Colegio Internacional de Caracas

Colegio Internacional de Caracas (CIC) is a private English language school located in Caracas, Venezuela serving the educational needs from pre-nursery to high school. The goal of the school is to foster the intellectual and personal development of its students in a caring and supportive environment. CIC is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS – AdvancED) and by the International Baccalaureate Organization in its Middle Years (MYP) and the Diploma Program (DP). In 2010 student enrollment was about 160 total, with 45 faculty.

History

CIC traces its history back to 1896. Originally called Colegio Americano, the school merged with Academia La Castellana in 1971 and took the name Colegio Internacional de Caracas, in English, The International School of Caracas.

Academics

The educational programs of the Colegio International de Caracas combine academic instruction with a global world view. CIC offers the International Baccalaureate Program, a program that prepares an international student body to enter a variety of post-secondary schools in the Americas, Europe, and beyond. As an IB World School, CIC's objective is to foster a learning community with high academic standards focused upon the International Baccalaureate Profile. The profile encourages students to be “balanced, caring, communicators, knowledgeable, inquirers, open-minded, principled, reflective thinkers, and risk-takers.” In eleventh and twelfth grades, the school offers the Diploma Program (DP) of the International Baccalaureate. The Diploma Program is a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum, the goal of which is to provide a broad intellectual foundation for post-secondary endeavors and to strengthen ethical and moral values, by way of its Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) program. The Diploma Program requires students to study languages, mathematics, sciences, humanities, fine arts and theory of knowledge.

To prepare for the demands of the IB Diploma Program, the school offers the IB Middle Years Program (MYP), a program that integrates courses in languages, humanities, technology, mathematics, arts, sciences, and physical education through the curricular lenses of health and social education, community and service, environment, human ingenuity, and approaches to learning.

English is the language of instruction. For those students who come to the school not speaking English, CIC offers English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes. For those students who come to the school not speaking Spanish, the school offers Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) classes. As part of the school's commitment to holistic learning, students participate in various grade-level field trips that integrate concepts taught in various classes. Students participate in the Model United Nations (MUN) programs in the middle school (JMUN) and the high-school (SAMUN).

Facilities

The facilities consist of 37 classrooms, 4 laboratories, 1 libraries with over 3,000 volumes, and numerous audio-visual materials, 2 computer rooms, an elementary wing, 5 offices, 2 book rooms, 3 art rooms, and 2 music rooms. The 4 secondary science laboratories are designed to be used by both secondary and elementary students. All classrooms, computer laboratories and the media center have access to the Internet, with a wireless network all around campus. There is abundant space for sports and recreation as the School has a 1 full-size artificial turf soccer field, 1 covered basketball courts,and a street hockey area. The physical education building includes dance/weight rooms, 2 locker rooms and a physical education office. Students also have access to a small but cozy cafeteria area.

Library

The CIC Library is housed in a 565 square meter area, with roughly 30,000 books, 10,000 of which belong to the Elementary Library. Materials are mostly in English, but there are also books in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Greek, and Japanese.

For students in elementary school, library classes occur every week. These classes focus on teaching students how to best function in libraries: The classes concentrate on such things as the use of on-line catalogues, web pages, videos, and magazines, all of which help students in their research.

At present, the library is working on the Lexile Project. A Lexile number is a standard score that matches students reading ability to the difficulty of text material. The library catalogue has been updated with Lexile number for 75% of all books: labels are placed on the spines, and each student is given a personal Lexile number after taking the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) reading test. A student’s lexile number is matched with an equivalent Lexile book number. The student is able to choose a book that matches his/her reading level.

The CIC Library is open from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Students

CIC has approximately 160 students of diverse backgrounds. Students come from many countries such as Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Venezuela, Jamaica, Sudan, and Iran. About 15% of students are primarily English-speaking, and just over half are Spanish-speaking. Nearly all graduates continue to higher education in the UK, US, or other countries.

Faculty

As an accredited school, CIC employs certified teachers from all over the world. It currently has 55 teachers certified in the area they teach. CIC uses professional recruiting fairs to fill its teaching needs, and allocates 5% of its budget for the further professional development of its personnel.

Finance

Finances: In the 2010-2011 school year, the School’s income derives from tuition. Annual tuition rates are as follows: PreNursery-N-PK: $10,078; Kdg.-grade 5: $18,076; grades 6-8: $22,481; grades 9-10: $23,473; and grades 11-12: $25,128. There is a one-time capital fee included. (All fees are quoted in U.S. dollars.)

See also

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