As Suffolk Public Schools begins its second year of the International Baccalaureate program, it is cause for celebration for about 30 select students.

Those chosen few, the first group of pre-IB students, have confronted and mastered the challenge of the rigorous, higher-level classes the program requires. The IB Diploma Program is completed during a student’s junior and senior years, and the students hoping to enter the program must take the pre-IB courses during their freshman and sophomore years.

The 30 or so students who have completed their first year in this difficult program are to be commended for their hard work, and the School Board should be commended for offering them this opportunity. Only a handful of schools around the world offer the program, and it affords students the opportunity to receive a more world-centric education than they otherwise might get.

There’s more happy news about the IB program — the schools recently accepted a new crop of about 30 more students willing to delve into the tough courses next year.

The commitment of the school system to go above and beyond the normal efforts to challenge exceptional students shows that they have heard and responded to the needs of those high schoolers who needed more out of their education. We only wish that more students would demonstrate such a love for learning.