← Back to homePinewood American International School
Pylea, Greece · est. 1950 · Private
Illustration · Pylea
Pinewood American International School is a private non-profit school in Pylea on the edge of Thessaloniki, founded in 1950 for expatriate families. It runs from Pre-K to Grade 12 and calls itself the premier English-only school in the region; students represent more than 55 nationalities. The curriculum is American, taught to AERO and NGSS standards: the elementary school follows the IB PYP framework, Grades 6-8 the IB MYP framework, and the high school offers the American High School Diploma, Advanced Placement courses and Global Online Academy courses. In Grades 11-12 students can move into the IB Diploma Programme run jointly with Anatolia College. The school sits on the Anatolia College campus, with which it has been affiliated since 2019; boarding is available for Grades 7-12. According to the 2026-2027 profile, the high school enrolls 210 students with a student-teacher ratio of five to one.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $7 897–16 155 a year
6 990–14 300 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · AP · American programme
Admits from
4 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Greek, French, Spanish, German, Chinese
Registration fee
≈ $102
90 EUR
Summer camp
Yes, open to all
About the fees Tuition for 2026-2027 (last updated January 2026): Pre-K 6990 EUR, Kindergarten 8160 EUR, Grades 1-5 13360 EUR, Grades 6-12 14120 EUR, IB Diploma in Grades 11-12 14300 EUR per year. Extra: a one-time Capital Levy of 3000 EUR for new students in Grades 1-12 (Kindergarten pays 600 EUR first and 2400 EUR on entering Grade 1), school bus 1100 EUR per year, boarding 11900 EUR per year including room and board. Discounts: 5% for the second child, 10% for the third, 5% for full payment by September 15.
Admissions The school admits students of any nationality: since 1973 it has had permission from the Greek government to accept students from any and all countries. Non-EU families need a Greek residence permit that does not expire within 1 year. Students holding only Greek citizenship need an exemption from the Hellenic Ministry of Education to attend Pre-K - Grade 9 at an international school; the school helps with the application. English is not tested for Pre-K - Grade 5; Grades 6-8 require at least A2, Grades 9-12 at least B1, plus an admissions test and an interview with the division principal. Boarding is open to students in Grades 7-12 who are under 18, with a 65% pass mark on the test.
Stages and year groups Grades Pre-K - Grade 12. Early Years Program (Pre-K and Kindergarten), Elementary School (Grades 1-5, IB PYP), Middle School (Grades 6-8, IB MYP alongside AERO and NGSS standards), High School (Grades 9-12). The high school offers two pathways to the American High School Diploma: the standard one with at least 22 credits, and one with Advanced Placement courses (28 courses per the school profile, plus AP Capstone). The Greek Diploma Equivalency adds Greek Language, Literature and History each year following the Greek Ministry of Education curriculum, so the diploma is recognised in Greece. In Grades 11-12 students can join the Anatolia & Pinewood IBDP, taught entirely in English; admission is by application and interview, sometimes with a diagnostic test in English and Mathematics. The school discontinued the Pre-K programme for three-year-olds in 2023.
Address 60 John Kennedy Avenue, Pylea 55535, Thessaloniki
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeMSA · accreditationCollege Board · authorised programmeCIS · membershipThe IB register lists three programmes at the school: the Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma Programmes; it runs the Diploma jointly with Anatolia College. The school has been accredited by MSA (Middle States Association) since 1986, listed as Active, and is a member of CIS. It appears in the College Board AP Course Ledger for the 2025-2026 school year with 23 subjects.
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), DP (ages 16-19). 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. DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →MSAMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools
One of the oldest American accreditations, working since 1887 in more than a hundred countries and linked to the Office of Overseas Schools of the US State Department. It judges the school as an institution across twelve areas, including finances, governance, premises and student support.
