Good to know
Good to Know
- ISC is the main choice for English-speaking nomad/expat families wanting an internationally portable diploma (IB DP) alongside a US-style curriculum, and is now a full IB continuum school (PYP, MYP, DP).
- If you may move back to a Dutch-system country later, the local HAVO/VWO schools (Radulphus, MIL, Kolegio Alejandro Paula, Abel Tasman) keep that pathway open, and Papiamentu is compulsory there — but instruction is primarily in Dutch, which is a real barrier for non-Dutch-speaking kids.
- CAISS follows the Cambridge (British-system) pathway, useful if you're aiming at UK, Australian, or Canadian universities, or want an alternative to the American/IB track.
- Tuition at CAISS and Pourier Academy/MPA isn't published online — budget extra time to email or call for a current fee quote before committing.
- Waitlists and mid-year admissions capacity can be limited at the smaller schools (CAPS, CAISS) — contact well ahead of a planned move.
- Both main international-curriculum schools in Willemstad are small, so applying only a few weeks before term start is risky — earlier is safer, and ISC's rolling admissions model means you can apply anytime but grade-level seats can still fill.
- Don't assume you can homeschool as a fallback if a school seat isn't available — Curaçao's exemption process has gotten stricter since 2024 and approvals are the exception, not the norm.
- If pursuing a homeschool exemption is important to your family, reach out to the Homeschooling Association Curaçao early, since they track the current (frequently changing) exemption criteria firsthand.
Schools And Curricula
- Overview
- Willemstad has a small but genuine mix of English-medium international schools (American/IB-oriented) and Dutch-medium local schools (HAVO/VWO), plus at least one Cambridge (British-system) school and a newer bilingual private school. Families integrating into the Dutch/Papiamentu system have low-cost public options; English-speaking nomad families generally look at ISC, CAPS, or CAISS.
Schools
International School of Curaçao (ISC)
- Location
- Emmastad, Willemstad
- Age Range
- K4 (Pre-K) through Grade 12
- School Type
- Private, nonprofit, co-educational day school
- Accreditation
- NEASC, CIS; also referenced elsewhere as AASSA/College Board/NACAC/SACS-linked
- Curriculum Notes
- ISC describes itself as the only full IB-continuum school in Curaçao (PYP + MYP + DP) on top of a US-based college-prep foundation. Dutch, French and Spanish are also taught, and AP courses are offered in Spanish language and literature.
Tuition
- Period
- per year (annual tuition, official 2023-2024 school year figures)
Tiers
K4
- K4
- ANG 14,600
K5 to Grade 5
- K5 To Grade 5
- ANG 25,910
Grades 6-12
- Grades 6 12
- ANG 32,365
Curricula
- US-based college-preparatory curriculum (K4–Grade 12)
- International Baccalaureate (IB) — Diploma Programme (DP) for grades 11–12
- IB Middle Years Programme (MYP)
- IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) — newly authorized for elementary in 2026
Curaçao American Preparatory School (CAPS)
- Location
- Erosweg 69, Willemstad
- Age Range
- Not confirmed in detail beyond primary/secondary levels
- School Type
- Private, English-medium day school
- Curriculum Notes
- Small class sizes, English instruction with ESL support; multicultural student body; uniforms required.
Tuition
- Period
- per year
- Range Note
- Reported range is roughly 7,910–20,370 ANG per year depending on grade level; figure is from an older aggregator listing and should be confirmed directly with the school.
Tiers
Range across grade levels
- Range Across Grade Levels
- ANG 14,140
Curricula
- US-based American curriculum
- Florida Virtual School (FLVS)-linked virtual high school option
Curaçao Advanced International Secondary School (CAISS)
- Location
- Willemstad
- Age Range
- Roughly age 3 through Cambridge secondary levels (students can complete the AICE diploma from around age 16)
- School Type
- Private, English-medium secondary (and primary) school
- Curriculum Notes
- Affiliated with Cambridge Assessment International Education; A-Level/AICE diploma is presented as equivalent to Dutch VWO 6 / IB. Papiamentu and Dutch are still taught and certificated even though the main track is Cambridge-based; open to students coming from VSBO/HAVO/VWO backgrounds.
