Downtown Doral Charter Upper School named candidate for International Baccalaureate (IB) program

Downtown Doral Charter Upper School (DDCUS) is one step closer to being the first school in the Doral area to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) program to its students. The IB program is considered to be among one of the most rigorous advanced academic programs for college admissions.

DDCUS is a candidate to offer the program starting in Fall 2021 to students in grades 6^th-10^th and will pursue authorization to offer the IB program to their 11^th-12^th grade students.

“Our mission at DDCUS is to create a globalized future world leader. That perfectly aligns with the IB program’s mission to encourage students to be internationally minded, within a complex and hyper-connected world by offering a unique academically rigorous international program,” said Wilhelm Lapica, Principal of Downtown Doral Charter Upper School. “Bringing this program to our curriculum, will tap into the diversity we are interested in bringing to our school.”

On average, acceptance rates at top tier U.S universities are 30% higher for IB Diploma graduates versus regular high school graduates.

DDCUS accommodates students grades 6-12 and provides a comprehensive dual-language curriculum and bicultural education. Since its opening in 2018, DDCUS has secured an “A” rating by the Florida Department of Education, has been ranked in the top 1% public and upper charter schools in the state of Florida and ranked #2 among others in the district.

Earlier this year, a team of students from DDCUS were the only Florida winners out of five National Grand Prize Winners in the 10^th annual Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow Contest. As a result, DDCUS received $100,000 in technology and supplies to meet the needs of their classrooms. The DDCUS team was chosen based on the creative proposal submitted by teacher Rebeca Martinez to address trash and flooding in the City of Doral using STEM learning in her classroom. The students worked with the City of Doral  and created a device to detect sediment build-up and share real-time updates on the density of sediments in drains to local officials when structures need immediate cleaning and maintenance. See the DDCUS video here for more information on the project.

To learn more about DDCUS, visit www.ddcus.org or call (305) 513-3013. Applications are still being accepted for the 2021-2022 school year for grades 6^th – 11^th.