← Back to homeDES Interactive European School
Varkiza, Greece · Private
Illustration · Varkiza
DES (Interactive European School) is a private bilingual school in southern Attica following IB programmes: the PYP in the nursery, kindergarten and primary school, and the MYP in the secondary school. The school has four buildings: the nursery in Vari (Kalymnou st.), the kindergarten in Varkiza (Demesticha st.), the primary school on Barakos Hill in Varkiza and the secondary school in Agia Marina Koropiou (Ithakis st.). The founder and CEO is Dr. Billie Konstantara; the school writes that it was the first in Greece to combine the IB with Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. Subjects are taught in Greek and English through CLIL; in the secondary school, according to its language policy, English is used for most subjects, while Greek language and literature and some mathematics and science lessons are in Greek. The secondary school (Middle School) is small, the school itself calls it a microschool; the school is a candidate member of the Round Square network.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $7 908–15 816 a year
7 000–14 000 EUR
Languages of instruction
English, Greek
Languages taught
Spanish, French, German
Registration fee
≈ $1 130
1 000 EUR
About the fees Fees for the 2026-2027 school year: nursery 7000 euros a year, kindergarten up to 9000, primary school 8500-10500, middle school 11000-14000. Lunch in primary and middle school (1300 euros a year) and the bus (up to 2400 euros a year depending on zone and on hot-spot or door-to-door pick-up) are charged separately. Books, uniforms, excursions, workshops and after-school activities are not included. Payment is in three instalments in primary and middle school and four in nursery and kindergarten; prepayment and older siblings get a 5% discount, and paying in more instalments costs the same share extra.
Admissions The school writes that student selection «is impartial and does not consider race, creed, nationality, or gender». Applicants to the secondary school who did not attend DES Primary take English and Greek language tests and a mathematics test, have an interview with the management and a meeting with a psychologist; an application form, birth certificate, medical forms, previous school records (with an English translation if necessary) and teacher recommendations are required, and the student's age must match the grade. In primary school, children still learning Greek have Greek as an Additional Language classes, and those with weaker English have English Remedial Support.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery - Year 9. Nursery and Kindergarten follow the PYP, Primary follows the PYP with Greek and English as main languages; the Middle School covers Years 7-9 (according to the fee table) with the MYP, and the MYP description mentions a Personal Project in Grade 10. The secondary admissions policy calls it an MYP candidate school; the IB page also describes the Diploma Programme but does not say the school offers or is preparing to offer it.
Address Barakos Hill, Varkiza, Attica
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP · authorised programmeThe IB register lists the Primary Years and Middle Years Programmes at the school. The secondary school currently runs up to year 9.
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
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: PYP (ages 3-12), MYP (ages 11-16). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →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 transportSchool buses across the southern suburbs of Attica, four price zones
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: Four buildings: nursery in Vari, kindergarten and primary in Varkiza, secondary school in Agia Marina Koropiou
Clubs and activities: Art · STEM Elite Club · Dance · Nutrition · Music (Rockschool) · English Excellence · Greek Excellence · Public Speaking & Ancient Studies · German language · Chinese language · Coding & STEM · French · Russian · Spanish · Taekwondo · Theatre · Mini Tennis · Fairy Tales Lab · Messy Play · Modern Dance · STEM junior academy
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 Middle School is led by Xenia Panayidou, who is also head of the English department; the MYP coordinator is Paraskevi Barboutsi; on the level pages the school presents the heads of the Greek, mathematics, physical education and music departments and the club teachers.
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
✓CounsellorApplicants to the secondary school are assessed by a psychologist; the school supports children with mild learning difficulties and takes part in a joint programme for early detection of dyslexia.
✓Child protection policyThe school publishes a Child Safeguarding Policy, an Inclusion Policy, an Academic Integrity Policy, a parent and student complaints procedure and a policy against violence and harassment at work.
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policyIn its press section the school describes its bullying prevention strategy.
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 data70 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 data78 "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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