Dom Bosco

A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.

What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: PYP (ages 3-12). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end.

A Brazilian family educational group with its headquarters in São Luís, state of Maranhão. It grew out of a kindergarten opened in the middle of the twentieth century by the teacher Maria Isabel Rodrigues, who sent invitations to thirty families she knew. About twenty years ago the group moved into higher education, founding the university UNDB. It is run by a board on which three generations of the founding family sit. The group takes in the school Colégio Dom Bosco, from the pre-school stage to Ensino Médio, and the university UNDB; no other schools under this brand are named on the site. This group has no connection with the Salesian order, whose name is carried by dozens of Brazilian schools.

What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.