The mission of the International Baccalaureate Organization aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people, who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end, the IBO works with schools, governments, and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment.

Riverview High School is one of approximately sixty IB Diploma schools in the State of Florida.  The IB Program is a two-year university preparatory course of study encompassing the last two years of high school.  The program was originally established to fulfill the high academic standards of an increasingly more mobile society, as well as to foster global tolerance. 

Because the IB Program is so rigorous, Sarasota County, like most other United States school districts, offers two years of additional study as preparation for the IB Program.  Students enroll in the Pre-IB program in grades nine and ten and then advance to IB in grades eleven and twelve.

The effectiveness of the IB Program is due not only to the depth of individual courses, but also to the comprehensive nature and interconnectedness of the total program.