← Back to the rankingColegio Edmondo de Amicis
Buenos Aires, Argentina · est. 1867 · Private
Illustration · Buenos Aires
Colegio Edmondo de Amicis is the oldest Italian school in Argentina: the Italian mutual aid and education association 'Unione e Benevolenza' decided in 1866 to open a free Italian school, which began in March 1867. It closed in 1942 and reopened in 1965, and since 2014 (2015 according to the PTOF) it has been run by the Centro Cultural Italiano. The school is in the Recoleta district of Buenos Aires and takes children from the nursery through kindergarten and primary school to the liceo; since 2017 the liceo has been a liceo delle scienze umane opzione economico-sociale. It is a paritaria school recognised by Italy at all levels and also a private school recognised by the Buenos Aires education ministry, so graduates receive the Italian diploma after the esame di Stato and an Argentine qualification. Lessons are in Italian and Spanish, and English is taught as a foreign language from kindergarten with Cambridge exams in view; the school is an official Cambridge Assessment English exam centre. According to the PTOF, its fees are the lowest of the four Italian schools in the consular district.
Key facts
Programmes
Italian programme · National programme
Admits from
1 year · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Italian, Spanish
Admissions The school invites families to book a visit and interview through the website form or WhatsApp; enrolment for 2027 is open. In its FAQ the school says Italian ancestry is not required and its schools are open to all families regardless of origin; according to the PTOF the paritaria school is open to everyone. Children who join without Italian attend Italian courses outside lesson time with a final assessment. The website does not list age requirements, entrance tests or documents.
Stages and year groups Nursery and kindergarten (scuola dell'infanzia; the website says from the 1-year group, the PTOF timetable shows groups for ages 3, 4 and 5), scuola primaria grades 1-5, scuola secondaria di primo grado (three years, equivalent to Argentine primary grade 6 and secondary years 1-2) and a 4-year liceo: liceo delle scienze umane opzione economico-sociale, running since 2017. Each 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 year the esame di Stato before a commission of school teachers and teachers sent by the Italian education ministry; the diploma gives access to universities in the European Union. The Argentine track follows the Ciudad de Buenos Aires curriculum under DGEGP supervision, with codes A-595 for each level; Argentine qualifications are issued. Hours are 7:50 to 16:05 in secondary school and liceo, 8:00 to 16:00 in primary.
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 hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Playground · Makerspace
Campus: Two buildings owned by the Italian State and leased to the school through the Italian Consulate General. Quirno Costa 1260 houses the kindergarten and primary school: 5 nursery and kindergarten rooms, 7 primary classrooms with computers and projectors, a library, a ground-floor gym, two dining rooms, a covered play area and a courtyard, a technology room, a 3D printer, laptops and robotics kits, an educational psychology office, and Wi-Fi throughout. Lucio Mansilla 2765 houses the secondary school and liceo: 8 classrooms with computers, projectors and webcams, a science lab, a library corner, a dining room with kitchen, an open courtyard and a staff room. 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, Italian-Argentine and Italian teachers; native Italian speakers teach in kindergarten and primary. In primary, Italian and Spanish teachers co-teach some lessons (Spanish - Italian humanities, mathematics - computing). For several hours a week in primary and secondary, a native English-speaking assistant co-teaches alongside the teacher.
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
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
There is an educational psychology support service: a lead psychologist, an educational psychologist and two psychologists covering all levels. The service advises teachers and families, assesses children moving from kindergarten to primary and from primary to secondary, and runs sex education, substance abuse prevention and online risk programmes; the digital citizenship programme covers cyberbullying and grooming. For secondary school the city rule applies: no more than 20 unjustified absences a year and 5 per two months.
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 data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data80 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data73 Value for money (6%) scored at the median81 "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