Escuela Campo Alegre is a K-12 American International school located in Caracas, Venezuela. It was founded in 1937 in the neighborhood of Campo Alegre, but the school grew in such a way that it had to be moved to its present location in Las Mercedes. The school provides courses from the nursery level up through 12th grade.
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The educational programs at ECA combine academic instruction with a global conception and understanding of the world. In the eleventh and twelfth grades, the school offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, a rigorous and engaging college-preparatory curriculum that not only fosters a well-rounded intellectual foundation for post-secondary endeavors, but also strengthens ethical and moral values with the Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) requirements. In the I.B. program students are required to study languages, mathematics, sciences, humanities, fine arts and theory of knowledge. Even though English is the language of instruction, ECA offers programs in ELL (English Language Learning) for its non-English-speaking population and also French as a second language starting from the 9th grade. As part of the school's aim to prepare global citizens, students participate in various grade-level field trips that integrate the concepts being taught in various classes and they also have the choice of participating in the model United Nations programs in High School (SAMUN), THIMUN, and Junior Model United Nations for the middle school (JMUN).
Prior to July 2008, the school campus included an AstroTurf field (for soccer, softball, baseball, field hockey and ultimate), construction began so workers started to demolishing the previous field to construct a larger, three-story building which will include a professional size soccer field at the top, 4 gyms, and elementary facilities. Also on campus are three tennis courts, and two indoor basketball courts and one covered basketball court, all of which can also be used for volleyball, wall climbing and roller hockey. Fully equiped modern Library and Media Center, Technology Centers for each division, sepertate art, drama, and music centers for each division, A 4 story parking lot, 630-profesional theatre, 2 science laboratories for each division, amazing modern cafeteria for elementary school, middle school, high school, and faculty and staff. A big nice modern plaza called The Star Plaza. The school also has a Olymipic-size Pool with large viewing gallery. The school also has a nice big 3 story building parking lot. The school has MANY other facilities but if we list them all they won't fit in this page. The school also gives door to door bus service for students living around the amazing city of Caracas.
Even though the school used to enroll more than 780 students, after the strikes held towards the president Hugo Chávez on December 2002, many foreign students fled from the city, and the school lost many of its international students but most of them have returned. Being one of the few international schools in Caracas and due to the rising price of the American Dollar many students couldn't afford the expensive tuition and their parents enrolled them in bilingual schools with Venezuelan curriculum. Still, ECA has a highly diverse population of students who come from many different parts of the world. These include: Puerto Rico, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Norway, Guatemala, Germany, Egypt, Canada, Denmark, Syria, South Africa, Kuwait, Trinidad & Tobago, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Lebanon, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Russia, Peru, Colombia, China, Dominican Republic, Panama, Paraguay, Sweden, Bolivia, Belgium, Malaysia, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Chile, Curacao, Poland, etc... and of course the USA. American, Venezuelan, Canadian, Argentine, Colombian, Mexican, and Brazilian are among the most common nationalities among students. There are even more other nationalities than Venezuelans in the school. Sadly after Hugo Chavez made the Israeli leave Venezuela during the Israel and Gaza border crisis, all the Israeli had to leave ECA. ECA has a sum total of 655 students.
ECA has a large faculty originating from a wide range of countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel, Germany, Venezuela, Ecuador, India, Colombia, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, the United States, Chile, and even Uzbekistan, Many of the staff members hold Master's degrees, and their educational backgrounds cover the educational spectrum like Harvard University and Boston College. ECA's staff members receive annual training at the VANAS teaching conferences and are trained in subject-specific International Baccalaureate programs and also some take summer courses with the College of New Jersey.