← Back to the rankingSaint Dorothy International School
Rome, Italy · est. 1933 · Private
Illustration · Rome
Saint Dorothy International School (Istituto Santa Dorotea) is a Catholic paritaria school in Rome, in the park of Villa Paola in the Appio Latino district. The Sisters of Saint Dorothea (Suore di Santa Dorotea della Frassinetti) bought the villa in 1929 and opened the school on 7 October 1933; since 2020 the school has been managed by the company Organizzazione Metodo, which maintains its Catholic character. The school takes children from 12 months to 11 years: a micro-nursery, the scuola dell'infanzia and the scuola primaria. From the 2025-2026 school year all new classes follow only the trilingual international programme: about half of activities are in English and Spanish. In primary school, 6 hours of English, Cambridge science (2 hours) and geography (1 hour), computing and theatre are taught in English; mathematics is partly co-taught with a maths teacher in English; 4 hours a week are in Spanish (Spanish language and art, history and civics). The school is certified by Cambridge as Cambridge Early Years and Cambridge Primary. Children complete the full Italian national curriculum thanks to the full school day.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · Early Years, Primary · National programme
Admits from
1 year · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Admissions In its educational agreement the school pledges to run welcome and integration initiatives for foreign pupils and pupils with disabilities. The website does not describe the enrolment procedure, tests or deadlines. Children are accepted from 12 months into the micro-nursery, then into early years and primary school.
Stages and year groups Grades microasilo, scuola dell'infanzia, primaria 1-5. Micro-nursery (from 12 months until early years), scuola dell'infanzia, scuola primaria years 1-5 following the Italian curriculum. Early years are certified as Cambridge Early Years: up to 28 hours a week in English and Spanish with native-speaker teachers. Primary is Cambridge Primary: Cambridge Science (2 hours) and Cambridge Geography (1 hour) in English, English (6 hours), Digital Literacy and Theater in English, 3 hours of mathematics co-taught with a teacher in English, bilingual PE, religion and music; in Spanish, 2 hours of Spanish and 2 hours of art, geography, history and civics. From the 2025-2026 school year new classes follow only the trilingual programme, while older classes on the Italian track (years 3-5) complete their cycle. The website does not mention Cambridge Primary Checkpoint exams; optional after-school preparation for Cambridge English exams (Starters, Movers, Flyers).
Address Villa Paola, Via Matera 18, 00182 Roma
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · Early Years, Primary · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge Primary. Cambridge Early Years in the nursery and Cambridge Primary in primary school, with Science and Geography taught in English plus 6 hours of English, alongside the full Italian curriculum.
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
CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
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: Early Years (ages 3-6), Primary (ages 5-11). Early Years is the nursery stage, ages 3 to 6. There are no exams at the end: the stage describes what the youngest children are taught and how, and it follows the Cambridge frame rather than a national nursery programme. Primary is the primary stage, ages 5 to 11: English, mathematics and science to Cambridge syllabuses. At the end of the stage a school may run the optional Checkpoint test, which is marked in Cambridge.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →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 · Playground
Clubs and activities: Basketball · Five-a-Side Football · Volleyball · Tennis · Dance · Kung Fu · Cambridge Courses · Theatre Workshop · Choir
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
What the listings show: Native-speaker teachers of English and Spanish, many with a primary education degree taught in English.
The primary teaching team is stable and receives regular professional development, including on working with children with special educational needs. Besides class teachers there are specialists: native-speaker foreign language teachers, many with a primary education degree taught in English, and teachers of religion, PE, music, computing and Cambridge subjects. Phonics is taught by a native British English teacher, grammar and conversation by American and bilingual teachers; in PE the teacher is assisted by an American teacher. In early years each group has two teachers together in the mornings.
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
The school has a paediatric medical room and porters at the entrance; all staff, including porters, are trained in the school's mission. The menu is approved by a paediatrician.
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 data80 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median95 "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