← Back to homeThe American School of Las Palmas
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain · est. 1967 · Private
Illustration · Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
The American School of Las Palmas (ASLP) is a private international school on Gran Canaria, in Los Hoyos, fifteen minutes from Las Palmas. It was founded in 1967 by US citizens who settled on the island after a NASA scientific mission, and the school has called its many nationalities a feature of its own from the very beginning. It teaches an American programme recognised by the Spanish ministry of education, and English is its only language of instruction at every stage, from the first day in the three-year-old group; Spanish is supported and tested on admission. The path runs from Nursery at three to Grade 12 at eighteen: the pre-school stage, the elementary school and Middle-High School from grade 6 to grade 12. Leavers receive the American High School Diploma, the senior years offer Advanced Placement courses, and according to the school 97 per cent of its students pass them with an average score of 3. The school writes that all its students who applied to universities were admitted, and that from 2023 to 2025 its leavers received more than 6 million dollars in scholarships. Pupils' progress from kindergarten to grade 10 is tracked with the MAP Growth test three times a year, and from grade 5 to grade 10 each pupil has an iPad. The Finnish KiVa anti-bullying programme is in place, and the school calls itself the first Eco-School in the Canary Islands. It has its own school bus, a canteen with an on-site kitchen, a Saturday English school and summer camps in July open to all families.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $5 773–9 368 a year
511.02–829.23 EUR a month
The year is counted as ten payments: the school does not say how many payments it takes.
Programmes
AP · American programme
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Class size
up to 25 in the elementary school
Summer camp
Yes, open to all
About the fees The school publishes its fees for 2026-2027 itself, as a file on its fees page, by the month: they are paid in ten instalments, and in Grade 12 the ten payments are spread over the first nine months. For the first child per month: Nursery-Kinder 536.42 euros, grades 1-5: 511.02, grades 6-8: 689.03, grades 9-11: 746.38, Grade 12: 829.23 euros. For the second child 512.88, 488.73, 657.94, 712.32 and 791.45 euros, for the third 489.35, 466.43, 626.72, 678.25 and 753.67 euros, for the fourth and further children 301.00, 288.30, 377.37, 405.96 and 451.05 euros. The fee includes all books and materials and study continuity insurance. For late payment the school charges 1.5 per cent.
Admissions The school is open to students of any national origin and says plainly that it accepts children of all nationalities and families from around the world, with dedicated relocation support. Age is counted on 31 December: Nursery takes children from three, Pre-Kindergarten from four, Kindergarten from five and the first grade from six. Admission to grades 5 to 12 requires placement tests in mathematics, English and Spanish or an equivalent evaluation, as well as reports and official documents from the previous school; high school students bring their full transcript. A pupil whose English does not reach the required level during the first year may be asked to repeat the year. Order of priority: children of staff, US citizens, brothers and sisters of students, children of graduates, then everyone else in order of registration. Admission is refused to children without academic records, with serious misconduct or expulsion at the previous school, to children of families in debt to the previous school and to those who do not meet the academic requirements. The steps: an enquiry, an application with documents and recommendations, assessment, a family interview, enrolment and the contract. Enrolment is open all year, and the interview can be held online.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery (age 3) - Grade 12 (age 18). Three stages on the American model: the pre-school stage (Nursery, Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten) for children aged 3-5, the elementary school for ages 6-12 and Middle-High School from grade 6 to grade 12. In the elementary school the school tries to keep classes to no more than 25 pupils and exceeds this only in exceptional cases, by decision of the school board. The senior years offer Advanced Placement courses, a required 75 hours of community service from grade 9, Model United Nations with a trip to the THIMUN conference in The Hague and a college counsellor from grade 9 to grade 12.
