← Back to the rankingInstituto de Cultura Itálica
La Plata, Argentina · est. 1896 · Private
Illustration · La Plata
The Instituto de Cultura Itálica, or Escuela Italiana de La Plata, is a private bilingual Italian-Argentine school founded in 1896 by the Italian immigrant society Scuola Italiana di La Plata to teach children Italian and Spanish. Since 1912 the primary school has been housed in its own building in the city centre, now a historic monument. The school comprises the Jardín Paperino kindergarten, the Escuela Italiana primary school, the Instituto Leonardo da Vinci secondary school (since 1986) and the Instituto Alessandro Manzoni college, which trains physical education and Italian teachers. Italian paritaria status was obtained in 2003 for all levels, and the school calls itself the only paritaria school in La Plata. In primary school the day runs from 8:00 to 16:00: lessons in the morning are taught by the Spanish teacher and from 12:00 by the Italian teacher. In secondary school students sit two Italian esame di Stato exams - in year 2 and year 6 - and graduate with two documents: the Argentine bachiller certificate with a natural sciences orientation and the Italian diploma. English is taught from kindergarten; the school says graduates leave with B2 level.
Key facts
Programmes
Italian programme · National programme
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Italian, Spanish
Stages and year groups Argentine stages: the Jardín Paperino kindergarten (from the age 3 group, full day from 8:00 to 16:00), primary school grades 1-6, secondary school years 1-6, plus the Instituto Alessandro Manzoni college (Nivel Terciario) with physical education and Italian teacher training. Italian track: paritaria status for all levels since 2003; in secondary school there are two external Italian exam sessions - the esame di Stato for lower secondary in year 2 (written Spanish language and English, mathematics, Italian and an oral exam) and the esame di Stato for upper secondary at the end of year 6 (written mathematics and Italian and an oral exam, with a seven-member board including the president and three Italian teachers). Graduates receive the Argentine bachiller certificate with a natural sciences orientation and the Italian diploma. The school does not name the track of the Italian liceo on its website.
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
Campus: Three buildings in central La Plata. Since 1912 the primary school has occupied a building on calle 55 built by the school society and declared a historic monument; the kindergarten is next door on the same street; the secondary school, Instituto Leonardo da Vinci, is in a separate three-storey building with a basement on calle 44, with computing and physics-chemistry laboratories. The kindergarten and primary school have two playgrounds, a multipurpose hall, computer rooms, rooms for theatre, music and art, a gym, a school vegetable garden and a locker for every pupil. Breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack for the kindergarten and primary school are cooked in the kitchen of each building to a menu by nutritionists; secondary students eat from the snack bar or bring food from home, and microwaves are available. Once a week primary classes spend an afternoon at the school sports ground with its vegetable garden. It is a day school with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Model United Nations · Mathematics Olympiads · Chemistry Olympiads · Neuroscience Olympiads · Chaco Project (social and educational project) · School Garden Project · La Campanella (school newspaper) · Handball · Beach Handball · Volleyball · Beach Volleyball · Futsal
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
In kindergarten a lead teacher stays with the group all day, and each floor has an assistant for the children. In primary school every class has two lead teachers: the Spanish teacher in the morning and the Italian teacher after 12:00; English, computing, art, music, physical education and theatre are taught by specialist teachers. The school does not publish teacher qualifications, staff numbers or class sizes.
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%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 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