International School in Ecuador | Colegio Menor - Home International School in Ecuador | Colegio Menor - Home International School in Ecuador | Colegio Menor - HomeInternational School in Ecuador | Colegio Menor - Home
Quito Samborondón

Academic excellence AT QUITO

Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Level 2 Page Header With Key FactsAcademic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Level 2 Page Header With Key Facts
Key Facts
A class of high achievers
Over half of our graduates have earned Honors with an average grade of at least 93%.
International pathways
81% of our students pass their Advanced Placement (AP) exams—scored at the US collegiate level.
College acceptances
Our students attend the world’s top universities, including Yale, Princeton, NYU, and Rice University.

THE WORLD’S NEXT INNOVATORS

At Colegio Menor Quito, our students are the world’s next generation of top scientists, artists, musicians, writers, and mathematicians who are ready to make an impact. 

Under the structure of our liberal arts curriculum, they explore a broad range of subjects, lead solo and collaborative projects, and create original solutions. 

They learn all of this in English—so they’re comfortable, as bilingual global citizens to apply their ideas and skills in international settings, including at the world’s best universities.
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Secondary Introduction
Early Childhood
  • Early Childhood
  • Elementary School
  • Middle School
  • High School

Early Childhood

For our youngest learners in the Early Years, we create a rich, nurturing environment with 100% English immersion. Our students are safe to explore, create, reach, and even surpass their potential, with our teachers’ support and guidance.
curricula generic icon
3 to 7 years old
The International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC)
The International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC) provides a research-informed, holistic approach towards a child’s development, recorded in learning journals. Structured through the IEYC, we emphasize playful activities, so your child develops a love for learning. Our youngest learners become comfortably bilingual from the very start of their learning journeys, as all our lessons are in English.
Find out more

Elementary School

The eclectic liberal arts curriculum of our Elementary School is based on the best global standards to achieve academic excellence and character development. Our students balance their academics with music, the arts, and sports.
curricula generic icon
8 to 11 years old
Our Elementary Curriculum at Colegio Menor Quito
Our curriculum is a combination of the best global standards: For Social Studies and Science, we follow the International Primary Curriculum, which supports learning through projects. In Math, we use the US Common Core standards to guide instruction. In the Language Arts, we follow the US Common Core standards for reading, writing, and speaking in both English and Spanish.
Find out more

Middle school

During the exciting challenges of Middle School at Colegio Menor Quito, we carefully support the unique development of our adolescents, so every student has the way forward to success in our learning community.
curricula generic icon
12 to 14 years old
Our Middle School Curriculum at Colegio Menor Quito
Our comprehensive liberal arts education is our foundation: our students take classes in English and Spanish language arts, art, music, theater, science, mathematics, physical education, STEAM/technology and social studies, and a wide variety of electives. In social studies, we use Reimer’s Framework, which focuses on solving global problems and developing skills as citizens of the world.
Find out more

High school

Our High School students choose some of their own classes and activities, increasing their confidence, risk taking, and ability to innovate. This includes picking their own Advanced Placement (AP) courses—the ideal preparation for college.
curricula generic icon
15 to 18 years old
Our High School Curriculum at Colegio Menor Quito
Our liberal arts education is our foundation: our students take classes in English and Spanish, art, literature, music, science, physical education, technology, social sciences, and beyond. For our 11th and 12th Grades, we offer over 30 Advanced Placement (AP) classes, such as AP Computer Science, Music, Art, Mathematics, History, World History, and both English and Spanish Languages and Literature.
Find out more
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Key Fact Tiles Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Key Fact Tiles
  • Early CHILDHOOD
  • ELEMENTARY
  • MIDDLE SCHOOL
  • HIGH SCHOOL

EARLY CHILDHOOD

Ages
3–7
Average class size
17
93%
say they have a great student-teacher relationship
Language of instruction
100% English

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Ages
8–11
93%
say they have a great student-teacher relationship
Average class size
24
Languages of instruction
80% English
20% Spanish

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Ages
12–14
93%
say they have a great student-teacher relationship
Average class size
24
Languages of instruction
80% English
20% Spanish

HIGH SCHOOL

Ages
15–18
93%
say they have a great student-teacher relationship
Average class size
24
Languages of instruction
80% English
20% Spanish
primary
  • Early Childhood
  • Elementary School
  • Middle School
  • High School