Address Carr. de Los Hoyos, Km 1.7, 35017 Los Hoyos, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
NEASC · accreditationCollege Board · authorised programmeschool is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
NEASCNew England Association of Schools and Colleges
An American accreditation working since 1885. For international schools it uses an approach where the visitors look first at live lessons rather than at folders of paperwork: the team works in the school for about a week. It is the only one here whose public directory honestly separates accredited schools from candidates.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →College BoardCollege Board, the AP programme
An American organisation that allows a school to put the letters AP on a pupil's transcript. The permission is granted course by course and tied to a particular teacher, it has to be renewed every year, and College Board reads the course syllabus before granting it.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run advanced AP courses - not the school as a whole, but one by one: by subject and by teacher. Governance, safeguarding and the primary years are not part of that check. Which subjects are actually approved is visible in the ledger. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. Authorisation here runs a year at a time: the register lists the school for the 2025-2026 school year.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →AP
Advanced Placement: American advanced courses for the senior years. The exam for a course is set and marked by the College Board, not by the school. A good result is counted by American universities as a first-year course already passed, which saves a student time and money.
What this means for this school. A school does not get to call a course AP automatically: the College Board reads the course syllabus and approves it separately for every subject and every teacher, and the permission has to be renewed each year. Every approved school in the world is listed in the open AP Course Ledger, and this school's entry there stands as a line in the accreditation block above. How many courses a school is approved for, and in which subjects, the ledger does not show in its general listing. AP has no leaving certificate of its own: it sits on top of the school's main programme rather than being a separate system.
American programme
The American school programme, with the High School Diploma at the end. It usually comes together with AP courses, which the College Board stands behind, and with an American accreditation - MSA, NEASC or Cognia.
What this means for this school. The diploma is written out by the school itself: the American programme has no common leaving exam, and the content of the senior years is set by the school. Outside checking therefore rests on two things here - the accreditation of the school, and the AP exams if the school runs them.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
AP scores of 3 and above
97%
Exam results According to the school, 97 per cent of its students pass Advanced Placement exams, with an average score of 3, and each year more students earn the AP Scholar award for passing three or more exams.
Where leavers go: Harvard University · Cornell University · Boston University · Northeastern University · Columbia University · IE University · Universidad de Navarra · Universidad Carlos III de Madrid · Maastricht University · University of Groningen · Tilburg University · University of York
and others, 15 universities in the school's list in allThe school writes that all its students who applied to universities were admitted, and names universities in the United States, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France; from 2023 to 2025 its leavers received more than 6 million dollars in scholarships.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio
Campus: The campus is in Los Hoyos, fifteen minutes from Las Palmas, next to the Caldera de Bandama volcanic reserve, which is used for outdoor lessons. Technology-equipped classrooms, science and technology labs, a library with a media centre, sports fields, a gym and outdoor courts, spaces for art, music and theatre. The canteen cooks a hot lunch on site to menus by nutritionists, taking allergies into account. The school's own buses bring children from Las Palmas, Telde, Tafira, Santa Brigida, Maspalomas and Cruce de Arinaga.
Clubs and activities: Creative Arts · Model United Nations · Sports Club · Technology Club · Eco-Council
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp and takes children from outside as well
In the summer of 2026 the school runs two English-language camps on its campus, both from 1 to 31 July, Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 15:30, with early drop-off from 7:30, and both are open to all families. The day camp for children aged 3-16 is built around a World Cup theme: each week the teams represent a different country, with tournaments, cultural projects, Friday excursions and a campout. The Elite Soccer camp for ages 6-15 is run by professional coaches, with a minimum of 12 players. Registration before 31 May gives a 5 per cent discount.
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
The school does not publish the number of its teachers or their qualifications. It says the team is mixed, local and international, highly qualified, with specialists in different subjects and methods, that teachers follow each pupil's progress, and that from grade 9 college counsellors work with the students. The school tries to keep elementary classes to no more than 25 pupils. The director is Shannon B. Curran.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
·Nurse or medical roomnot stated on the website
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school writes that it follows strict safety and safeguarding guidelines so that students are in a secure environment at all times. From kindergarten to grade 10 the Finnish KiVa anti-bullying programme is built into the curriculum. On every bus route staff members travel with the children. The school does not separately name security guards, video surveillance, a medical room or a psychologist.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)75 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data90 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data73 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country