← Back to homeInternational Montessori School Caracoliris
Alhaurín de la Torre, Spain · Private
Illustration · Alhaurín de la Torre
Caracoliris is an international Montessori school in Alhaurín de la Torre outside Málaga, accredited by the American NEASC and recognised by the Junta de Andalucía. The stages run as Montessori environments: Comunidad Infantil from one to three, Casa de Niños from three to six, Taller I from six to nine and Taller II from nine to twelve. The school describes its staff as guides, assistants and qualified teachers with Montessori training, and names separately that its teachers are native English speakers. The school names the language of lessons itself: the daily life of the class runs in English, so older pupils should know it; at the same time the school follows the recognised Spanish curriculum and issues a Spanish leaving certificate, and all its pages for parents are written in Spanish, hence the second language of instruction is Spanish. The prepared environment is no metaphor here: every element in the room is there for the child's development and is designed for their independence, and the choice of activity stays with the child. The school follows the official calendar of the Junta de Andalucía for Alhaurín de la Torre. The main thing a parent needs to know: the fee is stated per month, and the site does not say how many months the school year is paid over.
Key facts
Languages of instruction
English, Spanish
About the fees Fees are stated by stage and per month. Comunidad Infantil (one to three): a school day with lunch and collection at 14:00 costs 85 EUR, with collection at 15:30: 150 EUR; registration is 450 EUR, or 415 for returning students. Casa de Niños (three to six): registration 450 EUR, monthly fee 415. Taller I and Taller II (six to nine and nine to twelve): registration 500 EUR, monthly fee 465. Sibling discounts run from the smaller amount to the larger: 20 per cent for a second child, 25 for a third and 30 from the fourth; they do not apply to registration. Materials for 2026/27 cost 120 EUR. Registration is non-refundable. Organic fruit and vegetables are included in the morning. Extras: morning club 5 EUR a day or 40 a month; lunch 10 EUR a day, but no more than twelve days a month - from the thirteenth the full monthly rate of 150 EUR applies; lunch with food brought from home 7 EUR a day, 40 for two days a week, 80 for a month; late collection 5 EUR a day or 50 a month. Uniform is compulsory for trips and special days and is ordered from the school by email.
Admissions Pre-registration for new pupils opens on 1 March, through a form on the admissions page, and closes when the places are filled. The school can take children from the first year of life, in Comunidad Infantil. The school names no entrance tests, no interview and no list of documents. It advises older pupils to know English beforehand: the daily life of the class runs in it. The leaving certificate, the school says, belongs to the official Spanish education system, so from Caracoliris a child can move to any other school, including a secondary one.
Stages and year groups Grades Comunidad Infantil ages 1-3, Casa de Niños 3-6, Taller I 6-9, Taller II 9-12. The timetable changes with the season. In September and June every stage runs from 9:00 to 14:00, Monday to Friday. From October to May: Casa de Niños and the first and second years of Taller I run from 9:00 to 14:00; the third year of Taller I runs 9:00-14:00 on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and 9:00-14:00 plus 15:00-16:30 on Tuesday; Taller II runs 9:00-14:00 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 9:00-14:00 plus 15:00-16:30 on Tuesday and Thursday. The morning club opens at 7:30, lunch runs from 14:00 to 15:30, late collection from 15:30 to 17:00 and extracurricular activities from 15:00. Holidays follow the official calendar of the Junta de Andalucía for Alhaurín de la Torre.
Address Avda. de la Música, 120, Alhaurín de la Torre, Málaga
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
NEASC · accreditationschool 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 →Montessori
The pedagogy of Maria Montessori: a child chooses the activity, works at their own pace with special materials, and mixed-age groups are arranged so that older children teach the younger ones. It is used most often in the nursery and primary stages.
What this means for this school. The name Montessori belongs to nobody: any school may call itself a Montessori school, and there is no single body that checks this. There are associations that train teachers and recognise schools, but membership of them is voluntary, and our entry means exactly that the school describes itself this way. This pedagogy has no leaving certificate, so what to look at is what the school finishes with.
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 transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: Prepared Montessori environments: the school describes its rooms as real, simple and aesthetic, where every element has a reason in the child's development. The canteen is its own, with an in-house kitchen - provided at least a minimum number of children have signed up for the service.
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 school describes its staff as guides, assistants and qualified teachers with Montessori training. In its words, teachers must, besides a university teaching degree, specialise in the Montessori method through a master's programme. The team page names twelve people: two co-directors who founded the school, five teacher-guides, assistants and an educator. Some of them the school marks as native English speakers or bilingual; one teacher is named as a native speaker of English and French.
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%)60 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 data65 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 Value for money (6%) scored at the median74 "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.
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