← Back to homeInternational Montessori School Sotogrande
Sotogrande, Spain · est. 2015 · Private
Illustration · Sotogrande
International Montessori School Sotogrande is a private Montessori school in Sotogrande in the south of Cádiz province, in the Campo de Gibraltar; the operator is Tribe Family S.L. The school takes children from four months and runs to twelve: Nursery and Infant Community from four months to three years, Children's House from three to six, and Elementary from six to twelve, split into Elementary 1 (6-9) and Elementary 2 (9-12). Separately it has a Rainbow classroom - a fully integrated class for children with special educational needs, with an individual plan for each child. Teaching is bilingual, Spanish and English interwoven in natural situations, and French joins at Children's House. The day is long and differs by stage: for the youngest, the Semillas, Raíces and Alas groups end at 12:00, 13:00 and 15:00, while Elementary runs from 9:00 to 16:00 with lunch included in the fee and an extension to 17:00; the youngest also have a breakfast club from 7:30. The school runs its own morning bus from Estepona via Casares Costa, Puerto de la Duquesa, Alcaidesa and Sotogrande Alto, from 7:45 to 8:45.
Key facts
Languages of instruction
Spanish, English
Admissions Applications are accepted all year round, for the current year and for future years. Place allocation for the next school year starts in March: currently enrolled students come first, then new applicants; subject to availability, children are also admitted mid-year. Admission runs in five steps: a visit, an application through a link the school sends, online pre-registration with documents for student and guardian, confirmation of the place by email, and enrolment with payment of the fee. The school accepts foreign families directly: in its article for families relocating from Northern and Central Europe it writes that a child does not need to speak any particular language beforehand - Spanish and English are picked up through immersion from day one - and that families still planning their move can book an in-person or virtual tour before arriving in Spain.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery from 4 months - Elementary 2 to age 12. Four environments: Nursery and Infant Community from four months to three years, Children's House ages 3-6, Elementary ages 6-12 (Elementary 1 ages 6-9, Elementary 2 ages 9-12) and the Rainbow classroom for children with special educational needs. The school ends at twelve. Hours: for the youngest, Semillas 9:00-12:00, Raíces 9:00-13:00, Alas 9:00-15:00 with an extension to 16:00 or 17:00 and a breakfast club from 7:30; Children's House 9:00-14:00 or 9:00-15:00; Elementary 9:00-16:00 with an extension to 17:00 and lunch included.
Address Edificio Sotocentro, planta 1, Ctra. N-340 km 131, 11310 Sotogrande, San Roque (Cádiz)
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 transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school occupies the first floor of the Sotocentro building in Sotogrande, at kilometre 131 of the N-340. Lunch is included in the Elementary fee. Its own morning bus runs from Estepona via Casares Costa, Puerto de la Duquesa, Alcaidesa and Sotogrande Alto, arriving at the school at 8:45.
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp; whether it takes children from outside is not stated on the website
MIMS Kids Summer Camp - a bilingual summer camp in Sotogrande for children aged three to twelve, with all meals included; the school asks families to check the dates.
Teaching staff
The school publishes neither the number of its teachers nor their qualifications.
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 trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
A separate Rainbow classroom for children with special educational needs, with specialist support and an individual plan for each child, fully integrated in school life. The school names no child protection policy, no security staff, no medical room and no psychologist.
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 data70 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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country