Good to know
Good to Know
- Puerto Rico uses the US Dollar, so there's no currency conversion to worry about when budgeting for school fees — quoted tuition is already in USD.
- Only Baldwin School and Robinson School offer the full IB continuum (Primary Years, Middle Years, and Diploma Programme) in the San Juan area; other well-regarded schools like Saint John's and Commonwealth-Parkville lean on strong American/AP curricula instead.
- Published tuition numbers online (including on ranking sites) are often listed 'for the highest grade offered' and can be a year or more out of date — always request a current, grade-specific quote directly from the school's admissions office.
- Application/registration fees at top San Juan private schools typically run in the $500–$1,500 range on top of tuition, and some schools offer payment plans or limited need-based financial aid.
- If you live in Dorado or Puerto Rico's western San Juan suburbs, TASIS Dorado is a popular alternative, but it's roughly a 20-minute drive from central San Juan rather than being a walkable city-center option.
- Puerto Rico's currency is the US dollar, so there's no currency conversion to worry about for school fees or homeschool curriculum purchases.
- For Saint John's School (the main bilingual option near the city center), the December–February window is 'priority' admissions season — apply then rather than waiting until closer to your move, especially for early-childhood grades, which are the most likely to already have waitlists.
- Homeschooling is legally very low-friction in Puerto Rico — no government approval, curriculum notification, or standardized testing is required — but if you're withdrawing a child from an existing school, put the withdrawal in writing to the principal to avoid truancy confusion.
- Puerto Rico's homeschool community is real but small and informal; expect to find support mainly through Facebook groups, AHEC (Christian-oriented, island-wide), or the San Juan Home School Co-op rather than a large formal expat homeschool network.
- Always confirm the exact document checklist (transcripts, immunization records, test scores, interview requirements) directly with a school's admissions office — published school websites describe the timeline well but rarely list every required document in one place.
Schools And Curricula
- Currency Note
- Puerto Rico uses the US Dollar (USD) as its official currency, so local and USD figures are identical for all tuition figures below.
Schools
The Baldwin School of Puerto Rico
- Curriculum
- Full International Baccalaureate continuum (PYP, MYP, and DP) — the first school in Puerto Rico authorized as an IB Continuum School, alongside a college-preparatory framework
- Grade Range
- PPK (Pre-Pre-Kindergarten) to 12th grade
- Neighborhood
- Guaynabo, greater San Juan metro area
- Language Of Instruction
- English, with Spanish and French as additional languages
Tuition
- Estimated Annual Low
- $15,000
- Estimated Annual High
- $30,000
- Note On Data
- No single official annual figure was found; the school directs families to request current tuition directly. Reported estimates for top San Juan-area international/IB schools generally fall in this band.
Robinson School
- Tuition
- $16,760
- Curriculum
- International Baccalaureate continuum (Primary Years, Middle Years, and Diploma Programme) combined with an American curriculum and select AP courses; historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church
- Grade Range
- Pre-Kindergarten (PPK) to 12th grade
- Neighborhood
- Condado, San Juan
- Language Of Instruction
- Primarily English, with Spanish required at all levels and French introduced in middle school
Saint John's School
- Curriculum
- American college-preparatory curriculum with a strong Advanced Placement (AP) program starting in 9th grade; non-sectarian, founded in 1915
- Grade Range
- Toddler/Pre-Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade
- Neighborhood
- Condado, San Juan
- Language Of Instruction
- Primarily English, with a daily Spanish class
Tuition
- Note On Data
- No specific public annual figure was found for the current year; the school requires families to contact admissions directly for grade-by-grade rates. Likely falls within the broader San Juan-area private/international school band of roughly $15,000–$30,000/year.
Commonwealth-Parkville School (CPS)
- Curriculum
- American curriculum, English-medium, college-preparatory
- Grade Range
- Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade
- Neighborhood
- San Juan
- Language Of Instruction
- English
Tuition
- Note On Data
- No public annual figure located; contact the school directly.
Academia Del Perpetuo Socorro (APS)
- Curriculum
- American curriculum with an emphasis on bilingual mastery; private Catholic school with over a century of history
- Grade Range
- Not fully specified; enrolls over 1,100 students across the school
- Neighborhood
- Miramar, San Juan
- Language Of Instruction
- Bilingual (English/Spanish)
Tuition
- Note On Data
- No public annual figure located; contact the school directly.
Academia San Jorge
- Curriculum
- American curriculum with emphasis on academic excellence and global/cultural awareness
- Grade Range
- Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade
- Neighborhood
- San Juan
- Language Of Instruction
- Bilingual (English/Spanish)
Tuition
- Note On Data
- No public annual figure located; contact the school directly.
Saint Mary's School
- Curriculum
- American curriculum
- Grade Range
- Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade
- Neighborhood
- San Juan
- Language Of Instruction
- English
Tuition
- Note On Data
- No public annual figure located; contact the school directly.
Cupeyville School
- Curriculum
- American curriculum with a focus on bilingualism
- Grade Range
- Not fully specified
- Neighborhood
- San Juan
- Language Of Instruction
- Bilingual, English-focused
Tuition
- Note On Data
- No public annual figure located; contact the school directly.
