In 2006, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education signed an agreement which sought to gradually introduce the International Baccalaureate's Diploma Programme into as many of the country's 1400 publicly funded secondary schools as possible. The initiative was part of a concerted effort aimed at addressing pervasive forms of inequality, argued to be colonially produced and exacerbated by recent neoliberal policies. Drawing on 5 months of ethnographic work in a low-income public school, this paper examines the effects the Ministry of Education's agreement has on a school's social cohesion. Findings showcase how the introduction of the Diploma Programme has inadvertently led to a dichotomized school, creating tensions between students and amongst the teaching staff. Furthermore, it has stigmatized students who either do not apply or are not accepted into the program. Based on these findings, I argue how a nation-wide education policy underlined by a logic of inclusion may create new and unanticipated micro-forms of exclusion at the school level. Consistent with the ongoing literature on inclusion, findings from this study emphasize the need for inclusion to be constituted as an ongoing process, one that demands consistent reevaluation and adaptation.