This call covers only named international/bilingual schools, curricula, and tuition — other education sub-topics not covered here.
Good to know
Good to Know
- Sayulita effectively has one K–9 international/bilingual school option in town — Costa Verde International School (CVIS) — rather than a range of competing international schools; families wanting IB or a full American high-school diploma track generally look to Puerto Vallarta, about 45 minutes away.
- CVIS's scholarship program is reserved for Mexican national children from the local community and is not available to visiting or expat families, so budget for full tuition if you're relocating with kids.
- Enrollment at CVIS is by semester, not month-to-month, which matters if you're only in Sayulita for part of the school year.
- Tuition and registration fees quoted here are a few years old — confirm current pricing directly with the school (admissions@colegiocostaverde.com) before budgeting, as private-school fees in Mexico are commonly revised annually.
- Costa Verde International School (CVIS) is essentially the only bilingual school option inside Sayulita itself; it runs one class per grade level, so seats are limited and applying early — ideally months before the mid-August start — matters more than in a larger city with multiple competing schools.
- If CVIS doesn't have space or isn't the right fit, Puerto Vallarta (about 45 minutes away) has a wider range of international/bilingual school options, but that adds a daily commute consideration.
- Homeschooling is workable in Mexico and common among expat families, but it sits in a legal gray area rather than being cleanly 'legal' — enforcement is minimal in practice, but there's no dedicated Sayulita homeschool co-op to plug into; families typically rely on national/expat Facebook and WhatsApp groups instead of a local in-person community.
High School Gap
CVIS's own instruction currently tops out at 9th grade (secundaria); Sayulita has no in-town high school (preparatoria/bachillerato) option, international or otherwise, so older teens typically commute to Puerto Vallarta or study remotely/homeschool.
Schools And Curricula
Costa Verde International School (CVIS)
- Curriculum
- Dual-immersion bilingual (Spanish/English) private school built primarily on the Mexican national SEP (Secretaría de Educación Pública) curriculum rather than IB or an American/British accreditation.
- Student Body
- The children of Sayulita come from all over Mexico, United States, Canada, France, Germany, England, Argentina, Chile, and many other countries of the world, and the school runs a scholarship program (funded by donations, not open to non-Mexican families) that reportedly covers a large share of local Sayulita pupils.
- Grades Served
- Preschool/Kinder 1 through 9th grade (secundaria)
- Legal Structure
- Operates as an "asociación civil" (similar to a non-profit), founded in 2008 by a group of local parents.
- Tuition Monthly
- MX$6,600
- Curriculum Detail
- Costa Verde International School (CVIS) is an ecological, community-oriented, multicultural, and bilingual private school located in Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico, offering preschool through 9th grade (secundaria), with primary classrooms staffed by both a native Spanish-speaking and a native English-speaking teacher so students split their day between the two languages.
- Minimum Enrollment
- One semester (roughly late August–mid December, or January–mid July), per the school's own policy.
- Registration Fee Annual
- MX$15,000
- Location Note
- Av. Revolución #3, at the northern entrance to town — within walking distance of central Sayulita
- Admissions Note
- Admission is based on applications, assessment evaluations and interviews, and for 3rd grade and above incoming students must meet a minimum AAPPL second-language proficiency benchmark to be admitted.
Enrollment And Homeschooling
- Local School Landscape
- Sayulita itself has one bilingual/international option, Costa Verde International School (CVIS), a small private school covering preschool through 9th grade (secondaria). Families wanting other international-school choices (IB programs, larger campuses) typically look toward Puerto Vallarta, about a 45-minute drive away.
Homeschooling
- Practical Reality
- In practice, Mexican authorities rarely intervene against homeschooling families, and there is no nationwide registration requirement, but requirements can vary by state and municipality. Families seeking an accredited path typically either register with a foreign 'umbrella school' and later apostille the certification, or use INEA (elementary/middle school) or CENEVAL (high school) exams administered by Mexico's National Institute for Adult Education to obtain a recognized equivalency.
- Legal Status Mexico
- Homeschooling's legal status in Mexico is genuinely a gray area rather than settled either way. Some sources (including HSLDA) describe it as flourishing in practice because there is no clear compulsory-attendance enforcement mechanism, while other Mexico-based legal commentary reads Article 3/31 of the Constitution and the General Education Law as technically requiring school attendance, with homeschooling tolerated in practice rather than formally sanctioned.
- Sayulita Specific Community
- No documented, standing homeschool co-op or support group based specifically in Sayulita was found in this research. General homeschooling community for English-speaking expat families in Mexico exists mainly through country-wide Facebook and WhatsApp groups rather than a Sayulita-specific in-person organization, so families should not assume there is a local co-op waiting for them without checking those broader networks first.
Application Process
- How It Works
- CVIS admission is application-based rather than automatic: the school states that acceptance is based on submitted applications, an assessment evaluation, and a family/student interview. Prospective families are directed to email the school directly (info@colegiocostaverde.com) to get current admissions and calendar information rather than using an online portal.
- Documents Confirmed
- The school's public materials confirm only that an application, an assessment evaluation, and an interview are part of the process; a detailed document checklist (birth certificate, immunization records, prior report cards, etc.) is not published online, so families should request the exact list directly from the school before relying on assumptions.
- Realistic Lead Time
- Given the single-class-per-grade structure and the August surge in relocating families, applying at minimum several months ahead of the desired August start (ideally in spring, once travel/visa plans are firm) gives the best odds of a seat; applying over the summer risks landing on a waitlist for that grade.
- Timing And Seasonality
- Sayulita and the wider Riviera Nayarit/Puerto Vallarta area see a wave of relocating families in August and September because the school year starts mid-August, and regional relocation guides covering Sayulita/San Pancho specifically advise touring schools and applying early because popular local bilingual schools maintain waitlists.
- Class Structure And Capacity
- CVIS is a small, single-track school — roughly 140 students total with one teacher and effectively one class section per grade level from Kinder through 9th grade. This structure means each grade has limited seats, so a single grade filling up can close admissions for that year regardless of overall school size.
- Financial Assistance Note
- CVIS runs a donation-funded scholarship program aimed primarily at local Mexican families needing financial assistance (around half of CVIS families receive some form of assistance); this is separate from standard tuition-paying enrollment that most relocating foreign families would use.
Other Curricula Available Locally
No IB, full American-diploma, or British-curriculum K-12 school currently operates within Sayulita itself; families seeking those programs (e.g. American School or IB-track options) generally commute roughly 45 minutes to Puerto Vallarta.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
More About Sayulita
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.