Balboa Academy is a private co-educational day school, offering an American college preparatory educational program from pre-kindergarten (3 and 4 year old programs) through 12th grade for students regardless of their nationality, race or creed.

The Academy Goal:

The Academy's goal is to provide a quality educational program for students with high potential who come from diverse cultural backgrounds, interests, and talents, and whose commonality is a desire to learn and achieve social and professional success.

We strive to instill in our students a lifelong love of learning through the application of modern methods of instruction and prepare them to meet the challenges of the future in the fields of science, fine arts, language arts, sports, technology, and civic and moral values.4

The School Year:

The 2011-2012 school year consists of 183 days of instruction extending from August 4, 2011 to June 14, 2012.  School vacations are Thanksgiving, Nov 24-25; Christmas, Dec. 16, 2011 to Jan. 16, 2012; Carnival, Feb. 20-24, 2012; and Spring Break, Apr. 2-6, 2012.  The school also observes all Panamanian school holidays.

School Hours:

The school class hours for grades 1-12 are 8:00 AM to 2:55 PM on M, T, Th, and F and 8:00 AM to 12:45 PM on Wed.  Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten hours are 8:00 AM to 12:45  PM on M, T, Th, and F. On Wednesday, pre-kindergarten students are dismissed at 11:30 AM and Kindergarten students are dismissed at 12:45 PM. 

Curriculum:

The Balboa Academy curriculum is a standards based US college-preparatory program similar to that of private schools in the United States.  The instructional program is implemented in English.  Spanish is taught as both a native and foreign language.  French is taught in high school as an additional foreign language.  Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered in all major subject areas.  US and Panama history, geography, and government are integrated into the social studies curriculum to satisfy both US and Panamanian academic requirements.  All graduates qualify for a US diploma.  There is no religious instruction.  The school opened August 1999.

Standards and Benchmarks Handbook

Educational Priorities:

• develop thinking and problem-solving skills

• use writing throughout the curriculum

• integrate technology throughout the curriculum

• encourage students to apply prior knowledge in new situations

Parents SY 2010:  

Student SY 2010:  

License:

Balboa Academy is licensed to operate as a private American international school on an August to June schedule by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Panama.

Accreditation:

Balboa Academy is fully accredited in the United States by AdvancED, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - Council on Accreditation and School Improvement, (SACS-CASI).

Organization:  

Balboa Academy is an organization governed by a Board of Directors (nine members) selected from the founding educators to maintain the mission, goals and facilities, and a Parent Teacher Board composed of parents and educators.

Faculty: 

The 2011-2012 faculty is composed of 72 full time teachers, 8 educational specialists, 2 education technicians, 2 counselors, 1 School Psychologist, and 5 administrators. Forty-one faculty members have Master's degrees and one has a Ph.D.  There are 40 U.S. citizen, 30 host-country, and 4 third-country teachers.  The classroom teachers except the Spanish language teachers are English speaking, with the majority educated in the U.S. with U.S. teaching credentials.  The Spanish language teachers are native Spanish speakers with Latin American university degrees and teaching credentials.  The student teacher ratio is approximately 11:1.

Enrollment:
Enrollment for the first semester of the 2011-12 school year is 831.

The student population is approximately 40% US, 25% Panamanian, and 35% international from 46 countries. 

Facilities:  BA Campus (click to enlarge)

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The Balboa Academy campus is located in the City of Knowledge, Clayton, Panama City, Republic of Panama.  (Red arrow above)  The school leases four air-conditioned classroom buildings and a health & fitness complex, with 70 classrooms, which include 3 libraries, 5 computer laboratories, 4 art and 2 music classrooms, 5 science laboratories, and 3 multi-purpose lunch room/auditoriums.  Capacity is approximately 850 students (60 per grade).  In addition to school facilities, the school shares use of baseball and soccer fields, tennis courts, gymnasium, Olympic swimming pool, 600 seat auditorium and physical fitness areas in the City of Knowledge adjacent to our campus.

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