Camino School

Camino School, an independent, trilingual school in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is empowering students to reach their full potential with a curriculum that connects with students on a humane level, integrates socio-emotional development, and uses active methodologies. It nurtures well-rounded individuals who are equipped to take on the world.

Camino School was founded in 2020 with the main objective of preparing the students for the real world, and in this it differs widely from the country’s traditional teacher-led approach while still following the Brazilian National Common Core Curriculum. The school's project-based methodologies transform traditional classes into unforgettable learning experiences through expeditions. Students ask questions, present their ideas, experiment, and share their difficulties to solve problems. This active learning approach supports and encourages students to reach their full potential.

At the same time, the integration of socio-emotional development into the curriculum contextualises students' cognitive, social, emotional, and ethical abilities, an approach that helps students develop into well-rounded individuals who can transfer their knowledge to real-life situations. For example, the curriculum is taught in three languages – Portuguese, Spanish, and English – providing students with greater cognitive, cultural, and future economic opportunities.

Of foundational importance was affordability, accessibility, and diversity so as to showcase its model across Brazilian society and show other schools that they too could adopt – and succeed with – Camino School’s approach.

To this end, the school offers a Caminantes Scholarship Programme that supports the integral development of children and young people in their community by contextualising their cognitive, social, emotional, and ethical abilities. Between 20% and 25% of the school’s population are scholarship recipients from indigenous, immigrant, ethnic minority and neurodiverse backgrounds. This emphasises the school’s drive to reduce social fractures, which has included the recent publication of the Handbook for Anti Racist School, available for all.

If Camino School wins the World's Best School Prize for Innovation, it intends to use the prize to continue its efforts in providing an innovative, inclusive, and transformative learning environment for students and making materials and knowledge available to other schools.