Escuela Campo Alegre

Escuela Campo Alegre, commonly known as ECA, is a K-12 American International school located in Caracas, Venezuela. It was founded in 1948 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.

Academics

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 ESL (English as a Second Language) for its non-English-speaking population and also French as a second language starting from the Middle School. 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).

Facilities

Prior to July 2008, the school campus included an AstroTurf field (for soccer, softball, baseball, field hockey and ultimate), until construction workers began demolishing that month in order to construct a larger, three-story building which will include a regulation size soccer field, a gym, 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.

Students

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: 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 and the USA, being American, Venezuelan, Canadian, Argentine, Colombian, Mexican, Israeli and Brazilian the most common nationalities among students. ECA has a sum total of 655 students.

Faculty

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, Kazahthan (its nice), Belgium, Canada, the United States, and Uzbekistan. Many of the staff members hold Master's degrees, and their educational backgrounds cover the educational spectrum like Harvard University. 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 [http://www.tcnj.edu the College of New Jersey] .

See also

* List of international schools
* List of schools in Venezuela

External links

* [http://www.eca.com.ve ECA Home Page]