About our Superintendent

Ruth Allen, Ed.D., is currently the Head of School at The Columbus School in Medellín, Colombia. She holds a doctorate in education from the University of Bath, UK, where she received the Jeff Thompson International Education Award for her thesis. In addition, she has a Master’s degree in Multidisciplinary Studies, a Master’s degree in Language and Linguistics, and a Bachelor’s degree in English and Secondary Education. With over thirty years of experience as an educator, she began her career as a teacher in the UK before moving to Colombia in 1997, where she has worked in several different schools in a variety of roles including teacher, curriculum coordinator, higher education, director, and head of school. In total, she has over 17 years of experience in leadership positions in bilingual schools in Colombia.

She also has extensive knowledge of the American curriculum, as well as Colombian legislation issued by the Ministry of National Education. She has expertise in implementing International Baccalaureate (IB) programs and experience in strategic planning, budgeting, and accreditation processes. Over the past 15 years, she has had the opportunity to participate as a team member and as a lead evaluator in review teams for AdvancED (now Cognia), at a global scope. She has also been the director of the AdvancED Latin American Council. She is bilingual in English and Spanish.

She is currently the President of ACCAS (Association of Colombian-Caribbean American Schools) and a member of the Board of Directors of the Tri-Association, at the international level. Likewise, she is part of the Board of Directors of the Consortium for Childhood and Youth and member of the Board of Directors of Adecopria, in the city of Medellin.

Virtual campus tour

Early Years

Early Years comprises K4, K5 and 1st grade, the early years of school life at The Columbus School. These years are characterized by exploring in community and building social skills through play and routines while developing foundational skills in English and Spanish. In K4 most of the day takes place in Spanish with one hour of English per day, while in K5 and 1st most of the day is developed in English with one hour of Spanish per day. Children work on motor, language, math, and socio-emotional skills in addition to social science and natural science concepts through a variety of methodologies. Within an Early Years child’s day, there are times to sing, play, listen, work in centers or stations, talk, think, read, write, debate, move, build, solve problems, make class meetings, and develop projects. To guide our curriculum we use the Bridges math program and the Balanced Literacy / Reading and Writing Workshop approach in language. Our entire curriculum and our assessments are based on standards that are consistently aligned between one grade level and another.

EY Assessment Practices

TCS Special Tax Regime

Pursuant to Law 1869 of 106, Sole Regulatory Decree 1625 of 2016, Decree 2150 of 2017 and title VI of the first book of the National Tax Statute, the Corporación Colegio Cristóbal Colón (The Columbus School), NIT 890.902.829-9, makes available to civil society and the general public, the following information on the requirements for access to the Special Tax Regime – RTE of Income Tax for comments about the institution. If you want to make any comment or pronouncement about the corporation and / or the information related below, you can do it through the following link enabled by the National Tax and Customs Direction:
https://www.dian.gov.co/impuestos/sociedades/ESAL/Comentarios-Sociedad-Civil/Paginas/default.aspx

We attach documentation of public interest:

Foundation Special Tax Regime

Pursuant to Law 1869 of 106, Sole Regulatory Decree 1625 of 2016, Decree 2150 of 2017 and title VI of the first book of the National Tax Statute,Fundación The Columbus School, NIT800,188.329-7, makes available to civil society and the general public, the following information on the requirements for access to the Special Tax Regime – RTE of Income Tax for comments about the institution. If you want to make any comment or pronouncement about the corporation and / or the information related below, you can do it through the following link enabled by the National Tax and Customs Direction:
https://www.dian.gov.co/impuestos/sociedades/ESAL/Comentarios-Sociedad-Civil/Paginas/default.aspx

We attach documentation of public interest:

High School

Our high school curriculum is based on internationally benchmarked standards and brought to life by teacher instructional practices. Departments have innovated many courses in recent years in order to bring the best pedagogy to the students in preparation for the future, and to innovate based on the needs of our ever-changing world. In grades 9 and 10 students fulfill many of the core areas with some elective choices, and in grades 11 and 12 students have more specialized courses to apply their skills in a context closer to their interest and future career interests. For example, a student pursuing an engineering career may take advanced Calculus, Physics, and Hands on Engineering courses, while a student pursuing a medical career may take Advanced Chemistry and Anatomy and Physiology. Every student’s schedule has an X block for support within every 5 day rotation and College Counseling also becomes an important part of the curriculum during the high school years to set students up to excel in the pathway of their choice.

Each year the curriculum is reviewed in order to ensure a coherent and meaningful scope of skills, concepts, and knowledge that are systematically taught and evaluated. The curricular maps are developed by the teachers of each department identifying themes and the units plans are continuously refined using a “backward” planning model.

HS Program of Studies

Secondary assessment practices

TCS Secondary Assessment

Middle School

Our middle school curriculum contains programs and curriculum that help students form a solid base of knowledge and skills to move into high school, while honoring them through voice, choice, and social learning activities appropriate for their age group. Students work through the core areas focusing on problem solving. Students in middle school are part of a House system and also participate in a weekly Advisory period with adult mentors. Every students´schedules has an X block for support within every 5 day rotation.

MS Program of studies

Secondary assessment practices

TCS Secondary Assessment

Elementary School

2nd through 5th grade students continue to explore and build skills and develop with peers through units and programs based on the Common Core Curriculum for languages and mathematics, Next Generation Science Standards for science, and ISTE for technology integration. They receive Social Studies and Spanish classes in Spanish 5 times a week. Additionally, all elementary school students have weekly classes in Music, Art, Religion, Ethics and Values and Physical Education with specialist teachers. Teachers work in homeroom teams to develop horizontally-aligned unit sequences and assessments. The curriculum is under continual review to make sure it promotes safe, supportive, and engaging learning for all students.

Elementary Assessment Practices

TCS VALUES

Commitment to character and ethics.
Our students strive to acquire the knowledge, adopt the values and develop the skills, traits, and conduct patterns of a person of good character, and they seek to govern their choices and actions by universal moral/ ethical principles.

The Six Pillars of Character

Our History

In February 1947, a group of Colombian and American parents founded a multicultural school, open to all regardless of race, creed, sex, or ideology. Today we are a non-profit, mixed and non-denominational School with a view to university preparation.

Also from the very beginning of the Columbus School it was intended to create an institution that met the standards required not only by the Colombian education system, but also by those of the United States. This is how since 1964, the School has joined SACS / AdvancED, an entity that accredits quality processes in education.

Currently, the School is recognized beyond the city and the country, for being a leader with its educational programs and for keeping all its processes in constant growth, improvement and evolution. All these special characteristics and our permanent commitment to educational quality, value training and personalized teaching, make our school year after year, to continue to be a leader in education.

Category: ABOUT US