As a kid growing up in Puyallup, Seattle University President Eduardo Peñalver was bright, but he didn’t see himself as a good student.

All that changed when his parents enrolled him in Foss High School. The Foss International Baccalaureate (IB) program drew the attention of Peñalver’s parents. They liked the holistic, academically challenging and internationally recognized curriculum.

Peñalver thrived in and out of the classroom. He credits the dedication of his Foss teachers and the nurturing community at Foss. The rigorous IB curriculum exposed him to fields of study that he would not have chosen on his own. Peñalver enrolled in the IB Diploma Program, a college-level, two-year program offered to Foss juniors and seniors.

When Peñalver graduated from Foss in 1990, the IB experience prepared him to hit the ground running as an Ivy League student at Cornell University. Then after Cornell, he continued to build on his IB experience as a Rhodes Scholar, an attorney, an Ivy league professor, the dean of Cornell Law School—and now the president of Seattle University.

Foss High School, the state’s first IB school, remains the only public high school in Tacoma to offer IB programs. Foss offers three IB programs, the Middle Years Program, Careers Program and the Diploma Program.

In addition to high school programs, Tacoma Public Schools offers the IB Primary Years Program and Middle Years Program at McCarver Elementary School, Whittier Elementary School, Giaudrone Middle School, Hunt Middle School and Wainwright Intermediate School.

Is your middle school student looking for a leg up in college or a head start on their career? Learn more about Foss and its IB programs and apply for next school year by January 21, 2022.