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William Lipscomb Elementary
International Baccalaureate
At William Lipscomb Elementary, the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme helps students become curious, capable, and compassionate learners. Through inquiry, collaboration, reflection, and meaningful action, students develop the knowledge and confidence to understand the world and make a positive difference within it.
A PYP Education at Lipscomb
William Lipscomb Elementary is an International Baccalaureate World School offering the Primary Years Programme, or PYP. Designed for students ages 3–12, the PYP is a student-centered approach to learning that develops academic knowledge alongside the skills, habits, and character students need to thrive.
In a PYP classroom, students do more than memorize information. They ask questions, investigate important ideas, make connections across subjects, and apply their learning to authentic situations. Teachers guide students through meaningful inquiry while maintaining high expectations for strong literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, language, and the arts.
At Lipscomb, the PYP strengthens our commitment to student agency. Students are encouraged to be active participants in their learning: to wonder, communicate, collaborate, reflect, and take meaningful action. This approach helps children develop confidence in their ideas while learning to listen to others, think critically, and contribute to their community.
How the PYP Comes to Life
The Primary Years Programme creates learning experiences that are engaging, challenging, relevant, and connected to the real world.
Inquiry
Students ask questions, investigate ideas, and develop deeper understanding instead of simply receiving information.
Connected Learning
Students make meaningful connections across subjects, cultures, communities, and the world around them.
Agency & Action
Students develop voice, choice, responsibility, and the confidence to use their learning to make a positive difference.
Six Themes That Shape Learning
Through units of inquiry, students explore big ideas that connect learning to their lives, their communities, and the wider world.
Who We Are
Where We Are in Place and Time
How We Express Ourselves
How the World Works
How We Organize Ourselves
Sharing the Planet
The IB Learner Profile
At the heart of an IB education is the Learner Profile: a shared vision for the kind of people students can become. The Learner Profile goes beyond academic success by helping students develop the qualities needed to understand themselves, respect others, and engage thoughtfully with the world.
At Lipscomb, these attributes are not limited to a poster or a single lesson. They shape the way students learn, interact, solve problems, and reflect on their growth. They also guide our teachers, leaders, and families as members of one learning community.
The IB Learner Profile includes ten attributes that encourage students to become inquirers, knowledgeable thinkers, effective communicators, principled decision-makers, open-minded collaborators, caring community members, courageous risk-takers, balanced individuals, and reflective learners.
Growing as IB Learners
Inquirers
Knowledgeable
Thinkers
Communicators
Principled
Open-Minded
Caring
Risk-Takers
Balanced
Reflective
Explore Our Programme of Inquiry
Lipscomb’s Programme of Inquiry outlines the central ideas and units students explore across grade levels. It shows how learning develops over time while remaining connected to the six transdisciplinary themes of the PYP.
Use this page to see how students build understanding from Pre-K through fifth grade.