← Back to the rankingCentro Culturale Italiano Alessandro Manzoni
Olivos, Argentina · est. 1958 · Private
Illustration · Olivos
Centro Culturale Italiano Alessandro Manzoni is an Italian paritaria school in the north of Greater Buenos Aires with two sites, in Olivos and Villa Adelina. The Centro Cultural Italiano was founded by Italian immigrants on 4 November 1958 in Olivos with a small kindergarten; the Olivos secondary school has run since 1968, and the Villa Adelina site was founded in 1962. Italy recognised the middle school in 1972, and since 2004 both sites have been paritaria at all levels; since 2012 the Italian ministry has treated them as one school with a single plan. The school is also recognised by the education ministry of the Province of Buenos Aires and issues two qualifications: the Italian diploma after the esame di Stato and an Argentine qualification. It runs a nursery and kindergarten from the 1-year group, primary school, middle school and liceo; in Olivos the liceo is a liceo linguistico, in Villa Adelina a liceo scientifico opzione scienze applicate. The Argentine and Italian curricula are planned together, and some lessons are co-taught by Italian and Spanish teachers; English is taught from kindergarten, and the school is an official Cambridge exam centre and a CELI exam centre of the Università per Stranieri di Perugia. In the final liceo year students travel for about 4 weeks to the UK and Italy.
Key facts
Programmes
Italian programme · National programme
Admits from
1 year · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Italian, Spanish
Languages taught
English, Portuguese, Latin
Admissions The school invites families to book a visit and interview through the website form (details of the child, current school, site and level) or WhatsApp; enrolment for 2027 is open. In its FAQ the school says Italian ancestry is not required: its schools are open to all families regardless of origin, and many families have no previous link with Italy. Children who join without Italian get Italian courses outside lesson time with a final assessment. On moving from primary to middle school and from middle school to the liceo, entry tests in Italian, Spanish and mathematics are held in February. The website gives no age requirements or document list.
Stages and year groups Nursery and kindergarten (groups for ages 1 and 2, then 3, 4 and 5; full day from age 4), scuola primaria grades 1-5 from 8:00 to 16:00, scuola secondaria di primo grado (three years, equivalent to Argentine primary grade 6 and secondary years 1-2) and a 4-year liceo: liceo linguistico in Olivos, liceo scientifico opzione scienze applicate in Villa Adelina. Each school year counts in both the Argentine and Italian systems. In the second year of secondary school students sit the first Italian exam for the licenza media, and in the final liceo year the esame di Stato before a commission of school teachers and teachers sent by the Italian education ministry; the diploma is recognised across the European Union. The Argentine track follows the Province of Buenos Aires curriculum under DIEGEP supervision; Olivos runs the approved Innovativo Bilingüe project, Villa Adelina the Bilingüe Común project. Cambridge courses and exams are offered: YLE, KET, Trinity GESE, FCE, IGCSE in nine subjects and the ICE Diploma.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
MAECIItaly's foreign ministry names the school on its list of paritarie Italian schools abroad: it teaches the Italian curriculum, and Italy recognises its exams and diploma on a par with state schools.
school 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
MAECIItaly's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI)
An Italian school abroad: a state or paritaria school, the Italian curriculum, the esame di Stato exam and a diploma with the same legal value as in Italy.
What the badge means for this school. This is an Italian school abroad: it teaches the Italian curriculum, and Italy's foreign ministry names it on its list of state or paritarie schools - so Italy recognises its exams and diploma. The entry is not a quality inspection. Which stages are recognised and what the school charges are on this page and on the school's own website. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Italian programme
The Italian school curriculum taught in Italian: scuola dell'infanzia, primaria, secondaria di primo grado (scuola media) and the liceo, ending with the state exam, the esame di Stato, and the Italian diploma.
What this means for this school. The curriculum is set by the Italian state: the school is an Italian state school abroad or a paritaria school, recognised by Italy. Exams follow Italian rules and the diploma has the same legal value as in Italy, giving access to Italian universities. The host country's curriculum usually runs alongside, and students receive two certificates.
National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground · Makerspace
Campus: Two sites. In Olivos a new three-storey primary building opened in February 2026: 13 classrooms, a computer room and a music and art room; the secondary wing has 10 classrooms and a multipurpose lab next to the library; there is a library, a theatre, an infirmary, an indoor gym, a courtyard and a dining hall; the kindergarten at Borges 601 has 10 rooms, a dining room, a playroom, a small farm with rabbits and four courtyards. In Villa Adelina all levels share one building with a lift: 9 kindergarten rooms, primary and secondary classrooms, a computer room, a technology room, an audiovisual room, a music room, a library, a chemistry lab, an indoor gym and an outdoor sports area, and a dining hall; from 2026 the liceo is introducing subject classrooms. Both sites use a sports field near the schools on a timetable. The canteen, snack bar and stationery shop are run by outside contractors. It is a full-day school with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Volleyball · Athletics · Girls' Field Hockey · Mathematics Olympiads · Literary and Science Competitions
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 sizenot stated
The staff are Argentine and Italian-Argentine teachers and native speakers of Italian and English. In primary, Italian and Spanish teachers co-teach one lesson a week, and mathematics and science follow a joint programme with a single assessment; pupils are followed by the class council (consiglio di classe). Teachers take part in annual professional development, currently on artificial intelligence.
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 room
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
Each site has an educational psychology support service: a coordinating psychologist, an educational psychologist and a psychologist for each level; the service assesses children at transitions between levels, advises teachers and families and runs sex education projects. Olivos has an infirmary. The school teaches digital safety and cyberbullying prevention as part of civic education; there is an inclusion plan for pupils with special needs. Its management system is ISO 9001 certified.
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%)72 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data73 Value for money (6%) scored at the median73 "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 7 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