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Palos Verdes International Diploma


international postage stamps

Advisor:
Room:
Phone:
@pvpusd.k12.ca.us

Program Requirements
Requirements Checklist*
APID Certification
Brochure*
PowerPoint Presentation

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Why is an international education program so important to our students today?

The PVID, (Palos Verdes International Diploma) program provides a unique opportunity, the only one of its kind in the South Bay, for students to gain additional international education while working towards an supplementary certification that will appear on their diplomas. Students will also be encouraged to earn the College Board’s prestigious APID (Advanced Placement International Diploma), while enrolled in the program.

A Changing World

  • High school students today are living in a very different world in which their parents lived. However, research has shown that most young people today have little international knowledge.
  • For better or for worse, globalization is here to stay and it will have a deep impact on the future lives of our students.
  • As parents and teachers we must provide additional opportunities for our students to understand and gain awareness of the changing world that we all now live in.


“This is a very exciting time in the world of information. The whole pace of business is moving faster. Globalization is forcing companies to do things in new ways.”
- Bill Gates

“If our young people can't find places on a map and lack awareness of current events, how can they understand the world's cultural, economic and natural resource issues that confront us?"
- John Fahey, President, National Geographic Society

“Education is the ability to meet life's situations.”
-Dr. John H. Hibben

The Problem

  • 11% of young Americans cannot place the USA on a world map while only 13% can correctly place the nation of Iraq. 1
  • American high school students rank amongst the worst in the world in terms of geographic knowledge. 1
  • Many business leaders have expressed concerns that the quality of education given in the US system is generally below acceptable standards, and should be adapted in order to conform to the needs of an evolving world.” 2

1 National Geographic survey, 2002 2 Gates Foundation, 2005


The Solution

The creation of an international education program that guides and inspires highly motivated students throughout their four years at PVHS. Students will be enrolled in a variety of AP and honors courses in social science, English and foreign language with the goal of obtaining the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in the 21st century.

Students will be encouraged to also obtain the College Board’s prestigious Advanced Placement International Diploma (APID), a globally recognized certificate for students with an international outlook. The APID challenges students to display exceptional achievement on AP Exams across several disciplines. Universities worldwide utilize the APID in admissions.

PVID Highlights

  • The PVID international program is unique. It’s the only one of its kind in the South Bay and one of the few in California.
  • Palos Verdes High School is one of the only South Bay high schools to offer AP Comparative Government and AP Human Geography.
  • Because of Palos Verdes High’s extensive course offerings, PVHS students are the only students in the South Bay to qualify for the College Board’s APID certification.

Palos Verdes International Diploma Requirements

1. Two semesters of World History Honors or AP/ & English 1 Honors
2. Two semesters of AP European History & English 2
Honors Block.
3. Two semesters of the AP US History & AP English Language.
4. Two years of a foreign language.
5. Two semesters of AP Human Geography/AP Comparative
Government course.
6. One semester of AP Government or AP Economics
7. At least one of the after-school El Camino or Harbor
Community College courses covering an international
topic (with counselor approval.)
8. Participation in either Model United Nations (MUN) or Mock Trial or completion of Comparative Religions OR Advanced Philosophy course.
9. Senior Project AND Physical Project based on an International Studies topic.

APID Certification

To earn an APID, a student must earn grades of 3 or higher on at least five AP Exams in the following content areas:

English, foreign language, geography or comparative government, mathematics or science and one other subject of choice including, government, economics or art.