International Baccalaureate

Ocean Knoll Elementary School is an award-winning public elementary school located in Encinitas, California and has served multiple generations of kindergarten through sixth grade children since 1959. Ocean Knoll’s International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program, authorized in 2013, provides all our students an engaging education in which students master twenty-first century knowledge and skills through an academically challenging curriculum, requiring students to take initiative, research, organize and complete projects, and speak in front of their classmates, preparing our children for critical thinking, community service, and college-level coursework.

Our program serves as a springboard for children’s love of learning, creativity, and readiness for the future where children reach their full social and academic potential. As an IB community, we value our nurturing environment that fosters inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

In keeping with the school’s philosophy that children learn best when they are actively involved, concepts are introduced and reinforced through inquiry-based learning. Students engage in interdisciplinary projects in each grade, developing their collaboration and critical thinking skills and allowing students to approach topics from multiple angles and disciplines. As students deepen their skills in literacy and math, they also broaden their education through weekly specialty classes in PE, nutrition and garden, Spanish, music, and yoga. Students have the opportunity to experience hands-on science, develop their cooking skills, and earn their Junior Master Gardener certificate with the Sage Garden Project pilot program on our campus. As students advance through the grades, they can take on greater school-wide roles and responsibilities through the SOAR program, the Kinder Care Club, the Green Team, Dolphin Store Management, and on the school basketball teams.

Ocean Knoll Elementary School is an International Baccalaureate World School offering the Primary Years Programme (PYP). PYP schools share a common philosophy – a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that empowers children to be internationally minded and inspires them to make the world a better place. Ocean Knoll’s commitment to providing a comprehensive education is evidenced in the wide variety of course offerings it provides for its students. In addition to its academic program, students benefit from strong health and wellness, world language, and arts programs: Garden, Nutrition, Yoga, Physical Education, Music, and Spanish are courses offered to all students.

In addition, Ocean Knoll’s programming offers an enrichment and intervention block, called Team Time, that provides additional support for those students working toward proficiency in Reading, as well as advanced offerings for those students who are functioning at or above grade level. This comprehensive educational program along with a talented and dedicated faculty staff and strong partnerships with parents and community organizations are the reason why the students at Ocean Knoll are so successful and continue to be recognized with numerous awards and honors.