Five years later, the first secondary classes were established. At the same time the number of students had grown considerably; in 1949 there were already 280 students. For this reason, the school moved to a larger location on Chimborazo and Azuay streets.

By 1945, the Jacobson’s had left Ecuador and the Colegio Americano began to be managed by a group of American businessmen and professionals who were working in our country. They set up a non-profit institution which took control of the young school.

In 1949, the bilingual secretarial program began, and eight years later, after adding one more year of studies, the high school degree program was born in the secondary section. At this time, because of the evident expansion of the school, the board bought a large piece of land on the Juan Tanca Marengo Road.

The United States government contributed $180,000 for the construction of the buildings at the new location; the government of Puerto Rico also gave some technical advice. For the 1960-1961 school, the Colegio Americano began its classes on the present campus on Juan Tanca Marengo Avenue.

In 1986, the Colegio Americano became a member of the prestigious network of the International Baccalaureate (IB World). The principal advantages of this were: improvement of the curriculum and facilitating the school’s graduates entry into national and foreign universities.

From the first years in the IB World up to the present time, the Colegio Americano has obtained a series of academic achievements: a great number of diplomas and certificates, high grades in Spanish, Math, Economics, and especially in Language 2 (English). In Language 2 (English), during recent years, almost 100% of the graduates of the Colegio Americano have obtained IB certificates.

Today, in the year 2005, the Colegio Americano has fully occupied facilities for the sections of Preschool (Prekinder, Kinder and First year of General Basic Education- GBE [equivalent to two years of preschool and Kindergarten in the US educational system]), Primary School (from second to seventh year GBE) [equivalent to first to sixth grades in the US educational system]), and Secondary School (from eighth year of GBE to third year of high school – Sixth course [equivalent to seventh to twelfth grades in the US educational system]).

The high school program offers four specializations in sciences: Physics and Math, Chemistry and Biology, Humanities and Communication, and Business. All of these are bilingual and prepare students for the International Baccalaureate exams.

Throughout more than six decades of existence, the Colegio Americano has developed a democratic bilingual way of teaching which advocates cooperation between teachers and students, critical thinking, quality and careful presentation of work, respect towards all members of the educational community. It requires accountability from the teacher as well as the students for their actions and words, and expects them to always make their best and constant efforts. This promotes openness and exchange with people from different cultures and countries which prepares them in concepts, knowledge, management of modern informational and communication technologies and the practice of citizenship values. In short, it prepares young people for the leadership that our country and the world require at the beginning of the 21st century.

The Colegio Americano has a computer lab for the preschool, another for the primary school and three for the secondary school, with a total of 150 computers for the students and another fifty for the administrative areas. The primary school has a science laboratory, and the secondary school has laboratories for Physics, Chemistry, Environmental Systems and Biology. The school also has ample and specialized libraries – one for each section – with a total of more than 21,000 books.

The Colegio Americano has a great number and variety of sports facilities: a regulation soccer field, a regulation baseball diamond and various volleyball and basketball courts.