MUKILTEO – For two days last week, Harbour Pointe Middle School opened itself up to the scrutiny of the outside world.

Two evaluators – one from California, the other from South Carolina – strolled down halls, visited classrooms and talked to teachers, parents and students.

What they report will end up before an international board in Geneva, Switzerland.

That panel will decide early next year whether Harbour Pointe is accepted into the rigorous International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program. There are 49 of the programs in the United States, but none in Washington state.

“We had a lot of anxiety,” said DeAnne Findlay, a sixth-grade English, Spanish and humanities teacher who is also the school’s program coordinator for the international program. “We also felt confident we have accomplished a lot of what is expected.”

Harbour Pointe has been working for three years to weave the international approach into its classrooms. The program emphasizes intercultural awareness and community service. Students are taught a foreign language, and lessons often cross several disciplines.

It is aimed at students ages 11 through 16. The International Baccalaureate Organization, founded in 1968 and based in Geneva, also offers a diploma program for older students. Edmonds-Woodway High School is the lone school in Snohomish County and one of 426 high schools in the nation with the diploma program.

Harbour Pointe principal Frank Atkinson and several teachers say starting an International Baccalaureate program has been more work than expected. Initially, some questioned why a school with already impressive test scores needed to change.

“I just think it will help our students more in the long term,” Atkinson said.

The shift means more accountability, including periodic on-site evaluations from outsiders. Eventually, the school also will send samples of student work to England for international evaluators to assess.

Findlay, who has been on the Harbour Pointe staff since the school opened 12 years ago, was initially skeptical, but was swayed the more she studied the program. She feels it adds depth and context to student learning.

“We felt we were meeting a lot of their basic education needs, but what could we do to go beyond that?” she said.

Findlay believes teachers are working more closely together than ever before.

Shanna Nelson, a science teacher, said students are connecting what they are learning to the real world. Some students are trying to answer the question: In what way does where we live influence how we live?

“They are really thinking deeply about not only their own lives but other people’s lives,” Nelson said.

For Nelson, the three-year journey to International Baccalaureate program has raised standards for all students.

“What’s best for the best is best for the rest,” she said.

Some students have caught on to the interdisciplinary strategy.

“This year, what I’m finding is math is touching into science, which is tied to English, which is tied to humanities instead of me trying to make the connections and figuring out how everything is tied together,” said Kevin Ryan, a sixth-grader.

A major challenge ahead will be convincing middle school students to enroll in the International Communication and Technology academy academy at Mariner High School, which emphasizes international education, Atkinson said.

Harbour Point students traditionally move on to Kamiak High School, not Mariner. When an evaluator asked a room of 14 students who might enroll at Mariner to be part of the academy, no one raised their hand.

Natalie Smith, an eighth-grade Harbour Pointe student, said she believes the program has been a great approach to learning, but she can’t imagine students leaving their community high school.

“We want to be with our friends,” she said to the nods of her classmates.

Atkinson admitted, “We have a tremendous amount of marketing to do to make it a real viable alternative for kids.”

Some parents say they still like the idea of having the International Baccalaureate program at the middle school even if it doesn’t continue at their local high school.

“We have been so pleased with the program,” said Kellie Coffey, the mother of a sixth-grade student. “We like having a foreign language built into it and that they are learning about the world around them.”

Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.