The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is the global standard for academic rigor and preparation for the world’s top universities. It offers a balance of breadth and depth of knowledge, along with limitless opportunities for the intellectual, creative, and personal development of our students. Additionally, it fosters their growth in international-mindedness and community service.
At our school, the program has been implemented since 2016, and currently, all students have the opportunity to pursue the Diploma while completing their high school education within the national education system. Starting in Grade 10, which serves as an induction year to the skills and prerequisites of the program, students refine their interests and align their abilities with the courses they will choose for the Diploma during Grades 11 and 12.
Camino students have the freedom to choose their courses from six subject groups within the Program:
Group 1: Language and Literature: English or Spanish
Group 2: Language Acquisition: English or Spanish
Group 3: Individuals and Societies: Philosophy or Business Management
Group 4: Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, or Sports, Exercise and Health Science
Group 5: Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation or Analysis and Approaches
Group 6: The Arts: Film or Visual Arts
As a multilingual community, Camino offers a mix of courses in English and Spanish to meet the Program requirements. We also offer students the option to complete subjects at either the Standard Level or the Higher Level.
Core Components
The Diploma Program is distinguished by its emphasis on students being empowered agents of their own growth. At Camino, our students undertake impactful and relevant projects for themselves and our community, leveraging their research, social, communication, and collaboration skills to contribute to the development of our community.
In our Theory of Knowledge course, students explore the nature and implications of the knowledge they acquire in their classes and develop critical thinking skills to cultivate meaningful learning connected to all areas of their lives.
Our students' Extended Essays include university-level work on topics such as the water infrastructure crisis in Mexico, graph theory in the mathematics behind video games, the evolution of the cyber-punk literary genre, John Rawls' philosophy, and gastric and metabolic health issues in Baja California Sur. Each year, several of our students achieve outstanding scores in this component.
In CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service), Camino students develop their passions and lead initiatives to support animal rescue and welfare organizations, volunteer to help struggling students with literacy skills in local primary schools, create recycling and permaculture initiatives, and lead dialogues on equal rights and non-discrimination.
Why pursue the Diploma at El Camino?
As the only International Baccalaureate school in Baja California Sur, Colegio El Camino is a benchmark of academic quality in the region. Moreover, we are a supportive and diverse community with students and teachers from many parts of the world, committed to helping everyone reach their full potential in all capacities.
All our students have the support of a mentor teacher, as well as advisors for each component. We also have psychology and language development support staff, and a pedagogical leadership team that innovates and seeks to give voice to students and parents in every critical decision, including the search for universities in Mexico and abroad.