← Back to homeLighthouse American School
Madrid, Spain · Private
Illustration · Madrid
Lighthouse American School is an American school in Madrid's Valdemarín district, on Camino de la Zarzuela, accredited by NEASC and stating that it runs the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. The school explains three documents separately: recognition of its studies by the Community of Madrid opens Spanish universities, the NEASC qualification American ones, and IB PYP certification universities in more than fifty OECD countries. Day-to-day life at the school runs in English, and all its teachers are Americans with degrees from US universities; the school gives Spanish particular attention and treats it as more than a second language, and from the third year of elementary school it adds Mandarin. The stages its fees are built on are Pre-School, Elementary and Middle School, the latter covering Middle and Junior High. Separately the school keeps a continuous teacher training plan and a committee of experts on pedagogical levels, creativity and innovation, health and nutrition, emotional intelligence, psychological wellbeing, sport and art.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $10 055–11 862 a year
8 900–10 500 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP · American programme
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Spanish, Chinese
Registration fee
≈ $1 695
1 500 EUR
About the fees The 2026-27 fee is monthly and charged from September to June, that is ten months: 890 EUR a month for Pre-School, 980 for Elementary and 1050 for Middle School. Over a year that is 8900, 9800 and 10500 EUR. On top of the fee: a registration fee of 1500 EUR for new families - one payment per family - and a reservation fee of 330 EUR for existing students, which is non-refundable. The morning snack and lunch cost 195 EUR a month, also from September to June. Discounts: 30 per cent for a third child, 65 for a fourth; half tuition for families who must be absent for long periods; and 3 per cent if the fee is paid in full by July 2026.
Admissions The school takes foreigners: on its PYP page it promises the pupil that they will share a class with children from other countries and cultures. The school does not set out its admissions procedure separately: the Admissions page carries only contacts and a form, and families are invited to book a visit to the school. The applicant's fee is the new-family fee of 1500 euros, one per family. The school names no entrance test, no deadlines and no language requirement.
Stages and year groups Grades Pre-School - Middle School (Middle and Junior High). The stages by the school's own fee schedule: Pre-School, Elementary, Middle School - Middle and Junior High. Mandarin as a third language begins in the third year of elementary school.
Address Camino de la Zarzuela, 42, 28023 Madrid
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
NEASC · accreditationIB · PYP · authorised programmeschool 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 →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). 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.
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
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground
Campus: An estate of 4250 square metres in Valdemarín, between two of Madrid's main green lungs - El Pardo and Puerta de Hierro. A garden, playgrounds, kindergarten classrooms with a playground of their own, elementary classrooms, sports areas, art and music rooms, a technology room and a library. Every room has natural light with additional support lighting and ergonomic chairs. Meals are cooked in the school's own kitchen: a professional team designs the menus from fresh produce, everything homemade and natural with no ultra-processed food, including traditional Spanish dishes grilled or steamed; a morning snack for everyone and an afternoon snack for those staying for clubs.
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp; whether it takes children from outside is not stated on the website
The school does have a summer camp: it writes that it stays open for most of the school holidays at no extra cost and offers an after-school programme and a summer camp. The school names no dates, ages or price for the camp.
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
All teachers, the school says, are Americans with degrees from US universities, and all receive ongoing training under the school's own plan; separately it has a council of experts on pedagogy, creativity and innovation, health and nutrition, emotional intelligence, psychological well-being, sport and the arts. The school publishes no number of teachers and no class size.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
✓Access control
·Nurse or medical roomnot stated on the website
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school describes its anti-bullying protocol as a sequence of actions that helps the victim, their parents, counsellors and teachers eradicate the conflict from the very start. Access control: the entrances are always locked, people from outside the community may not enter, and the safety protocol requires all staff to pass background checks and to have experience with children and their families. Image protection: photographs are not published without the family's authorisation, and the school notes that it sits above street level and cannot be seen from outside.
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%)74 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 data75 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 "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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country