A TYPICAL DAY AT COLEGIO MENOR QUITO

With our exciting liberal arts curriculum, world-class teachers, and state-of-the-art facilities, your child will form a lifelong love for learning at Colegio Menor Quito.
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
READY TO START
We greet our friends and teachers at our Morning Meeting and share our ideas, thoughts, and feelings to get started. We discuss the activities we’ll work on for the day ahead.
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs-dot arch Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs-dot arch
SETTLING IN
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
BUILDING BLOCKS
We can build impressive constructions with blocks or explore the exciting world of robots in our state-of-the-art Maker Space. As we play, we’re applying our skills in language and math.
CREATING AND IMAGINING
Image_Colegio Menor _Quito_2022_309
DISCOVERING OUR VOICE
Whether we’re being introduced to sports or having time to discover art and music, we’re encouraged to make our own choices, guided by our curiosity. We learn how to express ourselves in words and in other creative ways, too.
EXPRESSING OURSELVES
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
ADVENTURES ON THE PLAYGROUND
There’s nothing like fresh air! We can run, climb, and play games together with friends on the playground, as we take risks and try new things.
PLAYING AND EXPLORING
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
STORY TIME!
We practice our listening and speaking skills in English with our teachers. We’re excited about the stories we hear and tell—and story time motivates us to read on our own in the library, too.
READING ALOUD

A TYPICAL DAY AT COLEGIO MENOR QUITO

With our exciting liberal arts curriculum, world-class teachers, and state-of-the-art facilities, your child will form a lifelong love for learning at Colegio Menor Quito.
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
CHECKING IN AS A COMMUNITY
We gather in our homeroom to get ready for the lessons ahead by greeting each other, checking our schedule, and coming together as a welcoming learning community.
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs-dot arch Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs-dot arch
GETTING ORGANIZED
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
GETTING ACTIVE WITH SPORTS
We practice physical skill work through sports and keep our bodies active to stay healthy. Being on a team, using our energy, and knowing when to rest also supports our well-being, as we develop our resilience.
COLLABORATING
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
CREATIVE EXPRESSION
When we have any school project, we explore ways to communicate our unique approach. When we pick up an instrument or paintbrush, we especially learn to express our voice and our own vision through projects, boosted by top creative advice from Julliard.
BUILDING PROJECTS
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
MASTERING THE CORE MODEL
We’re excited when we meet or exceed our goals in each core subject with our teachers. By the 4th Grade, we can even begin to work more independently, as we receive specialized instruction from subject experts.
CHALLENGING OURSELVES
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
In both solo and collaborative assignments, we practice “design thinking” by creating our own unique solutions to stimulating challenges or problem sets. In this way, we learn how to be the drivers of our learning.
DESIGN THINKING

A TYPICAL DAY AT COLEGIO MENOR QUITO

With our exciting liberal arts curriculum, world-class teachers, and state-of-the-art facilities, your child will form a lifelong love for learning at Colegio Menor Quito.
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
CONNECTING WITH OUR CLASSMATES AND TEACHERS
Before the bell rings, we’ll see how our friends are doing and check in with our teachers in the hallways or benches outside in the courtyard. We know it’s important to strengthen our relationships.
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs-dot arch Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs-dot arch
CATCHING UP
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
INNOVATIVE PROJECTS
We grow our teamwork skills in and out of the classroom, knowing that we can learn from each other and create original projects together. By exploring concepts, we build bridges across different subject areas.
CONNECTING AND COLLABORATING
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
GAINING INDEPENDENCE
Whether we’re on the sports field with our teammates and coaches after school or moving from one class to the other during the school day, we get to mix with lots of new students. We all explore our unique interests, passions, and learning styles.
GROWING AND MATURING
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
CREATIVITY AND THE ARTS
During music, art, or theatre elective classes, we’ll work on projects we’re proud to share with our school community. We love to exhibit in the hallways and perform popular songs or our own written plays on stage.
EXPLORING AND EXPRESSING
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
WELLBEING
 In our well-being class, we have a safe space to talk about the ups and downs of adolescence, while practicing tools to help take care of ourselves and each other.
FEELING SAFE AND COMFORTABLE

