classes. In a weighted course, an A = 5, B = 4 and C = 3. No additional weight is given for a D. The un-weighted average includes all courses, with no additional computation for honors, AP or IB classes. Cumulative grade point averages are listed under the GPA Summary section of the transcript. These cumulative GPA's are used for college admission.

The student needs to see the guidance counselor to discuss the options.  If taking a course online is the best option, then the counselor will give the student a copy of his or her transcript and the available online options.  It is up to the student to enroll in the online course and pay for it . The student is also responsible for sending the transcript to DMHS after the course is completed.

Concurrent enrollment is a class a student takes at DMHS from a teacher who is also certified to teach the course through Scottsdale Community College. If the student pays the SCC fees for the course, then credit can be awarded from SCC and DMHS. The IB curriculum does not offer any concurrent enrollment classes.

Yes, most Honors classes have summer homework.  Sometime in late May, all summer work assignments for Honors and/or IB classes will be posted on the school website.  It is the student’s responsibility to complete the assignment by the first day of school in August. 

The AIMS test is taken during the second semester of a student’s sophomore year.  A student has two more testing opportunities each year to meet or exceed the standards.

The IBSA or the International Baccalaureate Student Association is a club within DMHS whose members are in the pre-Diploma and Diploma programs. The IBSA organizes an annual DMHS International Fair and invites all members of the student body to attend.