Good to know
Good to Know
- Almost no school in Santo Domingo publishes tuition online — expect to contact admissions directly for a quote, and to pay a separate one-time application/enrollment fee on top of annual tuition.
- If a bilingual/dual curriculum matters to you, check exactly how much instruction is in Spanish vs. English — some 'bilingual' schools teach nearly everything in English with Spanish limited to MINERD-required subjects, while others (e.g. New Horizons, Saint George) run a genuinely dual-language program.
- Saint George School is the only school in the country combining Cambridge IGCSE with the IB Diploma Programme, which matters if you want an internationally portable exit qualification.
- Popular schools such as Carol Morgan and Saint George often have waitlists, especially for popular grade levels — apply well ahead of the school year if relocating with children.
- Apply to Santo Domingo's private/international schools well before the school year (roughly 6-9 months ahead, i.e. winter/early spring for an August start) — popular schools have small class sizes (often ~20 students or fewer) which limits how many new seats open each year.
- There's no centralized waitlist-tracking system across Santo Domingo schools; call admissions offices directly for current, grade-specific availability rather than trusting aggregator websites.
- Homeschooling is technically legal under the constitution, but framing it as an accredited 'distance learning' or umbrella-school enrollment rather than using the word 'homeschooling' with any local official is a commonly repeated practical workaround among expats — we could not verify this is official Ministry guidance, only informal expat advice.
- If you plan on your child eventually attending a Dominican university, keep thorough homeschool records (curriculum, assessments, portfolio) since there's no official government homeschool certificate to fall back on.
- We could not find a specific, verifiable homeschool co-op or regular meetup based in Santo Domingo itself — treat any co-op you hear about anecdotally as something to verify directly (e.g. via expat Facebook groups) rather than an established institution.
Schools
Carol Morgan School (CMS)
- Tuition
- Not publicly published; widely described as one of the more expensive private options in the city.
- Ages Grades
- Ages 4–18
- Notes
- Secular, nonprofit, college-preparatory school; roughly 85 years of operation with a 15-acre campus.
Curriculum
- American
- IB Diploma Programme
Saint George School (Nord Anglia Education)
- Tuition
- DOP 477,700
- Ages Grades
- Ages 2–18
- Notes
- British-international school with a Dominican MINERD-aligned strand; the only school in the country offering both Cambridge IGCSE and the IB Diploma Programme; instruction in English and Spanish.
Curriculum
- IB Diploma Programme
- National Curriculum for England
- Cambridge IGCSE
Lycée Français De Saint-Domingue (LFSD)
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Ages 3–18
- Notes
- Contracted with AEFE (French education agency abroad); English and Spanish introduced from age 6.
Curriculum
- French National Education curriculum
- French Baccalauréat
Ashton School
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Pre-Kinder to 12th grade (roughly ages 1–18)
- Notes
- Two campuses (Santo Domingo and Vistacana/Punta Cana); accredited by SACS and recognized by MINERD.
Curriculum
- Dominican/International bilingual
- US-style instruction in English
New Horizons Bilingual School
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- 9 months to 12th grade
- Notes
- Founded 1977; integrates French as a second language from 5th grade; offers multiple AP courses including AP Spanish, English, US/World History, sciences, and Calculus.
Curriculum
- American-based / dual English-Spanish bilingual
- AP program
American School of Santo Domingo (ASSD)
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Elementary through high school
- Notes
- Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS-CASI) and MINERD; affiliate of the National Honor Society.
Curriculum
- US-type curriculum
- MINERD-aligned Spanish/Dominican studies
Americas Bicultural School (ABC)
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Ages 2–18
- Notes
- Founded 1969; roughly 700 students; long-standing partnership with McGill University for teacher-training internships.
Curriculum
- American / Dominican bicultural
- Bilingual English-Spanish, plus Mandarin and French
St. Joseph School (SJS)
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Not specified
- Notes
- Founded 1999.
Curriculum
- US-style college-preparatory
- MINERD Spanish/Dominican social studies
St. Michael's School
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- 1st–12th grade
- Notes
- Founded 1991.
Curriculum
- US-type college-preparatory
St. Patrick School
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Ages 2–18
- Notes
- Founded 2005; Catholic, co-educational, across Mini Rhinos and Main campuses.
Curriculum
- American-type English curriculum
Saint Thomas School
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Preschool through High School
- Notes
- Accredited by AdvancED/Cognia.
Curriculum
- American-based (Common Core, NGSS, AERO Standards)
- Dominican mandated curriculum
- AP courses
Cathedral International / Cathedral Community School
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Pre-K to 12th grade (ages ~3–18)
- Notes
- Founded 2016; accredited as an international school by NEASC via the ACE evaluation protocol.
Curriculum
- American curriculum (CPALMS Florida Common Core, NGSS)
Brilliant Minds School (BMS)
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- 1 year old (preschool) to 12th grade
- Notes
- Private, secular, multicultural school.
Curriculum
- Dominican national competence-based curriculum
- US Common Core Standards
LAM School International
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Not specified
- Notes
- Accredited by ACI since 2007; affiliated with AAIE since 2011.
Curriculum
- American-international bilingual
- MINERD norms
Notre Dame School
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Ages 3–18
- Notes
- NEASC and CIS accredited; participates in NASA's GLOBE Program; Microsoft Innovative Showcase school since 2010.
Curriculum
- Catholic curriculum with bespoke program aligned to national/international standards
Mindful Community School
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Ages 1–18
- Notes
- Follows Core Common Standards plus Dominican national curricula.
