Rainbow Chimes is first Long Island school to embrace the International Baccalaureate® Primary Years Programme (PYP) of International Education—the global benchmark for early childhood educational excellence.
In 2009, the Rainbow Chimes governing board and administrators, with the help of key staff, decided to transform our curriculum into the prestigious International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB PYP). Recently, we were granted official status by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO).
- Philosophy and Process
- Why is the IB PYP so important for your child?
- About the International Baccalaureate
Philosophy and Process
Rainbow Chimes International School for Early Education is building on its 30-year legacy of award-winning, quality programs for young children by offering Long Island’s first world-oriented preschool and Kindergarten at its 3-acre Huntington campus. Rainbow Chimes has been formally recognized as a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate® (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) for students aged 3 to 12, and is pursuing authorization as an International Baccalaureate Organization World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment to high quality, challenging, internationally-minded education that Rainbow Chimes believes is important for all young students.
Inquiry-based, playful learning is at the heart of the curriculum, which is geared to typical and gifted children from Huntington and the surrounding communities. Activities emphasize the lifelong development of knowledge, conceptual understanding, skills, and attitudes in the classroom and in the world outside. Degreed, specially-trained teachers guide children from wonder to discovery to expression in transdisciplinary subjects of global significance: who we are, where we are in place and time, how we express ourselves, how the world works, how we organize ourselves, and sharing the planet. The creative framework also encourages artistic, musical, and dramatic expression, foreign-language enrichment, and reflection about service to others, as well as numerical, spatial and scientific discovery.
We offer extended hours from 6 am to 7 pm to help working parents, and also provide programs for infants and toddlers, as well as school-agers before and after school, school holidays, and summer camp. Over the next few years, a first and second grade will be added.
Authorization to become an IB World School is an intensive process that typically takes two or more years while implementing the curriculum, and during Rainbow Chimes’ candidacy period, IB training and site visits will ensure that the required high standards of excellence are met. Only schools authorized by the IB organization can offer any of its three academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), or the Diploma Programme. Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted, but Rainbow Chimes long history of award-winning early education is sure to be a factor in the success of the new venture. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit http://www.ibo.org.
Why is the IB PYP so important for your child?
Parents looking forward into their children’s future can envision all kinds of 21st century challenges and opportunities they will encounter as the world and its people become more and more interconnected. Since research clearly shows that the first five years of a child’s life are the most important to their optimal development and future thinking, we all want to ensure that our young children get the best educational beginning—one that guides effective problem-solving skills and promotes confident communication skills, as well as joyful, creative artistry and responsible global citizenry…all attributes needed by one of tomorrow’s leaders.
About the International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
To this end, the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.
These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate, and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
