For over 40 years, Colegio Interamericano has been growing our student population in Guatemala City. As such, there was the need to expand learning spaces. Six years ago, Fundación Educativa Guatemala, a not-for-profit foundation created with the objective of contributing to the development of the country through education, came together to lay out the plans known as Project Journey, aptly named to evidence the growth and future plans of Colegio Interamericano.
Today, as we welcome the completion of this journey, we have to wonder if the founders had a special gift to foresee the future. There is no better time than this disruptive moment in history to receive the additional space: social distancing is at the forefront of our minds.
From nine acres of property and buildings, Interamericano now covers 15.5 acres, and includes 63,308m2 of beautiful terraced land divided into five distinct areas: Early Childhood Education, Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and Administration. Our campus now encompasses 121 classrooms, eight state-of-the-art science laboratories, two maker spaces, an art wing and purpose built music rooms, five computer labs, a two-story library, an amphitheater, and two cafeterias.
Among the sport and recreation areas, the school now has a large synthetic soccer field surrounded by built-in stadium seating, two covered basketball and volleyball courts, Early Childhood and Elementary playgrounds and multiple student common areas. Key to the design of our new building are the numerous outdoor collaborative spaces. We are excited to enjoy the flexible, dynamic learning spaces to support our evolving programs and pedagogy.
The landscape for our students is continuously evolving and to be “future-ready” our new building encourages creative, intentional approaches to learning. Each of our divisions will benefit from this project as it allows all to expand their footprint. We know our students, faculty, and staff will further strengthen our sense of community with these spaces.
Collaboration, team building, and fostering relationships are key components to our INTER experience, and our new buildings will ensure these goals are supported. Engaging our parent community is key and we now have the venue to host a variety of parent events. We are excited to have our parents, in all divisions, join us for catalytic conversations, student performances, social events, and opportunities to further our relationships in our amazing new spaces.
While our students are not on campus yet, they can see the roof of our stellar INTER - HUB on the Guatemalan horizon. We are eager to return to campus and benefit from the spacious vision of our founders.
Dr. Sharon Canadine is a career educator with over 20 years of experience working with schools in the United States, Lesotho, Mozambique, and now Guatemala. She has been the Director of Colegio Interamericano in Guatemala for the past three years. Dr. Canadine received her doctorate degree from Concordia University in Portland, Oregon.