Curriculum
- American and Canadian curriculum
- AP program
International School SEK Las Américas
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Not specified
- Notes
- Part of the SEK international schools network.
Curriculum
- Bilingual international curriculum
Domínico Americano School
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Primary and secondary
Curriculum
- Instruction in English at primary and secondary levels
King's Christian School
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Not specified
Curriculum
- Bilingual approach for local and expatriate students
Unidad Educativa Letort
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Not specified
Curriculum
- IB education system
International St. Jude School
- Tuition
- Not publicly published.
- Ages Grades
- Not specified
- Notes
- Accreditation reported via Cambridge and AdvancED/Cognia; details less well documented than larger schools on this list.
Curriculum
- Trilingual (English, Spanish, French)
- Cambridge-linked accreditation
Tuition Overview
- Caveat
- The large majority of named schools below do not publish tuition rates publicly and require families to 'inquire directly' — this is standard practice across almost every school in this market, not a data gap unique to one school.
- Directory Average Estimate
- DOP 51,689
This is a directory-aggregated average fee figure across ~21 Santo Domingo international schools, of unclear period (likely monthly or per-term, not confirmed annual); treat as a rough cross-school comparison point rather than a precise per-school figure.
General Annual Range
- Amount Local Low
- DOP 294,500
- Amount Local High
- DOP 883,500
- Note
- Typical published range for international/bilingual school annual tuition; some top-tier schools exceed USD 20,000/year. Figures converted from USD source figures since most schools price internally in USD.
Market Overview
Santo Domingo has roughly 21 international/bilingual schools tracked by international-school directories. Because of a large North American expat and returnee population, most schools teach an American-style curriculum in English, often paired with Dominican Ministry of Education (MINERD) requirements (Spanish language, Dominican social studies). A smaller number offer British (Cambridge/IGCSE), IB, or French national curricula. Public school quality is considered weak by expat standards, so international/bilingual private schools are the default choice for foreign families with children.
Enrollment And Homeschooling
Homeschooling
- Legal Basis
- The Dominican Constitution (Art. 63.2) states that the family has the right to choose the type of education for their children, and the General Education Law 66/97 (Art. 12) contains a similar provision. Based on this, homeschooling is generally described as legal, but the Ministry of Education does not provide a formal homeschooling framework, registration process, or curriculum requirements.
- Legal Status
- Decriminalized or tolerated
- Practical Reality
- Sources diverge on how comfortable this is in practice. One source focused on foreign homeschooling families flags that the word "homeschooling" itself can draw unwanted attention from authorities, and recommends expatriates frame their arrangement as an umbrella-school "distance learning" enrollment rather than informal home education to avoid friction. Other expat-guide sources describe it more simply as legal but uncommon, with no specific regulations, notification requirement, mandated calendar, or standardized testing imposed by the Ministry of Education.
- University Recognition
- Dominican universities generally accept homeschooled applicants but may require proof of education such as a work portfolio or standardized test scores rather than a Ministry-issued secondary certificate.
- Recordkeeping Recommendation
- Because there is no official oversight, families are advised to keep their own records (attendance, curriculum samples, assessment results) in case they later need to prove education history for university admission or a return to formal schooling.
Local Homeschool Community
- Santo Domingo Specific Group
- not confirmed
- Notes
- We could not confirm a specific, currently active homeschool co-op or meetup group based in Santo Domingo itself with a checkable name, schedule, or venue. General expat-guide sources state that support resources exist for homeschooling families in the Dominican Republic as a whole — online forums, social media groups, and "local homeschooling co-ops" — and that some international schools informally support homeschoolers (library or extracurricular access), but none of these sources named a specific Santo Domingo group we could independently verify.
International Bilingual School Enrollment
- Practical Tip
- Because school websites rarely publish real-time seat availability, the most reliable approach is to contact each school's admissions office directly and ask about current waitlist status for the specific grade level, rather than relying on aggregator sites.
- Waitlist Reality
- There's no single public data source on wait times across Santo Domingo's ~21 international schools, so expect a genuine range. Independent listings note Santo Domingo's international schools tend to be smaller than peers elsewhere, with typical enrollment around 600-700 students and class sizes around 20 or fewer, which caps how many new seats open per grade each year. At the most in-demand campuses (e.g. those affiliated with global networks or with long histories and strong university placement records), popular grade levels can fill months ahead of the school year, so treat a spring application for a fall start as the safer default rather than the guaranteed norm.
- Application Timing
- The Dominican school year for most private/international schools in Santo Domingo runs roughly August/September to June, aligned with a US-style calendar. Foreign families are generally advised to start the application process in the winter or early spring (roughly 6-9 months ahead) for an August start, since demand for seats has grown steadily and popular schools fill grade levels well before the term begins. Some schools accept rolling admissions and mid-year transfers, but seat availability by grade is inconsistent and not centrally published.
- Language And Placement Notes
- Private and bilingual schools in Santo Domingo mostly teach in English with a US, British, or IB curriculum, and several require demonstrated English proficiency to enroll.
Required Documents Typical
- Completed application/inquiry form (most schools now use an online portal)
- Copies of previous school transcripts/report cards (often 1-2 prior years)
- Birth certificate (and passport/visa or residency documentation for the child)
- Immunization/vaccination records
- Proof of residency or legal status in the Dominican Republic (asked for by some public bilingual programs and used informally by many private schools)
- Evidence of English (and/or Spanish) proficiency — some schools require or recommend a placement test or interview rather than a formal exam score
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.