For a child to get admitted at the Columbus School they need to succeed at the Tiempo Compartido, an exam that tests intelligence, motor skills, language, concentration and other academic abilities. 

This test is one piece of the admission process and is taken at The Columbus School one year before students enter K4.

“The thing that we don’t call exam, but Tiempo Compartido is when the kid specifically comes with his parents,” Gloria Cecilia Tobon, the Elementary School Learning Center Teacher, said.

Tiempo Compartido is a piece of the admission process, it´s one of the many steps for a kid to be accepted at TCS.

According to The Columbus School website, “For a child to study at TCS parents should first go through initial contact, informational meetings, admissions document delivery, admissions internal process, admissions committee, response to family and school space reservation.”  

Tiempo Compartido are formal exams and prospective students need high score to get admitted to the Columbus School due to its demanding academic level. 

“Its an standardized test, that has requirements for grading. We try to be objective as possible to grade it and not think about how cute or nice they are,” Tobon said.

The application exams changed two years ago so parents are less nervous since the exams are done one year before the school year begins. Now the children have the chance to study at another school if they don’t get accepted, or to improve their academic level before K4 begins.

“Before the exams were done in March, parents got the news in May and the school year started in August, therefore parents felt a lot of pressure because many schools had already gone through the admission process so there was a chance that their kids would not have were to go,” Tobon said

Parents point of view about Tiempo Compartido has changed over time, along with the changes the school have made in the admission exam.

“I think it’s really good, because now its one year before the child is going to start at the school so it allows improvement and corrections before the school year begins. Another good thing, that I experienced with my son was that they start getting used to the school and that they fill part of the school,” Carlos Alberto Restrepo, 1st grade parent, said.

Even though the school works so hard at the admission exam, it´s just a prediction of the academic future of the kids.    It´s not certain about how they will do throughout the school.

“This Tiempo Compartido is just the visión we have about a kid, we cannot say we perfectly know about the academic future of this person,” Tobon said.