American School to Inaugurate Barra Campus: Daily

By Mary Bolling Blackiston, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro (American School of Rio de Janeiro) will celebrate the opening of its new campus in Barra da Tijuca, through an inauguration on Saturday February 22nd. The celebration will take place from 10AM until 12PM, starting with a reception at 10AM followed by the ceremony at 11AM. There will also be tours for those who would like to see the campus.

The EARJ, as the school commonly goes by, is a college-preparatory school for grades pre-K to 12th grade. It abides by the curriculum of a U.S. college-preparatory school, with instruction of course in English.

Barra, one of the school’s three campuses, will cater to preschool through fifth grade and will host a 450 students.  Middle school will be added next year according to the school.

The neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca, located in the Zona Oeste (West Zone) of Rio, is known for being very modern and suburban, characterized by large boulevards, numerous shopping malls, luxury condominiums and during commuting hours, lots of traffic. Although transportation is set to become much easier when the new Metro (subway train) line opens prior to the 2016 Olympic Games.

The EARJ was founded in 1937 by private individuals, businesses and the American Chamber of Commerce. The goal was to “Afford an academic program that was comparable in excellence to the curriculum found in superior schools in the United States,” as the website states.

The school started with just 137 students in a small rented house in Ipanema and now has a twelve-acre campus in Gávea, in addition to the one in Barra and another in Macaé. The school offers a student to staff ratio of seven to one, and students can graduate with up to three different diplomas: the American, Brazilian and the International Baccalaureate (IB) diplomas.

For more information about the new campus, refer to EARJ’s website.

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