Academia Y Colegio San Ignacio
- Curriculum
- Jesuit-Catholic private school curriculum
- Grade Range
- Academia: Kindergarten to 6th grade (co-ed); Colegio: 7th grade to 4th year of high school (boys only)
- Neighborhood
- Santa María, Río Piedras, San Juan
- Language Of Instruction
- Spanish with French classes offered in high school
Tuition
- Note On Data
- No public annual figure located; contact the school directly.
Notable Option Outside Walkable San Juan
- Name
- TASIS Dorado
- Location
- Dorado, roughly a 20-minute drive west of San Juan
- Curriculum
- American curriculum (Core Knowledge, Singapore Math, 31 AP courses) with a dual-language early childhood program; not a full IB school
- Note
- Frequently listed alongside San Juan's top schools by expat/relocation guides because many nomad and expat families in Dorado's coastal communities use it, but it sits outside the immediate San Juan city area, so it is flagged here rather than treated as a San Juan-proper option.
Local Homeschool Community
- Island Wide Networks
- AHEC (Asociación de Hogares-Escuelas Cristianas de Puerto Rico) is described as a longstanding, island-wide Christian homeschool support organization with activities and advocacy history covering Puerto Rico generally, not San Juan specifically; it and similar Facebook/online groups are the main way most Puerto Rico homeschool families connect for co-ops, field trips, and group classes.
- Scale Context
- Estimates put active homeschooling in Puerto Rico at roughly 300 to 400 families as of 2019, a base that has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic, so nomad families should expect a real but still relatively small and informally-organized community rather than a large formal network.
San Juan Specific Group
- Name
- San Juan Home School Co-op
- Note
- This is the one group in the sources we checked that is specifically documented as being based in the San Juan area, rather than being a generic island-wide or mainland-US resource.
- Description
- A documented San Juan-area co-op whose stated mission is to provide a schooling option for parents who wish to direct their children's education to match their values, offering structured learning opportunities focused on critical thinking and practical life skills, with support for working parents.
International Bilingual School Enrollment
- Overview
- San Juan's main English-medium/bilingual option used by expat and nomad families is Saint John's School in Condado (Toddler through grade 12). Robinson School (IB) is another established bilingual option in the metro area, though detailed admissions-timeline data for Robinson was not available at the time of research.
- Other Bilingual Options
- Robinson School (IB-focused) and several smaller bilingual private schools also serve San Juan; specific enrollment timelines and waitlist data for these were not confirmed with primary sources at the time of research and should be verified directly with each school before relying on them for planning.
Saint Johns School
- Location
- Condado, San Juan
- Waitlist Reality
- As of the current admissions cycle, the school's Li'l Canes and PPK (early childhood) entry-point programs are at capacity, with waitlists in place for those specific entry points, while other grades may still have rolling availability.
- Application Timeline
- Applications are open year-round, with an October open-house season, a December through February priority application window when completed applications are due, and a February through June period where applications continue to be accepted with decisions released on a rolling, first-come, first-served basis.
- Instruction Language
- Saint John's School describes itself as a non-profit, college preparatory, nonsectarian, coeducational day school with an enrollment of over 800 students from Toddler to grade twelve, with instruction mostly in English except for language courses.
- Documents And Process Caveat
- The school's own admissions pages outline required steps and paperwork, but a full itemized document checklist (transcripts, immunization records, standardized test scores, interview requirements) was not independently confirmed at the time of research — families should request the current checklist directly from the Admissions Office (admissions@sjspr.org) rather than rely on second-hand lists.
- Practical Recommendation For Foreign Families
- Because the priority window (Dec–Feb) determines who gets first access to limited seats, and early-childhood entry points are the most likely to hit capacity, foreign/relocating families should start the application at least 6–9 months before their planned move and apply as early in the school year as possible rather than waiting for a specific arrival date.
Homeschooling Legality
- Status
- Fully legal and regulated
- Legal Basis
- Homeschooling operates under Puerto Rico's constitutional recognition of education under 'non-governmental auspices' (Constitution of Puerto Rico, Article II, Section 5) rather than a dedicated homeschool statute.
- Official Source
- de.pr.gov (Puerto Rico Department of Education) is the official government reference point; homeschooling itself is not licensed or overseen by this agency.
- Teacher Qualifications
- No specific teacher certification, license, or degree is required for a parent to homeschool in Puerto Rico.
- Registration Requirement
- Homeschools are not required to seek the approval or recognition of any government agency, nor provide any notice of their homeschool program, though it is highly advisable to communicate in writing to the principal of the school if withdrawing a child from public school.
- Testing And Notification
- No standardized assessment or notification requirement is imposed by the Commonwealth on homeschooling families; recordkeeping (portfolios, transcripts) is recommended but not legally mandated.
- Compulsory Instruction Days
- Once a child turns 5 years old, the parent must provide the same number of days of instruction as public schools until the child turns 16 years old, per Puerto Rico's laws (L.P.R.A. Title 18).
- Public School Activity Access
- There is no law guaranteeing homeschooled students access to public school sports, classes, or extracurricular activities; access is left to the discretion of individual schools and school district authorities.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.