The Gar-Field/Ridings partnership started 2 years ago when VIF teacher and Gar-Field parent, Jacqui Dexter, came into my office with the idea of connecting Gar-Field with a progressive school in her home land of Great Britain. She had seen news of The Ridings in the BBC press and pushed me to contact Mr. Rob Ford, Head of International Department and IB. Mr. Ford is well known for his work with international education and she said that he would be a great person to start with. Having just gone through the self study process with the Gar-Field Middle Years Program and the Diploma Program, I knew that the international piece was an area of growth for our program. Real international connections take lots of time and effort. As Mr. Ford would put it, "its like spinning plates...you have to check on all of them and if you do not pay attention to one, they will quickly fall."

I took Mrs. Dexter's advice and sent Mr. Ford an e-mail, looking for a mentor to help with this new territory. The Ridings was well established in the International Education area. They were traveling and hosting students. They had several video conferencing systems they used to "VC" with students from all over the world. All of this was new territory for GF. I thought to myself..."what does GF have to offer a school like this?" Soon after talking to Mr. Ford, I realized that they had just recently started the IB at the Ridings and were looking at different models (including offering the MYP) to expand participation. The partnership started there. With the help of Gar-Field teacher Stephanie Smith, the support of the GF faculty and administration, parents and students, we have have expanded our partnership into home stay visits along with our very own video conferencing equipment in the Spring of 2009.

The first Ridings visit to Gar-Field came in February of 2008.

The first Gar-Field visit to The Ridings HS was in late November of 2008.

On May 23rd, the Ridings HS will be making a return trip to Gar-Field.

Link to map of UK Partnerships
Link to the Ridings High School
Link to the Itinerary
Link to IB Case Study on the Ridings High School
Link to the site that documents the Ridings visit to Gar-Field in February of 2008.