On Tuesday, seniors from Renton High School walked up on the stage at ShoWare Center, shook half a dozen hands, got their diplomas, hugged their friends, snapped selfies with their teachers and reflected on four years of worth of memories.

But this year, some of those diplomas were different as RHS is able to boast about their first graduating class of International Baccalaureate (IB) candidates.

The IB program is a comprehensive and challenging curriculum that gives an inquiry-based approach to education. The rigorous course work allows for students to prepare academically and socially for higher education. RHS’s vision for the program is to allow students to learn time management skills, teach advanced research and writing skills, develop their critical thinking abilities, invoke an interest in civic engagement and inspire an international outlook and perspective.

“With IB, the emphasis is that it’s genuine college preparation in a way advanced placement classes isn’t,” said IB Program Coordinator Malcolm Collie. “To be engaged and efficient college student is more than just showing up to classes and taking your exams. Part of being a good college student is being there, balancing your work in such a way you get involved in campus life, organizations and your community. IB is very much consciously building you as a student with that.”

RHS adopted the program in 2014 and is the first high school in the district to do so. IB classes are offered for juniors and seniors. Students can either take two IB classes or opt to be an IB diploma candidate, which will require them to take six classes and write a 4,000-word extended essay. This year, RHS produced 35 diploma candidates and 52 test takers. All of the diploma candidates will be attending college or university and 70 percent of those candidates have received acceptance offer from their first-choice school.

Since its inception, the IB program has been gaining traction and popularity at the school. During the 2014-2015 school year, 195 students were enrolled to take at least two IB classes in their junior year. For the year that just ended, there were 241 students and next year, there will be 355 students who are enrolled in IB classes.

This year, 1,208 students who took IB exams this year compared to last year’s 713.

Students join the program for various reasons. For Justin Apolonio, it was his thirst for engaging and challenging classes. For Susana Fitz, it was to show colleges that she was capable of handling difficult coursework. For Mirriam Gathu, it was because her parents forced her to.

Every student of this “guinea pig” class (a name they’ve adopted for themselves) can recite countless stories of long nights, last minute cramming and multiple meltdowns. Yet, their fondest memories are of the sense of belonging they have found within their IB classmates.

“I’m not going to say it was easy for me because it wasn’t. There were a lot of struggles,” said senior Abigail Rojas. “But something I loved about IB was the relationships we made. We shared life for two years. There were times when I didn’t want to continue with the program because it was so hard but I don’t regret it because I’ve met wonderful people.”

According to Collie, one of the reasons for the program’s success is its inclusively model. The model not only attempts to equalize education in the West Hill, but also exposes Title I students to competitive, global education and increase student access to rigorous coursework.

“It’s very much about providing opportunities to all students, many of those who have been underserved and underrepresented by this type of program,” said Collie. “It’s exciting to be in a program where what we’re looking for is to give all students the opportunity to engage in at least some part of the IB experience.”

This model has not only provided inclusion on an educational level, but also on a social and emotional level. Students have banded together over the course of two years and have created a close-knit cohort, one that has a strict “no IB student left behind” policy.

“There are so many struggles in IB, but I’ve always had somebody to go to,” said senior Keilani Mitchell. “I have a story for every person in IB’s graduating class. I’ve gotten closer to all of them. No one would leave me out of anything, which I thought was weird because that hasn’t happened to me. I’m black and Filipino, I’m queer and I have mental illnesses. There’s a lot of things about me as an individual that people would not like or be comfortable with. But I have not met one person in IB who has had a problem with me or how I identify. That inclusion was the most important thing in my personal development and development in education.”

“You don’t succeed IB if you don’t have these connections,” said Fitz. “The people who didn’t make those connections are the people who dropped IB.”

According to Collie, the camaraderie the students have created with each other have not only helped them be successful at high school, but it will also serve them well in college.

“That’s why IB students succeed in the next level because they know what to do when things get hard,” he said. “[They] are equipped to create their network, to know how to cope under pressure.”