BELLINGHAM — When students start attending Wade King Elementary School this fall, they may enter a school program different from any other in the area.

Planning Principal Rob McElroy and district staff are working to implement the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program at the new school.

The program, offered by the nonprofit educational foundation International Baccalaureate Organization, is designed to let children develop as inquirers, both inside and outside of school.

The IB program is not a curriculum, but guides students and teachers to look at what they’re doing and how it relates to the international community. The curriculum at Wade King Elementary will meet state and district standards while using six themes that span multiple academic subjects.

McElroy started exploring the IB program while he was figuring out the vision of the school. He believes elementaryaged students are facing a “rapidly globalizing world” and will need to make decisions about the natural world when they reach adulthood.

“As I learned more about International Baccalaureate, especially about what the primary year program offers, it seemed to align best both with state standards and the two themes,” he said.

When the school opens in the fall, it won’t be an authorized IB school, which usually takes about three years.

But McElroy hopes to get parents, students and staff to commit to starting the next process — creating a curriculum around IB.

While IB high schools tend to be academically rigorous and not suitable for all students, the Primary Years Program is designed for everyone and fits into the Bellingham School District’s goal of getting all kids ready for college, career and citizenship, said Superintendent Ken Vedra.

“It attempts to work with kids at any level and take them to the next level,” he said.

The Primary Years Program also is developed in a way that lets students enter or exit the program at any point.

About 420 schools worldwide offer the Primary Years Program. About 130 of them are in the U.S.

Before McElroy started working to implement the program, he visited several schools with the Primary Years Program in Colorado and British Columbia, the areas closest to Bellingham. After talking with parents, students and staff at those schools, he was pleased with what he saw.

“I walked away convinced this is the direction I want to go with Wade King,” he said.

Wade King isn’t the only school looking into special programs, it just happens to be the easiest place to start one because it hasn’t yet established a mission or culture.

“It’s the first school, not an elite school,” said Doug Kyles, executive director of school administration. “It’s the initial school to step forward and do this kind of program.”