Unidad Educativa Santana

The Science High School track has been in operation since 1993 under Ministerial Decree No. 097. Since April 2011, Santana has been authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization to offer the Diploma Program in the last three years of high school. In 2017, Santana opened a new campus to operate two campuses about 2 km apart: Campus Ciudad de los Niños for maternal to seventh grade and Campus Matriz for eighth grade to third of Bachillerato. Exchange programs began in September 2014 with Burr and Burton Academy (USA), with the first Santana group visiting Boston and New York; the program continued with additional exchanges. Since October 2024, the school is a candidate to implement the IB Middle Years Programme (Años Intermedios).

The school runs a trilingual language program with English at the highest level in the city (validated by Cambridge English Language Assessment) and French taught by native speakers in partnership with the Alliance Française de Cuenca. Arts, music and choir, theater, and dance are integrated across levels to support artistic development. Sports are central to community life; Santana has a well‑equipped infrastructure including a covered Coliseum and professional football pitches, and has organized Jornadas de Integración y Deporte de los Colegios Particulares Laicos de Cuenca since 2002 to promote teamwork and fair play. The Department of Guidance and Counseling provides personalized support to students and families, and the Entorno y Sociedad framework links social context with learning while exchange programs broaden community ties with partner schools in the U.S. and elsewhere.