International school detail of American School of Quito

The American School opened its doors to 162 students on October 14, 1940. The process of founding the school was initiated the year before by Galo Plaza Laso, President of Ecuador and later President of the OAS, in conjunction with Mr. Boaz Long, the U.S. representative to Ecuador.

They were joined by a group of founding Ecuadorian families and the families of the U.S. diplomatic mission and multinational companies. The founders of the school were concerned with the fact that their children had only two options for education: Roman Catholic schools or the German school.

These families were interested in establishing a school based on U.S. schools in which race and religion were not impediments for learning.

Additionally, among the liberal families at that time, there existed a strong desire to establish democratic roots in a country that had lived under dictatorships and military governments from the time of its independence.