CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect the correct percentage of Renton High School students who receive free or reduced lunch.

This year Justin Apolonio got to try something new at Renton High School, where he is a junior. He’s learning to think about learning, or metacognition as it’s formally called in his Theory of Knowledge class, part of the school’s new International Baccalaureate Programme.

“So, for example, in science rather than asking a simple blunt question like ‘what are the three states of matter?’ you could ask something like ‘how do we know what we know based on scientific research?’” he said.

Apolonio is just one of the 250 to 300 juniors at Renton High School who have really taken to the IB program. He is one of 52 students taking all six IB classes in pursuit of the IB diploma.

IB is a college preparation program for juniors and seniors that expects the students to demonstrate college-level work. At Renton High School the program is debuting to juniors only this year, who have really taken to it, according to administration.

Successfully obtaining an IB diploma gives students the opportunity to apply to exchange credits and gain access to such college’s as Paris’ Sorbonne and Harvard. Students can waive up to two years of college classes with an IB diploma anywhere the diploma is accepted, both nationally and internationally.

The Race to the Top funding really supported ramping up the program with the training of teachers prior to implementation, administration said. Nearly all juniors at the school are taking two IB classes: History of the Americas and IB English. Area Instructional Chief Damien Pattenaude called that “unheard of.”

Of the 21 schools in the state with an IB program, there are none with the demographics and size of those students enrolled in IB classes that there are at Renton High School, he said. At other schools that are even bigger, like Kent-Meridian, IB is like a gifted program, where kids can opt out.

But at Renton, IB has been made the default curriculum.

“We want to provide access to all kids,” said Pattenaude.

Classes aren’t free. There is a $160 registration and exams cost $110, but for students who receive free or reduced lunch registration is only $16 and each exam is $20. More than 90 percent of the 52 students pursuing the full diploma receive free or reduced lunch at Renton High.

“You can get students initially, but how do we retain them?” Pattenaude said.

He’s been talking to students about their challenges with IB and their schedules. There are some students who are taking all six IB classes on top of sports and other activities such as jobs. There are other students who might be in a couple of clubs, but who are also pursuing the full IB diploma.

The only students not in IB classes are students with an IEP or Individualized Education Program or English Language Learners. Even still, Pattenaude said that Renton is working with those departments to have at least the IB spirit introduced.

For those students pursuing the full IB diploma there are six classes plus three other components to graduate: a creativity, action and service component; the Theory of Knowledge class and the extended essay, a 4,000 word independent research paper.

“It’s IB’s way of making sure we have well-rounded students who are an active component of the community they live in,” said Shehnaz Wadhwania, IB Diploma Coordinator. “It’s not about just being good at academics, but also being good at other components of just being human and productive.”

There are district funds to support the program and grant funds to accelerate and sustain it.

“I just think what’s going on at Renton is unique,” said Pattenaude.

People have asked why Renton and not Hazen for the IB program, he said. For him and staff, it came down to a belief in the kids and the community at Renton deserve the program and can thrive in it, he said.

Pattenaude has heard from critics who question the idea of every student at Renton High taking some IB classes. He says people are taking a wait-and-see approach, but he’s confident the program he initially introduced to the school as principal will be successful.

“It’s a shift in our mindset, but we’re not naive to think that you can’t do this without the requisite support,” which is where the Race to the Top funding has come in handy for training teachers and providing tutoring.

“I think Renton High School is doing incredibly exciting work…I am just first excited about the high school including all students not students who have been in accelerated classes,” said Hilary Loeb, director of the Puget Sound Educational Service District.

She is particularly impressed with the “rich system of support so they (students) can get help if they need it.”

Loeb notes Renton’s size of impoverished students and racially diverse population for being unique in adopting the IB program because she said, you usually see IB taking root in more affluent schools. The idea of academic acceleration has really taken root across the region at other schools including Rainier Beach and Chief Sealth high schools, she said.