As an International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme campus, Pinkerton Elementary has recently gained the reputation of being the most sought-after CISD elementary school.

Every year, the IB curriculum school attracts students from outside predetermined school zones. And with almost half of the 393 students living inside the Pinkerton zone, spots have become scarce.

CISD is holding the Pick Pinkerton lottery, which gives students who live outside the zone and are not already attending Pinkerton a chance to enroll for the next school year. To register for the lottery, parents must attend a 45-minute long parent information session at Pinkerton, either on Thursday or March 4 at 6:30 p.m.

“We will give parents an overview of the IB program, an overview of Pinkerton and then we hand out the applications at the end of the meeting,” Pinkerton Elementary Principal Kristi Mikkelsen said. “Then if they want to, they have about two weeks to complete the application and turn it in before we have the lottery.”

Applications will be accepted at the Pinkerton front office until March 17. It is important to note families with several students are required to apply for each child separately and siblings of current students are not required to apply.

The lottery is April 3 at the Vonita White Administration Building. Winning applications will be mailed a commitment letter which must be signed and turned into Pinkerton before 4 p.m. on April 9. The lottery will select 45-50 students.

In a zone with a declining population, Pinkerton decided to become an IB campus as it would also have space for students outside its zone who are interested in the IB curriculum. Pinkerton earned the title of being an IB certified school in 2016. In the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years, Pinkerton held a similar lottery but it has not been held since, except for a lottery for only kindergarten last school year.

The IB curriculum prides itself in encouraging independent research and hands-on projects for its students, and teaching through “an inquiry-based model of learning.”

“As far as academics go, we try to focus on letting the kids drive their own learning,” Pinkerton IB coordinator Marnie Ward said. “So they are involved in creating success criteria for their own learning; they are well aware of their assessments and where they need to grow. And then we give them the opportunities to explore further the things that they’re really interested in. So it’s very engaging.”

Pinkerton second grade teacher Ginger Denton has been at Pinkerton for nearly 38 years and believes the IB program brings out the best in a student.

“We have high standards, and we try to hold each and every individual student to those high standards,” Denton said. “If you give children high standards, they will try to achieve those standards for you. The parents know our expectations are high and support what we do, which makes it so much easier for us. We try to work together to do what’s best for the kids and to help those kids achieve high goals, that is what is special about IB.”

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