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 →College BoardCollege Board, the AP programme
An American organisation that allows a school to put the letters AP on a pupil's transcript. The permission is granted course by course and tied to a particular teacher, it has to be renewed every year, and College Board reads the course syllabus before granting it.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run advanced AP courses - not the school as a whole, but one by one: by subject and by teacher. Governance, safeguarding and the primary years are not part of that check. Which subjects are actually approved is visible in the ledger. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. Authorisation here runs a year at a time: the register lists the school for the 2025-2026 school year.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →CISCouncil of International Schools
It accredits international schools and is a paying association at the same time. It examines governance and ownership, the curriculum, teaching, student wellbeing, staff and premises; a team of volunteers from other CIS accredited schools visits the school. Membership and accreditation are different things here, and schools confuse them more often than anything else.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to this organisation but has not been through its accreditation. The difference matters: membership is usually paid for and has no external inspection behind it. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →AP
Advanced Placement: American advanced courses for the senior years. The exam for a course is set and marked by the College Board, not by the school. A good result is counted by American universities as a first-year course already passed, which saves a student time and money.
What this means for this school. A school does not get to call a course AP automatically: the College Board reads the course syllabus and approves it separately for every subject and every teacher, and the permission has to be renewed each year. Every approved school in the world is listed in the open AP Course Ledger, and this school's entry there stands as a line in the accreditation block above. How many courses a school is approved for, and in which subjects, the ledger does not show in its general listing. AP has no leaving certificate of its own: it sits on top of the school's main programme rather than being a separate system.
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
AP scores of 3 and above
82.6%
Exam results Advanced Placement 2026: 148 students sat 322 exams in 27 subjects, 82.6% of scores were 3 or higher against a global 72.8%, mean score 3.53. Seven graduates earned the AP Capstone Diploma.
Where leavers go: Yale University · Brown University · Cornell University · New York University · University of Rochester · George Washington University · Bard College · Gettysburg College · Syracuse University · University of Toronto · McGill University · University of British Columbia and others, 32 universities in the school's list in all
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Campus: Two sites at John Kennedy 60 in Pylea: the Early Years and Elementary building and, across the street, the Middle and High School complex inaugurated for the school's 75th anniversary, with The Georgia Masouti Library and The Diamantis Masoutis Gymnasium. A shared 45-acre campus with Anatolia College: an IB building, laboratories, two theatres, libraries, a gymnasium, sports grounds and the Ingle Hall dormitory for Grades 7-12. Lunches are supplied by Melathron Food Services; buses run from Thessaloniki Center, Pylea, Thermi, Kalamaria and Panorama.
Clubs and activities: Model United Nations · Forensics · Journalism · Law Club · Dance Club · Drama Club · Glee Club · The Band · Photography Club · Illustration Studio Club · Creative Writing · Yearbook Club · Cybersecurity · Formula 1 · First Aid · Dungeons & Dragons · Managers Club · Wellbeing Ambassadors · Champions Mindset Club · Yoga Club · Running Club · Strength & Fitness Club · Boys Basketball · Girls Basketball · Boys Volleyball · Girls Volleyball · Soccer Team · Karaoke Club · Ellinomatheia · SAT English · SAT Math
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp and takes children from outside as well
Ease into English is the school's summer English programme for children aged 6-11 from any school in Thessaloniki; in 2026 it ran August 17-28 with groups of up to 20. For ages 15-17 the school offers two-week summer courses at Anatolia American University, taught in English, for 600 EUR, with a 20% discount for Pinewood students.
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 sizein the key facts above
According to the 2026-2027 high school profile, the student-teacher ratio is five to one. In the IB Diploma Programme shared with Anatolia College classes have a maximum of 15 students, and some IB teachers serve as IB external examiners. The school does not publish its total number of teachers.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
✓Security staff
·Access controlnot stated on the website
✓Nurse or medical room
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
✓Staff training
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school psychologists of the three divisions also serve as designated Child Protection Officers, and concerns can be reported through a form on the website. Faculty and staff receive regular child protection training. A school nurse is present at both sites during school hours. The Anatolia campus, where the dormitory is located, is gated with 24-hour surveillance and dedicated security; the dormitory has residential staff on site 24/7, a psychologist, a nurse every day and a doctor on call.
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%)100 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data85 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)95 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data95 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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country