IB Thursday's Thoughts Newsletter | August 28, 2025
Dear Parents and Students,
I’d like to welcome our IB Diploma Program rising seniors back to Hillcrest and officially welcome rising juniors to the Hillcrest IB program! I hope you had a great summer and are ready to roll through your year with great success.
“Thursday’s Thoughts,” our weekly IB newsletter, will have important reminders, IB updates, information and policy updates, and will highlight student and program achievements. Please send me any questions you have about upcoming IB events, testing or general IB information. I hope to inform and answer any IB related questions you have. Students know they can come to my office any time for questions, help, or advice on IB issues.
IB Program Evaluation
We just finished our 5 year IB program evaluation. Every IB World School undergoes these accreditations every 5 years. It is a mandatory and ongoing process that involves a formal evaluation. These evaluations are to ensure that IB programs are implemented according to established program standards and practices and to identify strengths and areas of improvement. We had an IB evaluation team from New York, South Carolina, and Georgia in our building for 3 days. This visit ultimately serves as a catalyst for continuous improvement to maintain a quality IB program here at Hillcrest. We are very happy to report we have a thriving Diploma Program and the evaluation team was so impressed with our students and teachers!
Class of 2025, where are they?
Many IB students have asked me where our 2025 class of IB graduates decided to attend college…. here’s the list! This list does not include all of the universities where they were accepted, just where they are currently attending (I may have missed a few). Congrats to a great IB class of 2025!
University of Utah (several presidential, flagship and academic scholarships)
Brown University (2 students)
Brigham Young University
Utah Valley University
Princeton University
John’s Hopkins University
Colorado School of Mines
Cal. Berkeley (2 students)
University of South Florida
Boston University
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
University of Washington
Oxford Brookes University, Oxford England
USC
Purdue University
Cornell University
University of Texas at Dallas
Georgia Institute of Technology
Student Spotlight: Kennedy Mickelson
A new inductee into the Hillcrest IB Program, 11th grader Kennedy Mickelson participated on a Utah State Board of Education panel called “Policy and Governance.” The panel deals with AI in education. She also moderated a panel at Utah Valley University on AI governance and use in education with industry and government leaders.
Next Week
Academic Integrity Policy
Academic Preparation Period (APP)
IB examination student plans
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Preparation Period (APP)
- IB Examination Student Plan
Please reach out with any questions or concerns. Thank you!
John Olsen
Hillcrest IB Coordinator
john.olsen@canyonsdistrict.org
Cassidy Adams
CAS Coordinator
cassidy.adams@canyonsdistrict.org