 Bilingualism

With the aim of continuing to provide a high-quality bilingual educational service, Colegio La Arboleda adopted the International Curriculum proposal by the world-renowned University of Cambridge through the CAIE (Cambridge Assessment International Education) academic program.
Ever since then, we have been working on educating our students so as to prepare them for the challenges of national and international higher learning in a globalized world. This is accomplished through an education in problem-solving techniques, encouraging research, and developing thinking skills and creativity on a practical level. For Colegio La Arboleda, holding CAIE status means focusing on factors such as: students' English levels, a tradition of taking international language exams, results on the Saber 11 exam, faculty stability, vision, methodology, and a willingness to adopt international standards as well as to grow as an institution.
The school is thus able to:

1. Provide a high-quality education by international standards.
2. Have curricula that are relevant to national educational contexts and that also adheres to international guidelines.
3. Implement significant and permanent infrastructure adaptations.
4. Award internationally recognized certifications.
5. Ensure the professional development of teachers through permanent training.
6. Develop a student-centered academic approach.

Cambridge CAIE's philosophy is to develop students who are self-confident, responsible, reflective, innovative, and committed through student-centered processes. This enables them to:

1. Develop critical and reflective thinking skills, problem-solving and propositional competence, applying their knowledge in the real world.
2. Prepare them for successful university life, balancing theoretical and practical knowledge with a variety of assessment methods, including classroom work, practical exercises, oral and listening tests, and projects.
3. Prepare them for the world of employment with extensive knowledge and basic skills.

In this way, students in Transition through to Eighth grades develop a curriculum focused on three fundamental areas: Math, Science and English. This curriculum prepares them in these key areas before beginning the more advanced stages of the curriculum (IGCSE, A/AS Level). As the program is developed, students take Progression Tests, designed by Cambridge CAIE to measure the effectiveness of the application of the curriculum and verify the development of their learning process.

Upon completion of Fifth and Eighth Grades, students take the Cambridge Checkpoint Review Tests. These standardized tests provides a comparative database for analyzing school performance by student, grade and subject, which allows for a diagnosis of students' strengths and weaknesses.
For students in grades 9-11, the curriculum is supplemented to develop interculturality and a sense of global citizenship, which is essential in the modern world. This is done through a flexible curriculum balance, which allows the school to prepare students for both the national exams and the international IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education), which is a standardized school leaving examination, based on the model in the United Kingdom, but adapted for international use and for students whose first language is not English. It aims to certify students' level of academic achievement in five areas: languages, mathematics, humanities and social sciences, natural sciences, and technical and vocational education. The above is evaluated by following international parameters and standards that allow them to strengthen their academic career at the school and eventually to showcase their professional profile.

In closing, students in the eleventh grade take the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) test as a requirement for graduation at the end of their high school career. This English test is the most widely accepted in the world. It assesses students across four areas: listening, reading, writing and speaking skills, which are often used when studying or working in an English-speaking country.