Colina International School is a private non-profit English-language international school in Băbuțiu near Cluj-Napoca for children aged 2 to 14. It is built on Expeditionary Learning: children learn through long project-based learning expeditions with real impact, spend a lot of time in nature and the local community, and are assessed on mastered skills rather than tests. The academic basis is the New York State Learning Standards. Children are grouped not by grade but by two-year age ranges; the school calls its teachers Learning Designers. The school reports NEASC accreditation (December 2023) and ARACIP authorisation (October 2025); it says its diplomas are officially recognised. Parents take part in school life and lead sessions themselves. Kindergarten, primary and middle school are open; high school opens in September 2027.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $6 044–7 513 a year
535–665 EUR a month
The year is counted as ten payments: the school does not say how many payments it takes.
Programmes
American programme
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Class size
no more than 6 children per educator in the 2-4 group, 8 in the 4-6 group, 10 in the 6-8 group
Registration fee
≈ $373
330 EUR
About the fees Fees for 2026-2027, per month: the curricular fee is 535 euro in kindergarten and 665 euro in primary and middle school, plus a resources fee of 97 and 109 euro. Fees are paid in 10 instalments from September to June. The registration fee is 330 euro, paid once. Optional: clubs 55-145 euro per month, meals 140 euro, bus 170 euro. A 10% discount applies from the second child. Fees are reviewed every year.
Admissions The school admits children aged 2 to 14. Families attend an Open Day or contact the school, then apply online; the key factor is alignment between the family's and the school's values, explored in conversations. The school says it does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, disability or age, but cannot yet cater for certain special needs. No English is required for kindergarten; in primary school English is assessed and extra support given if needed. The registration fee is 330 euro.
Stages and year groups Grades K2-K5, 1-8. Children learn in mixed two-year groups: ages 2-4 and 4-6 (kindergarten), 6-8 and 8-10 (primary, grades 1-4), 10-12 and 12-14 (middle school, grades 5-8). High school: grades 9-10 open in September 2027, grades 11-12 in September 2029. The programme follows the New York State Learning Standards through Expeditionary Learning, plus the school's own life skills strand (self-regulation, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, leadership, creativity). Lessons run from 9:00 to 15:00, clubs from 15:00 to 16:00.
Address Strada Principală 16A, 407596 Băbuțiu
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
NEASC · accreditationThe school is accredited by NEASC. Its academic framework is the New York State Learning Standards, taught through the Expeditionary Learning model.
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
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 →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
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Playground
Clubs and activities: Digital Art
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: experience in international and progressive curricula
Educators work in teams for each age range and design interdisciplinary learning together. The Head of School and Learning Designer is Benjamin Davies. The team includes educators with experience in the USA and in British and IB schools; besides the core team there are guest collaborators (theatre, art), and the curriculum is shaped with an international advisory board and the company NoTosh.
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 policynot stated on the website
✓Staff training
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
Since 2022 staff have received child protection training with ECIS (Educational Collaborative for International Schools).
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 data65 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data61 "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.
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