Minnesota Association of IB World Schools (MNIB)

Our MNIB mission statement: 

"We are courageous leaders supporting those in the IB community who are implementing IB programs, building connections, removing barriers, and creating systems that increase access for all.

By doing this, young people, families, and educators in the IB community will have a voice, engage in meaningful learning, cultivate their geniuses, and celebrate their successes."

Check out the new section of our web page featuring our MNIB Mission and the work we are doing. You can link to the podcast detailing the process and see some of the first things that our members want to do using the mission as our guide. Go to the 'Living our Mission' page.

We are looking for presenters for our Summer Conference

Please complete the form below by April 10th to be considered for this paid opportunity to share your expertise and excitement with the MNIB Community!

Save the dates!

Our MNIB Summer conference is back!

After a prolonged absence (mostly due to COVID) we are thrilled to announce the popular MNIB Summer Conference returns for 2024.

Our Focus: Equity in an IB Setting

Details will follow but here are the basics...

Dates: August 13, 14, and 15, 2024

Location: Sanford Middle School (3524 42nd Ave S, Minneapolis)

What: A mixture of official IB training sessions (2 1/2 days for a fee), local workshops and roundtables (1/2 and full-day sessions for free), leadership sessions and some other collaboration opportunities

Registration: Watch this space - we hope to have registration open in early May. 

Exam reimbursement forms now available

MDE IB Web page

2023-24 Reimbursement forms are now available!


The latest version of the MDE Rigorous course taking report is now available. 

The IB-related section begins at page 15

Baker Center 

209 Page St West

St. Paul, MN

Marcia Howard

Our recent Association meeting was March 7th

Guest Speaker - Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard is an IB DP Language and Literature teacher at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, MN, where she has taught since 1998.  She challenged us to be the soil in which young people can grow and thrive, raise a bouquet of children, and remember that we are not in the business of pruning!

MNIB Leadership Award

Nominations for 2024 MNIB Adminstrator Award are open

Form is due March 15th - Today!

MYP Roundtable season 

is upon us!

Look for individual roundtables on the Roundtable/Workshop registration page and click the links provided to register online.

Location: Roosevelt HS

4029 South 28th Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55406

(parking on streets near school)

MYP EL Language Acquisition Roundtable 

This event is specifically for teachers of English Learners (EL) in the MYP Language Acquisition courses.

Wednesday, March 6th


2/29/24 update - We are full. Thanks for your tremendous response!


Check-in and treats at 8:30 - begin at 9:00

Lunch provided, and the session ends at 3:00

Location: Lakes International Language Academy (LILA)

MYP Language Acquisition Roundtable 


Postponed until late March - watch here for updates

Check-in and treats at 8:30 - begin at 9:00

Lunch provided, and the session ends at 3:00


LILA Headwaters Campus-Upper School

19850 Fenway Ave N

Forest Lake, MN 55025

Our most recent Association meeting was December 5th at the Baker Center in St. Paul.

Our focus was on 'Action across the IB continuum' and how we could better honor the IB mission to create a better and more peaceful world through our use of 'Action in the curriculum'.

Next meeting will be March 7th 

at the Baker Center

Be sure to renew your MNIB membership for 2023-24!

Link to Membership renewal form

The new pricing ($500 per year) reflects the need to sustain our organization and realize our mission. 

If you have questions about the change in fees, please contact us at director@mnibschools.org or call 612-483-3749. 

Baker Center 

209 Page St West

St. Paul, MN

Mark your calendars!

Our remaining regular Association meetings will be December 5th, March 7th, and May 22nd

Meetings will be at the Baker Center in St. Paul from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM with coffee and treats at 8:30.

But that's not all!

This year, we feature 'Celebrate Successes' with teacher leaders and students who are doing great things in their schools and communities! 

The first of these was an IB Matters Podcast with four IB DP candidates from Champlin Park HS. They spoke about their CAS (Creativity, Activity & Service) projects and how CAS has made a difference in their perspectives and even their future plans!

September 27 Association Meeting

Our September meeting was amazing with nearly 60 coordinators present!

Please complete this survey regarding the September meeting 

The big news at our September meeting was that, thanks to a new partnership with the MN Department of Education (MDE), all our events are sponsored by MDE and are offered free to MNIB members! 

Our 2022-23 MNIB Leadership Award goes to 

Dr. Winston Tucker of Highland Park Senior High

Dr. Winston Tucker receiving his MNIB Leadership award

Pictured: HPHS MYP coordinator Marissa Bonk, DP Coordinator Lee Stagg, MNIB Director Jon Peterson, and Principal, Dr. Winston Tucker

Excerpt from Dr. Tucker's nomination:

"When it comes to supporting the IB in St. Paul, Dr. Winston Tucker takes a lead, not only at Highland Park, but in the three IB high schools in our district. He has been a long-time advocate for our teachers at Highland and is dedicated to promoting our IB program with students, teachers, support staff, and our larger family community. Dr Tucker communicates regularly with our partner school (Highland Park Middle School) to promote a fluid 6-12 program. He really understands that as an international IB school, we don’t put our program ‘on the back burner,’ but showcase this valuable asset as much as possible." 

New VP Board positions for the 2023-25 terms

VP positions (CP, DP, MYP, PYP) 


Continuing officers through 2024:

Secretary - Jennifer Poncelet - Hopkins West JH

Treasurer - Jon Eversoll - Park Center HS

President - Sarah Wernimont - Roosevelt HS

Our spring meeting was May 24th

We heard from amazing students as they talked about their projects, CAS and service work. We also reacted to our latest mission draft and celebrated our own successes as we completed another year of supporting our students - and each other.

