How the International School of Panama and The Potomac School Are Expanding Pathways for Students

In The Power of Pathways: Redefining Student Success in a Nonlinear World, we argued that pathways are a way in which we provide students real and genuine choices about how and what they learn. We know that students grow through exploration, reflection, and real-world connection. We also made the case that schools don't need to build every student pathway alone. Partnering with other institutions and networks allows schools to offer more than their own schedule or staffing can support.

Since then, we've watched GOA member schools put that thinking into practice in very different ways. This piece looks at two of them. The International School of Panama (ISP) has built a second diploma pathway alongside the IB. The Potomac School in Virginia has grown a set of programs for students who want to go deep in a discipline. Their models differ, but both schools started from the same question: how do we meet students where they are and help them go further?

At ISP, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IE) Diploma sits alongside the IB Diploma Programme as a full alternative pathway. Jessica Heyman, ISP's High School Principal, explains that the decision grew out of how the school sees its students. 

"At ISP, we recognize that there is more than one pathway to university and, more importantly, more than one way for students to prepare for what comes after high school," she says. "Our community includes students with diverse interests, strengths, needs, and aspirations, and we believe the pathways we offer should reflect that diversity." 

Heyman is clear that the IB remains a strong option. She describes it as rigorous, internationally recognized, and traditionally college-preparatory. "It is an excellent pathway for many students, but it is not necessarily the experience every student wants or needs." 

The IE Diploma also reflects a broader shift at ISP toward competency-based teaching and learning. "Students develop knowledge and skills in the classroom and then have opportunities to apply them immediately in authentic contexts," Heyman says. "Through partnerships with organizations and businesses in Panama City, they work on real problems facing our community right now." 

That link between learning and application is the heart of the program. As Heyman puts it, "Ultimately, the IE Diploma gives students another rigorous pathway, but one built around a different kind of learning experience: interdisciplinary, applied, and connected to the world beyond school."

ISP offers students a strong core, and GOA widens the range of options around it. "As a mid-sized international school, we are fortunate to offer a wide range of courses and electives," Heyman says. "At the same time, our students are incredibly diverse in their interests, and no single school can provide every course a student might want to explore. GOA helps us expand what is possible."

Some GOA courses connect directly to the IE Diploma, while others serve students' individual interests. "Many GOA courses complement our IE Diploma pathway while others give students opportunities to pursue specific personal, academic, or career interests beyond what we could reasonably offer in-house."

That flexibility is built into how the IE Diploma works. "Rather than asking every student to follow exactly the same path, we can maintain a strong common foundation through our IE Core courses while creating space for students to make purposeful choices based on their interests and future goals," Heyman explains. "GOA allows us to broaden those choices without being limited by the size of our school or the courses we can staff locally."

Potomac describes its concentration programs as specialized experiences for Upper School students who "crave a deeper dive" in certain disciplines. The school offers four: Economics, Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Business (EFEB); Global Perspectives and Citizenship (GPAC); the Science and Engineering Research Center (SERC); and the Visual and Performing Arts Concentration (VPAC).

Tory Virchow, Potomac's Upper School Director of Curriculum and Academics and GOA Site Director, says programs have grown from student interest. "Each of our concentration programs is unique in its design and stems from a desire to support students with demonstrated abilities and a passion for a certain area of study. As our concentration program offerings have grown, they've done so in response to student interest in certain topics."

EFEB, the newest, is a good example. "Our most recent addition, EFEB, came about because we noted the swell of interest in classes related to economics and entrepreneurship," Virchow says. "While any student could take classes in those areas, we wanted to offer students a more distinctive experience by adding a summer component and a senior-year capstone project."

The concentrations don't all work the same way. Students in SERC and GPAC take required on-campus classes in small cohorts, and VPAC students choose from Potomac's on-campus offerings. EFEB uses a different model, letting juniors and seniors choose from a range of classes. "While some on-campus classes are required, students can also choose from a variety of electives, including several offered by GOA," Virchow explains.

That's where GOA plays a central role in access. "Unlike GPAC, SERC, and VPAC, entry into EFEB is not application-based, so any student who would like to enroll in the concentration can do so," she says. "As a result, offering GOA courses as an option ensures that all students can complete the program requirements, even if on-campus classes become full or don't fit their schedules."

Virchow has seen what happens when students commit to an area they care about. Students in a concentration aligned with their passions "have the opportunity to do deep, college-level work under the guidance of advanced teachers and mentors," she says. "When students are able to select a specific topic or question they're interested in and then explore that surrounded by like-minded classmates, it's incredible what they can accomplish."

Each June, EFEB seniors present their work at a showcase. Every student creates a professionally printed display board, and teachers, mentors, parents, and school administrators spend 45-60 minutes moving between displays, listening to brief student talks, and asking questions. Last spring, one student's project on financial strategy for a public university drew a crowd. Later that evening, Potomac's Head of School remarked that the student's suggestions were insightful enough for a school leadership team to consider.

"That student didn't start EFEB with that project in mind," Virchow says, "but, with exposure to different topics and skills in his classes and with the support of his teachers and mentors, he arrived at an astonishingly relevant conclusion."

ISP and Potomac built different models, but their advice for other schools lines up in useful ways.

Start with purpose, not a program. Heyman recommends grounding the work in a school's identity: "I would encourage schools to begin with their profile of a graduate and guiding statements. Ask: What do we ultimately want our graduates to know, be able to do, and value?" Virchow makes a similar point: "I think it's very important to start with the 'why.'" In her experience, successful programs grow out of real student interest in deeper work, not out of a desire to stand out or boost applications.

Be realistic and build for the long term. "Also, be realistic about what your school can take on," Heyman says. "A new pathway does not have to be built entirely in-house. Strategic partnerships with universities, community organizations, and organizations like GOA can expand what is possible while reducing the initial lift for a school." Virchow adds that resources matter, including staffing.

Design for choice and access. Virchow sees the future of these programs in models that open doors rather than limit them. In her view, "a pathway that allows students to 'choose their own adventure,' to select from a wide range of courses with the opportunity to deeply dive into research and study in the latter part of their high school careers, will appeal to students in future years." Her practical advice: "My first piece of advice is to develop interesting, engaging, and unique courses and observe which pathways students choose to follow."

Give it time. New pathways ask students, families, faculty, and even universities to think differently. "Finally, give it time," Heyman says. "Be patient, but stay committed. As people see students experience success, confidence in the pathway grows."

An applied, interdisciplinary diploma in Panama City and a set of concentrations in Virginia might look like different projects. But both schools are doing what "The Power of Pathways" called for: broadening the system so more students can thrive in more ways. Both are also showing that schools don't have to build every pathway alone. With GOA as a partner, ISP and Potomac can offer students more choice, more depth, and more ways to connect their learning to who they are becoming.