The Colegio Americano de Bogotá began with a single missionary and eighteen girls. Presbyterian missionary Kate MacFarren founded it in 1869 and started by teaching English to 18 girls, and in 1885 Reverend Thomas H. Candor and his wife Margarita opened a section for boys. More than 150 years later, it is one of the better-known private schools in the Colombian capital. Families now weigh it against bilingual and international schools that offer the IB or an American diploma, so it helps to know what it actually teaches, what students graduate with, and what the public record says about cost.
Who runs it and who studies there
The school is an educational ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia and serves more than 2,100 students. It is one of 11 K-12 schools of the same name run by the church across the country. The same source describes the Bogotá campus as the flagship of that group. The school describes itself as coeducational, on calendar A, in the Teusaquillo district, offering trilingual education in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Calendar A is the standard Colombian school year, which starts early in the year and finishes in November.
The faith element is part of the identity rather than a footnote. The school’s public profile lists its religious affiliation as Christian, with Reformed values. Christian Education also appears as a subject in the curriculum, so families who want a secular environment should ask how that plays out day to day.
Age range and entry points
A school directory profile puts the age range at 3 to 18. That profile was compiled from public sources rather than supplied by the school, but it matches the school’s own description of its early years. The preschool and first-grade section starts formal schooling for children between three and six, across the prejardín, jardín, transición and first-grade levels.
Admissions rules are stricter than many parents expect. The school’s admissions page says the formal process covers applicants from prejardín through sixth grade, that taking part does not guarantee a seat, and that the school keeps the right to decide on admission. It suggests minimum ages tied to the Ministry of Education’s guidance, and from first grade the recommended age rises by one year for each grade. It also says it does not run admission processes for students repeating a year.
Secondary school is harder to enter. Places from seventh grade onward depend on review, prerequisites and space, and applicants must show high or superior marks for both academics and conduct from fifth grade through their current year. Anyone hoping to join mid-way through school should contact admissions early, at admisiones@colamericano.edu.co or through the school’s admissions page.
Curriculum and language of instruction
The school does not follow a single imported programme such as the IB or a British or American curriculum. One directory lists it as a bespoke, trilingual programme covering Spanish Language, Arts, Social Sciences, Technology and Computing, Natural Sciences, Environmental Education, Mathematics, Christian Education, Physical Education, Foreign Languages and Robotics. The same source says the teaching model stresses autonomous learning, built around what students know, how they apply it and how they conduct themselves.
Spanish is the base language, English is the main second language and Portuguese is the newer addition. A school-supplied profile says Portuguese joined as a second foreign language in 2019, alongside English work that includes exchange agreements with the United States and TOEFL preparation. An older FAQ on the school’s own site puts English at six hours a week from prejardín to ninth grade and says natural sciences are taught in English in some grades. That document is several years old, so parents should check the current timetable before treating those numbers as fixed.
Programmes that set the school apart include the ARUKAY computational thinking programme, the IBEC innovation and entrepreneurship programme, and the Yale RULER emotional intelligence programme, with teaching supported by platforms such as BEAM and UNOi. The school also says it was an early adopter of RULER in Colombia and has an A+ rating in the national Saber 11 exams. Those results are self-reported, so anyone comparing schools should look up the official ICFES tables.
What students leave with
The confirmed leaving qualification is the Colombian bachiller académico title. The school’s secondary page explains that in tenth and eleventh grade, students choose a deepening seminar, write a proposal in tenth grade, carry out the project in eleventh and defend it before an external panel, which is one of the requirements for the title. The same page says the final two years run in semesters with three assessment windows each, modelled on university study. Students also sit the Saber 11 state exam, which is what the school’s A+ classification refers to.
Whether an international diploma is on the way is less clear. In April 2026 a school-authored post on a Colombian school directory said the school had become an applicant to teach the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and mentioned a dual-diploma model. Applicant status is not the same as authorisation, and I could not find an IB listing confirming the school as an authorised IB World School. The post also does not say which second diploma students would earn. Until the school confirms details directly, it is safest to treat the bachiller title as the only guaranteed outcome.
Fees: what is public and what is not
The school does not publish a grade-by-grade fee table. Its public materials explain that each grade has an annual tariff, that the enrolment fee equals 10% of that tariff and is paid once a year, and that tuition is then charged monthly. Specific 2026/27 amounts are shared through the admissions platform during registration. The same profile says the application form fee is non-refundable, and that sibling discounts and partner-institution benefits exist, though it does not give terms.
Third-party figures exist but should be handled carefully. One school directory lists monthly tuition between COP 1,288,525 and COP 1,384,991, with cafeteria at COP 309,500 and transport at COP 529,300 per month. That page is undated and the school did not confirm the numbers in anything I could access. It is a rough guide for budgeting, not a quote. Uniforms, books, devices and activity costs are also not published, so the admissions office is the only reliable source for a full annual figure.
Day-to-day details worth knowing
The school day starts early. One profile gives a 6:50 a.m. start and a 2:45 p.m. finish, with extracurriculars from 3:15 to 5:00 p.m. Another directory lists slightly later finishes, up to 3:00 p.m. for secondary, so confirm the timetable for the relevant grade. The campus covers 16,531 square metres in central Bogotá, with football pitches, basketball courts, a coliseum, an auditorium and digital classrooms using iPads.
Class sizes differ by source. A directory listing puts secondary groups at 35 to 39 students and primary at 25 to 30, while the school’s older FAQ gave 35 to 40 for fourth grade upward. Transport is run by an outside provider using vans, buses and minibuses, according to the school’s public profile.
On inclusion, the school says it has inclusion policies and pursues the admission of students with special educational needs, but may decline admission if it cannot meet a child’s needs. Families in that position should raise it at the first meeting.
Who it suits
This is a large, traditional, faith-based school with a strong Spanish-language base, growing English and Portuguese, and a Colombian graduation route. It fits families planning for Colombian universities, or those who want values-driven schooling in Bogotá at a mid-range private price. Families who need a globally recognised diploma today, such as the IB, should ask directly about the DP timeline and check independent listings. The school’s own website at colamericano.edu.co is the place to start, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) report on its 150th anniversary gives useful background on its history.