PYP Early Years roundtable tour

PYP Music teachers' roundtable

We hosted two 

PYP Mini-roundtables 

in April

The first session was for PYP music educators April 12

 

The second was for Early childhood educators looking to see the Early years PYP in action at the Fridley Community Center April 19th.

Michael Clifton in a Q & A with MNIB members

MYP Coordinators in their afternoon programme meeting

Our March Association meeting was Thursday, March 2nd

We heard from Beth Barsness from MDE and from Michael Clifton of the IB Americas office. We'll also looked at an early draft of our MNIB mission document.

Our last MNIB 2022-23 Association meeting will be May 24

We meet at the Baker Center, 209 W Page Street St. Paul, MN 55107

Be sure to check out the latest IB Associations Newsletter for great examples of integrating IB in regions around the world. Open the newsletter here.

PYP Exhibition Workshop 

Our PYP Exhibition Workshop included 40 teachers, coordinators and media specialists attending two days at Peter Hobart Elementary in St. Louis Park.  

The workshop was led by Kirstin Wickman on the afternoons of January 12th and Jan 26th.  

Are you wondering what makes International Baccalaureate education unique?

Check out this video to hear from students and teachers in all four programmes about their experiences in the IB.

Our winter Association meeting was December 6th

We featured Dr. Dave Webb who helped us look at better decision making.We also looked at how to help our IB school leadership make the most of our existing IB programmes. Thanks to MNIB Secretary, Jennifer Poncelet, for the thorough set of minutes linked below.

Our 2022 MNIB Leadership Award goes to...

John Leininger 

Principal of Matoska International School

From his nomination letter:

John Leininger was chosen for the MNIB Leadership Award because of his outstanding and longstanding advocacy for the International Baccalaureate in his school district and community. 

John has been the principal of Matoska International since their initial candidacy and authorization in 2010. His was the voice that made the case for including IB in his northeast metro suburb, and he consistently represents the IB perspective as the administrator of the sole IB program in District 624. 

As a building leader, John sincerely supports the staff in the pursuit of lifelong learning and a balance of professional and personal development and he models this in super cool international explorations that he pursues with his own family. 


He is a strong advocate for all students and diligently works to make Matoska International School a community of globally minded life long learners.

Our first Association meeting was September 28th and it was wonderful to see you all!

Thanks to Phil Evans, a long-time friend of MNIB and an IBO staff member, for coming to Minnesota and introducing the IB for all initiative he is spearheading. 

Did you attend the September meeting? You may download a copy of the CEU document here. You will be asked to 'make a copy'. Just add your own name to the document.

Here is a link Phil provided to learn more information about IB for all in the DP and CP.

Back-to-school resources for new and experienced staff

The ATL series was published in the summer of 2022. Use this link or search IB Matters wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to our new series of podcasts featuring the 

IB Approaches to Learning (ATL) Skills

In this 8-part series we are exploring the IB Approaches to Learning Skills known as the ATL’s that are at the core of all four International Baccalaureate Programmes. 


With John Harvey, we will try to give you a coherent, sustainable, values aligned strategy to implement ATL Skills in your school. We want to help you build your team of coordinators, teachers, librarians, and support staff. All ATL episodes are available now!

New IB teacher resource: IB 101 

When returning to school each year one of the most important jobs in an IB school is getting new teachers up to speed with the nature of the IB Programme(s) featured in their school. We also want to support the important relationships that IB Coordinators form with all the teachers in their building.

With that in mind we developed brief introductions in the form of self-guided tours of the basic elements of the IB and all four Programmes.

If you are a coordinator looking for a resource where your new teachers can learn the basics, send them to "Intro to the IB Programmes". They will be exposed to the common elements of all IB Programmes and then be directed to the specific Programme(s) in your school. 

They are encouraged to complete a Reflection Journal along the way and to reach out to the coordinator for more resources.

Congratulations to the most recent MNIB school 

to be authorized as an IB World School

Sejong Academy

is now an authorized MYP School!

Congratulations to their entire staff for this well-deserved accomplishment! 

We had a great time celebrating with you at your pre-school workshop on August 15th!

IB is making it easier to schedule online workshops that are specific to your school's needs

From the IBO.org website:

"Wherever you are in the world, you can participate in an online workshop for a high-quality learning experience and the same teaching concepts that you would explore in a face-to-face workshop. Participation in our cost-effective online workshops will also contribute to your school’s authorization or evaluation process to become an IB World School."

There are more than 400 online workshops to choose from and these are offered throughout the year. If you are not available when your choice of online workshop is scheduled, you can complete the request form linked on the website above. Schools have the option to request workshops to be delivered as part of a global cohort or exclusively to their own school. Online workshops delivered exclusively to one school have more real time interaction and therefore, resemble a virtual in-school experience. If you would like to know more about online professional development (PD) and how it works, please visit our page.

Please listen to this podcast featuring four outstanding MNIB voices of compassion and support as they share their feelings after the killing of George Floyd in our community here in Minnesota.

Anne Lalonde Laux, Chad Owen, Jenny Magdal, and Angela Wilcox speak of how they hope to help students and teachers make lasting changes in schools after the terrible events of the past weeks.

We recorded several podcasts related to online learning in response to the COVID-19 outbreak

Please contact us at IBMatters@mnibschools.org if you have something about online teaching to contribute on the podcast.

Click the icon to access these episodes. 

Looking for a past article or minutes from a past meeting? 

Go to the Web archive page.