IB Diploma Schools in Florida: Mean Scores
My daughter attended a middle school in Switzerland that provided dual tracts to the International Baccalaureate (“IB”) or the French Baccalaureate Diploma; alternatives to a typical high school diploma. When we decided to move back to the United States, I contacted the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) in Geneva, Switzerland to find out about IB Diploma schools since we preferred to continue with the program. Read more 
The IB Diploma School: Asking the Right Questions
Blue Nights
Several years ago, after my 14-year old golden retriever died, a friend gave me a book called “The Magical Year of Thinking” written by Joan Didion. The book is about the sudden death of Didion’s husband and the grief she experienced: reliving the last few days, imagining different outcomes, and sometimes pretending the loss isn’t real, that it was all a bad dream. As time goes by, the reader realizes that time doesn’t heal all wounds; time just makes the wound more bearable. And, although the loss of a beloved pet cannot be compared to the loss of a partner, “The Magical Year of Thinking” doesn’t distinguish between types of grief. Grief is grief no matter how you experience it. Read more
Random Acts of Rudeness and Kindness
Understanding the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Let’s Dig Deeper to Understand School Rankings
Ranking schools – high schools, colleges, business and law schools – is big business these days. US News & World Report, Newsweek, Business Week and countless other national and regional magazines and newspapers rank our schools annually. Schools seem to be obsessed with their respective rankings proudly displaying them on their websites and in press releases. But, if the public dug deeper and understood how the rankings are computed, these publications would not be considered gospel. Read more
Road Trips Made Bearable
Road trips can be monotonous, boring, and long – and if there are kids or teenagers in the car, a road trip is about as much fun as organizing a high school reunion. So, the challenge is how to make a road trip bearable and the answer is to stop along the way to tour a factory and learn how something is made. Read more
Cranberry Chutney
Every Fall when the fresh cranberries are harvested, picked, bagged, and eventually distributed to the grocery stores, I start thinking about making cranberry chutney.Not quite Thanksgiving but with a chill in the air, it’s hard to beat a baked chicken served with roasted potatoes and carrots, sautéed green beans with toasted almonds, and cranberry chutney on an Autumn night. Read more
Exploring the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
The Galapagos Islands are located approximately 600 miles off the western coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean on the equator.Consisting of 18 islands of various sizes and more than 100 large rock formations and islets, the Galapagos Islands are collectively a national park and marine reserve managed by the Galapagos National Park Service who strictly control the population of and access to the islands. Read more
Paddock Post 