← Back to homeClonlara School Idanha
Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal · Private
Illustration · Idanha-a-Nova
The American school Clonlara has opened its Portuguese campus in the village of Oledo in the Idanha-a-Nova district, where it occupies the former primary school building. It is a full-day school: the day runs from 9:00 to 16:00, opens with a circle and closes with one, and holds classes, lunch and silent reading in between. In the 2026/2027 school year there are two groups, Youngers 1 with grades 1 and 2 and Youngers 2 with grades 3 and 4, each with a maximum of 15 students. Lessons run in two languages: some subjects in Portuguese, some in English, depending on the teacher and the goal, and the school calls the campus bilingual itself; the curriculum is built from the Michigan state standards together with the benchmarks of the Portuguese Ministry of Education. The school keeps the campus pages in both English and Portuguese, and the Portuguese one is left over from the earlier plan and describes a campus that does not exist yet, while the English one describes the school year already under way. Nearby the school is building its own campus for 140 students in three phases from 2025 to 2028, with more classrooms, a laboratory and a multi-functional room. There are no upper years yet, and the school states it will grow to grade 12.
Key facts
Programmes
American programme
Languages of instruction
English, Portuguese
Admissions The school looks not at nationality but at a child's willingness to learn, their own motivation, their acceptance of others and their assertiveness and creativity. The family fills in an application and the child spends an immersion day at the school with the others so that both sides can see whether they fit.
Stages and year groups Grades Grades 1-4, in two groups: Youngers 1 (grades 1 and 2) and Youngers 2 (grades 3 and 4). In the 2026/2027 school year each group holds a maximum of 15 students. The school day runs from 9:00 to 16:00: an opening circle, classes, lunch, 15-30 minutes of silent reading, afternoon sessions and a closing circle. The school plans to grow to grade 12; its education document names the stages as Youngers (grades 1-5, ages 6-11), Middles (grades 6-8, ages 11-14) and Olders (grades 9-12, ages 14-18).
Address Edificio da Escola Primaria, Rua Direita, 6060-621 Oledo, Idanha-a-Nova
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
MSA · candidateschool 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
MSAMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools
One of the oldest American accreditations, working since 1887 in more than a hundred countries and linked to the Office of Overseas Schools of the US State Department. It judges the school as an institution across twelve areas, including finances, governance, premises and student support.
What the badge means for this school. The school is a candidate for accreditation by this organisation: the route has been started but not completed. Candidacy speaks of an application made and a file accepted for consideration, not of the outcome of an inspection, and the organisations themselves usually require schools to say that it does not guarantee accreditation. The candidacy is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →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
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 hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school occupies the former primary school building on Rua Direita in Oledo, a village in the Idanha-a-Nova district in central Portugal, next to the Tejo Internacional natural park. Nearby the school is building its own campus in three phases: first the rehabilitation of a building with the first classrooms and service rooms, then two phases of new construction adding classrooms, a laboratory and a multi-functional room. The school plans the campus for up to 140 students, with work running from 2025 to 2028.
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: Educators hold training relevant to the stage they teach and keep learning the school's approach.
A group holds a maximum of 15 students. Subjects are taught in either Portuguese or English, depending on the teacher and on the learning goal.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
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 data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)65 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data60 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 Value for money (6%) scored at the median70 "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