← Back to homeShoreless Lake School at Murcia
Totana, Spain · est. 1997 · Private
Illustration · Totana
Shoreless Lake School is an American Catholic boarding school in Totana (Murcia), the Spanish branch of a school founded in New Jersey in 1991 by Father Alfonso Gálvez, head of the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest. It has worked in Spain since 1997, has taken students from abroad since 1998 and is registered in Spain as a foreign private non-profit school: centre code 30001199, owned by the association "Mar sin Orillas", authorised for 11 class units and 275 places. Under its authorisation the school teaches grades 5 to 12 (in its own description it also mentions grades from the second). The curriculum is American and college-preparatory, in English; all students take the PSAT, SAT and AP exams, and the school is itself an SAT test centre. AP courses are mathematics, English language and literature, art history, biology, Spanish language and literature, Latin and French; the school expects a graduate to be fluent in English and Spanish and to know Latin well. Lessons take place in the new La Isla building in Totana, and at weekends and in the holidays boarders go to the El Pedregal centre in Mazarrón by the sea, with bedrooms, a library, a chapel, a cinema room and playing fields. Students come from many nationalities; for those from abroad there is a one-year mobility programme with partner schools in Ecuador, Colombia and the United States and full bachillerato studies from sixteen. Graduates have been admitted to Columbia, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Lehigh, Rutgers, the University of Murcia and the Technical University of Darmstadt. The school motto is "Always Beyond".
Key facts
Programmes
AP · American programme
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Spanish, Latin, French
Admissions The school accepts foreigners and says so itself: it has taken students from abroad since 1998, families from Latin America, Europe and North America, and runs two separate pathways under Spanish immigration rules. The one-year mobility programme is for ESO-age students (typically 12-16) from schools with which it has signed agreements: currently schools in Daule-Guayaquil (Ecuador), Tuluá (Colombia) and Shoreless Lake School in Wisconsin; it includes full boarding, the regular curriculum, ASISA health insurance, tutoring and documents for the consulate, while the visa is decided by the Spanish authorities, not by the school. Bachillerato studies in Spain are for students aged sixteen and over: the record from the previous school, recognition of the equivalence of studies by the Spanish ministry of education and an interview with the academic direction are required, followed by a student visa. The school does not describe the steps of ordinary admission, documents or entrance tests for local students.
Stages and year groups Grades grade 5 - grade 12 (under the authorisation). Under the current authorisation of the government of Murcia the school teaches grades 5 to 12, 11 class units and 275 places; on its about page it still writes of grades 2 to 12. The curriculum is American, with Spanish language and culture, equivalent to Spanish compulsory and post-compulsory education. To graduate, a student must pass all subjects, reach a set level in official English exams and read a required list of books. For students from abroad there is a one-year mobility programme at ESO age and full bachillerato studies from sixteen.
Address Camino Los Molinos, Km 1.8, La Isla, 30850 Totana, Murcia
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
MSA · 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
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 →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
Where leavers go: Albert Dorman Honors College, NJIT · Columbia University · Cornell University · Immaculata College · Johns Hopkins University · Walsh University · Kent State University · Lafayette College · Lehigh University · Rutgers University · St. John's University · Universidad de Murcia and others, 13 universities in the school's list in all
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
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Campus: Two sites half an hour's drive apart. The La Isla school building in Totana is a new bright building overlooking the countryside: classrooms, meeting rooms, a dining room and kitchen, a large study area, a chapel, a computer room and networked computers in classrooms; around it eleven acres of natural ground for walks and activities. The El Pedregal centre in Mazarrón, a few yards from the Mediterranean, has student bedrooms, recreation rooms, the main library, a study centre, a chapel, a cinema room and playing fields; the school library holds nearly 10000 books.
Clubs and activities (6): Hiking trips · Swimming · Fishing · Gardening · Raising and tending animals · National Latin Exam
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 does not publish the number of its teachers or their qualifications. Its staff page names the board and leadership: founder Father Alfonso Gálvez, president Father Pedro Javier Moya, headmaster Father Octavio Carpena, faculty and guidance director Father Jared Hood and dean of faculty Diana Carles - both alumni of the school - as well as a teacher and the secretary. The school provides career guidance and counselling for admission to European and American universities and for scholarships.
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%)73.5 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data70 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 data75 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data76 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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