Introducing the Global Impact Diploma

We—students, families, teachers, all—come to Barrie School because we seek a school that both makes space for each of us and helps us to make sense of the world we live in. Barrie School believes that students should forge their own path through middle and upper school, not be told what their path is. Learning should be about creating space, pursuing passions, and making an impact. Our school aims to actualize what we know schools should prioritize, even when many don’t. Enriching our diploma offerings furthers this commitment.

The purpose of the Global Impact Diploma is “to prepare students to make a significant positive impact on the world by empowering students to transform themselves, inspire each other, and make meaningful contributions to their local and global communities.” The result of an international collaborative effort, the Global Impact Diploma is designed to:

• Allow students to create their own learning experiences based on personal interest or passion
• Empower students to make an impact on the world through meaningful learning
• Help students develop strategies for learning and well-being to help them navigate an ever changing world

• A foundational leadership course that offers students the skills and knowledge necessary to chart their academic journeys in their final years at Barrie School;
• Collaborative impact courses that prepare students to be effective team members and leaders;
• Agency for Impact courses and beyond campus learning focus on impact in the real world, and
• Specialization courses based on one’s own interests and aptitudes.

They will also design and implement impact experiences, such as internships and apprenticeships, connecting them to the world beyond Barrie School. Flexible scheduling allows for students to leave campus regularly to make an impact in the world. Mixed-grade, interdisciplinary learning will allow students to connect both with subject matter and with their peers.

Like the contrast between a Montessori-prepared environment and rows of desks in a traditional classroom, the Global Impact learning experience will look and feel much different from the experiences of students a decade ago. Students who will thrive at Barrie School want devoted time at school to pursue their own passions and expertise independently, to transfer learning across disciplines, to collaborate with a wide range of learners, and to effect change in substantive ways. Each student will have the opportunity to write their own story and create their own pathway, while preparing for future learning that fits their aspirations. Students will graduate from Barrie uniquely university-ready, if not life-ready, eager to blaze the trail ahead of them.

All Barrie students who earn the Global Impact Diploma also will receive a Barrie diploma. This dual achievement provides a compelling distinction for college admittance. Nowadays, universities are accustomed to seeing a variety of learning pathways and have accepted different kinds of diplomas for decades. Moreover, professors at leading institutions note that these days, college and university students mostly need more experience managing unfamiliarity and discomfort. They must differentiate themselves by charting their own paths and telling their own stories, which is central to academic life at Barrie School and to the Global Impact Diploma. As a result, Global Impact students will be able to write and tell their own story confidently, from personal essays to interviews.

Barrie School leadership is currently reviewing the Middle and Upper School scope and sequence of coursework, as well as the daily schedule. The result of this process will both provide a path forward for all current students while also integrating the Global Impact Diploma offerings within the school’s program. We’re confident that we will meet the needs of our students even more as we commit to this dual diploma program. As decisions are made in the coming months, we will apprise the community with more information.

We are carefully developing a plan for current students as we integrate the Global Impact Diploma at Barrie School. Entering 12th graders in the 2026–27 school year will experience Global Impact coursework and learning, and will receive a certificate to note their accomplishments. Entering 11th graders and beyond can earn a full Global Impact Diploma by graduation starting in the 2027–28 school year.

While both programs promote international education and progressive pedagogical approaches, the Global Impact Diploma blends interdisciplinary academic study with immersive, community-based learning experiences. The Global Impact Diploma integrates and augments the current curriculum that’s in place at a host institution; the IB has a more structured curriculum with a combination of internal assessments and external exams. The Global Impact Diploma provides a more flexible framework that can complement an IB program or stand alone as an upper school diploma pathway as it will at Barrie School.

• The Future of Education is Agile, Innovative, and Fun, Forbes
• Will Schools of the Future be Different?, Teacher Magazine
• The Future of Schools, Robo Wunderkind (a German publication)
• UNESCO: The Future of Education, UNESCO
• Back to the Future of Schooling, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

• American School of Lima, Peru
• Atlanta International School
• Barrie School
• Colegio Nueva Granada
• Bogota International School of Curitiba
• International School of Havana
• International School Nido de Aguilas
• Marymount, Barranquilla

• American International School
• Bucharest American International School of Budapest
• American School of Milan
• Bavarian International School in Munich
• Frankfurt International School
• International School of Azerbaijan
• International School of Luxembourg
• Istanbul International Community School
• Khartoum American School
• Learnlife, Barcelona Rafa
• Nadal School, Mallorca
• Schutz American School, Alexandria

• The Avenues School at Shenzhen
• Beijing City International School
• International School of Kuala Lumpur
• Shanghai American School
• Singapore American School
• United Nations International School at Hanoi