A TYPICAL DAY AT COLEGIO MENOR QUITO

With our exciting liberal arts curriculum, world-class teachers, and state-of-the-art facilities, your child will form a lifelong love for learning at Colegio Menor Quito.
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
SOCIAL STUDIES
We’ll strive to understand nuanced concepts through discussion-based conversations with our peers and teacher. We learn the art of asking important questions and formulating our own opinions.
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs-dot arch Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs-dot arch
CRITICAL THINKING
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
RESEARCH IN THE LAB
In science class, we’ll conduct an experiment showcasing heat transfer. We’ll write up a lab report with our findings, which we’ll connect to a lecture at MIT that we listened to.
TESTING AND EXPERIMENTING
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
TROPICAL DANCES
We’ll take joy in practicing bachata, salsa, or the merengue in the Covered Court with our dancing partners, under the guidance of our physical education teacher.
COLLABORATING
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
DRAMA AND POETRY
In Spanish class, we dress in costume and perform a re-enactment of Don Quixote—which we record in our Innovation Hub. In English class, we host a poetry slam with poems we’ve composed about identity.
EXPLORING WHO WE ARE
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Visual Time Line Tabs
COLLEGE COUNSELING
In the inspiring setting of our Performing Arts Center, we’ll attend a personal session with our college counselor, where we practice how to complete our college applications and begin writing our college essays.
PREPARING FOR OUR FUTURE
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Feature Cards Pattern 1

MEET OUR ALUMNI

Colegio Menor Quito has graduated 23 classes—each with outstanding students who make this world a better place. We celebrate their experiences and achievements, as they’ll always be part of the Menor family and continue to inspire us every day. Please see our Alumni page for more Colegio Menor Alumni.

Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Feature Cards Pattern 1
Daniela Salazar
Vice President and Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador
“Colegio Menor taught me there aren’t any ‘too high’ goals and gave me the tools to open all closed doors. In 1995, I entered Menor convinced that I didn’t have certain skills and wasn’t suitable for certain subjects. In a short amount of time, I had the opportunity to rebuild that version of myself.”
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Feature Cards Pattern 1
Ana Trueba
Clinical psychologist at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts; faculty member of Harvard Medical School

“I studied at Colegio Menor since I was ten years old. The education I received helped me to explore my interests and dreams and to strengthen my skills. The school’s methodology was not limited only to academics; it also focused on human qualities. Menor played a fundamental role in the professional and person I am now.” 

Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Feature Cards Pattern 1
Carolina Pozo
Founder of AVANTI Foundation and MUZE Chocolate
“When I was at Colegio Menor, I led a social initiative for the first time: a program where we offered extracurricular computer classes and helped the homework of children of school employees. Years later, when I created my AVANTI Foundation in 2008, we took two generations of Menor High School students to a social awareness and productive activation program in Chimborazo.”
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Feature quote
icon quote
Menor taught me to believe in myself and pursue my dreams, and also gave me friends and teachers that I’m so happy to call family.
Paula
Grade 12 student

OUR STATS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

100%
of graduates attend their college of choice
50%
of graduating students exceeded an average grade of 93%, earning Honors for their academic success
7 out of 10
of the countries with best education systems in the world have accepted our students at their top universities 
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Full Width Image
HOW WE TEACH AT QUITO

TEACHING TAILORED TO YOUR CHILD

At Colegio Menor Quito, our teachers have in-depth knowledge about your child and provide the best techniques, strategies, and guided assistance to ensure they achieve their personal best outcomes.

Whether your child is thinking outside the box during an activity or creating something unique, our teachers are there to encourage their curiosity and motivate their next steps.

Find out more
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Small Text And Image
TEACHING STANDARDS AT QUITO

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE

Our teachers never stop learning—they’re dedicated to self-improvement just like our students. To ensure their quality, we boost their professional development through training and resources of Nord Anglia University as well as regular performance reviews.

We're proud to be accredited by COGNIA, a highly renowned international educational association, which allows Menor to have a dual degree as an Ecuadorian and US school. COGNIA gives us a thorough examination and plan of improvements, which help make sure we meet high-quality educational and operational standards. 

FIND OUT MORE

OUTSTANDING LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Your child’s education will benefit from the world's best teachers and life-changing experiences beyond the classroom that allow them to think critically.

Outstanding Experiences
Academic Excellence | Colegio Menor Quito - Promo With Collage