INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE
Primary Years Program
The International Baccalaureate Early Years and Primary Years Programs mark the launch of a lifelong journey of learning. Through it, we help develop caring and culturally aware children as active participants in their own learning.
Explore our Transdisciplinary Themes
Six transdisciplinary themes serve as the backbone of the Primary Years Program’s inquiry-based learning approach. These themes enable students to forge meaningful connections across subjects, diving deep into broad concepts that transcend individual disciplines. Exploring these themes, students develop a rich understanding of the world around them.
Each grade from first to fifth engages with all six themes through carefully crafted units of inquiry. La Scuola students in preschool and kindergarten typically explore four or five units each year.
Who We Are
Covers inquiry into the nature of the self, relationships, rights and responsibilities, and what it means to be human.
Where We Are in Place and Time
Explores personal and societal histories, our homes and journeys, and the relationships between individuals and civilizations.
How We Express Ourselves
Asks how we discover and express our ideas, feelings, values, and creativity.
How the World Works
Questions how humans use their understanding of scientific principles and how scientific and technological advances impact the world.
How We Organize Ourselves
Looks at interconnectedness, how organizations are structured and function, and how societies make decisions.
Sharing the Planet
Centers on our endeavor to share the world’s finite resources with other living things, access to equal opportunities, and conflict resolution.
The Primary Years Program
Exhibition
In the final year of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program, students carry out an extended, in-depth, collaborative project known as the PYP Exhibition.
Through the Primary Years Program Exhibition, students collaboratively conduct an in-depth inquiry into real-life issues or problems, collectively synthesizing the elements of their learning for sharing with the community.
Past exhibition topics — including gender equality, animal rights, and mental health — reflected the serious way in which La Scuola students engage with the world.