In 2019 we met with a widely respected and accomplished school leader who encouraged us to bring the International Baccalaureate Program (IB) to LCS. We said: “It’s not a fit for our school. There’s a better fit for our mission and our desire to help our motivated academic students discover God’s calling on their lives.”
I was a teacher and administrator at Pacific Academy (PA) from 2003-2012. PA is an IB World School. So is RE Mountain Secondary in the Langley School District. During my career, I’ve been an IB teacher and IB coordinator, as well as a contracted curriculum developer, examiner and consultant for the IB organization. I know the program well. It’s a strong program with a strong reputation. Therefore, I also know there’s a better option for the kind of students we’re striving to form – students who know God, love others and live purposefully.
ADAM WOELDERS – HEAD OF SCHOOL
Christian schools need an advanced-course framework that lets them weave a biblical worldview explicitly through every subject, is affordable to implement, is readily recognized by the universities most of their graduates attend, works with diverse learners with diverse gifts, and is flexible and adaptable. On all 5 counts, the Advanced Placement (AP) programme offers advantages over the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma. Moreover, the pluralistic IB philosophy that there is no absolute truth in the world, is a worldview that leaves little room for the LCS curricular beliefs – primarily that truth comes from God.
We are frequently asked by some parents: Why doesn’t LCS adopt the IB Program and bring it here? If you’re curious about why we have not developed an IB program, here’s why:
1. Mission & curriculum alignment
- À-la-carte design lets teachers insert Christian perspectives and service-learning without violating AP course outlines.
- IB’s fixed core (TOK, CAS, Extended Essay) is less compatible with explicit faith integration and centres on a pluralist worldview that says “there is no truth.” The authority of Scripture as the starting point for all truth claims is not an acceptable way of thinking in the IB program.
2. Cost & operational practicality
- No site-authorisation fee for AP and less-expensive teacher training; IB authorization and mandatory PD can exceed US $12,000 up-front and ongoing additional costs for school compliance inspections.
- Lower exam cost: US $98 per AP exam vs US $119 per IB subject (six exams required for the IB Diploma). LCS is also an AP Examination centre and generates revenue from AP students in other schools writing their exams here.
3. Reach, recognition & results
- More common in North America (23 000 AP schools vs <2 000 IB) makes staffing, resources, and peer networks easier to secure.
- Near-universal university credit policies for AP scores of 3+, often broader than credit granted for individual IB courses. Many IB students do not get credit for their courses.
4. Supports diverse learners with diverse gifts
- Menu-based entry points. Students can take a single AP Art, Music Theory, or Computer Science course without committing to a full diploma, allowing artists, athletes, or vocationally oriented students to stretch in their areas of gifting.
- Multiple assessment modalities. Several AP subjects feature performance tasks (e.g., AP Art & Design portfolios, AP Capstone presentations) that reward creative and applied strengths, not only timed exams.
- Tiered pacing. Schools may run AP courses over one or two years, embed extra language-learning support, or pair AP content with other blocks – options the IB Diploma’s tight two-year schedule struggles to accommodate.
- Diverse learners. Schools who run IB programs tend to eventually only attract certain types of students. LCS aims to be a fit for a far broader range of students with different gifts and abilities.
5. Flexible & adaptable for school growth
- Scalable one course at a time. A Christian school can pilot AP Biology this year, add AP Economics next, and pause if staffing change without breaching programme rules or jeopardizing existing AP status.
- Blends with local graduation paths. AP slots easily beside provincial requirements, dual-credit college courses, or ministry internships; IB locks students into six subject groups for 2 years making it nearly impossible to do anything else during that time.
- Responsive to enrolment shifts. Low sign-ups for a given AP section can be managed course-by-course or alternating-year rotations, whereas IB requires enough higher-level candidates every year to keep the Diploma viable.
The Bottom line for parents thinking “I wish LCS had an IB program…”
In recent years LCS has produced outstanding academic opportunities for the students who want them, while maintaining other strengths in the arts, service, trades technology and service learning – without converting our entire school into a college prep school. And, we’ve produced just as many graduates who are accepted into top university programs as schools many times our size. LCS graduates have won prestigious entrance scholarships and entry into top programs across Canada and the United States.
Advanced Placement (AP) is not only a better program, it is a far better fit for Langley Christian School.
AP is a fit for us because it delivers college-level academic challenge on par with IB courses, while letting Christian schools teach Christianly, serve a wider range of learners, and adapt quickly to budget or timetable realities. It secures broad university recognition and avoids the philosophical, cost and logistical constraints that often make the IB Diploma a tougher fit for faith-based K-12 communities.