Tuition
- Note
- Specific tuition figures are not published on the school's public materials found in this research; the school describes itself as offering an 'accessible fee' but no numeric figure could be confirmed. Contact the school directly for current fees.
Curricula
- Cambridge International Examinations curriculum (Cambridge Primary, IGCSE, A-Level/AICE)
Pourier Academy / MPA
- Location
- Willemstad
- School Type
- Private bilingual school (opened 2015)
- Curriculum Notes
- Positioned as a bilingual alternative within the Dutch secondary system rather than a fully separate American/British/IB school.
Tuition
- Note
- No public tuition figures were found in this research; treat as unconfirmed and verify directly with the school.
Curricula
- Bilingual instruction alongside the Dutch-system tracks: VMBO, HAVO, VWO and Gymnasium
Local Dutch-curriculum Secondary Schools (HAVO/VWO Track)
- Location
- Willemstad area
- School Type
- Public and government-subsidized private schools
- Curriculum Notes
- Papiamentu is a compulsory subject in the Dutch-curriculum schools, alongside Dutch-medium instruction, making these schools functionally trilingual in practice (Dutch/Papiamentu, with English also taught) even though the medium of instruction is Dutch rather than English.
Tuition
- Note
- Public/government-subsidized schools (e.g., Radulphus, MIL, Kolegio Alejandro Paula) are low-cost or largely free for residents. Private options like Abel Tasman College charge fees, but the only figures found were quoted in EUR by a Dutch parent-relocation blog rather than in ANG from the school itself, so no reliable local-currency figure is included here.
Examples
- Radulphus College
- Maria Immaculata Lyceum (MIL)
- Kolegio Alejandro Paula (formerly Peter Stuyvesant College)
- Abel Tasman College (private, Protestant)
- Albert Schweitzerschool
Curricula
- Dutch national curriculum — VSBO/VMBO, HAVO, VWO (and Gymnasium at some), aligned with the Netherlands' secondary system
Enrollment And Homeschooling
Homeschooling Legality
- Status
- Illegal by default narrow exemption
- Summary
- Homeschooling is not a recognized legal option in Curaçao by default. The Compulsory Education Act mandates school attendance for all children, and the law only allows an exemption from compulsory schooling where parents have religious or philosophical objections to the educational direction offered by every existing school on the island — not a general right to homeschool.
- Recent Tightening
- A 2018 homeschooling pilot program was evaluated by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, and as of the 2024/2025 school year the Ministry moved to enforce stricter rules on exemptions — including requiring parents to demonstrate objections to the direction of ALL existing school organizations (not just organizational complaints) and, per the Homeschooling Association Curaçao, indicating parents should be pedagogically qualified and provide a certificate of good conduct.
- How Exemptions Work
- To seek an exemption, parents must submit a formal request to the island government; approvals are uncommon because officials point to there being 'sufficient public schools' on the island as grounds to deny requests.
- Outcome For Families
- Very few families succeed: historically only a handful of families were granted permission to homeschool under the pilot, and the local homeschool advocacy group reports its own 2024/2025 exemption applications being rejected under the tightened policy.
- Practical Implication For Nomads
- A foreign family relocating to Willemstad should assume mainstream homeschooling is not a legally reliable option and should plan on enrolling children in a licensed school (public, private, or international) rather than counting on a homeschool exemption being granted.
Homeschooling Community
- Name
- Homeschooling Association Curaçao (HAC)
- Caveat
- These groups exist specifically to support the small number of families who already hold (or are actively trying to obtain) an approved exemption — they are not a workaround that lets a new arrival homeschool without going through the formal, rarely-granted government exemption process.
- Exists
- Yes
- Nature
- A local advocacy and information association for existing homeschooling families on the island, which describes its role as informing about homeschooling and acting as mediator between homeschoolers and the government.
- Activities
- The group has actively pushed back on the Ministry's stricter 2024/2025 exemption policy, submitted its own policy proposals, and represents families whose exemption applications have been rejected.
- Another Grassroots Group
- A separate Papiamentu-language homeschooling cooperative/site (Homeschooling Curaçao) also exists locally, offering peer support, shared activities/supervision ('oppas'), and transport-sharing for children already being homeschooled, with an annual sign-up window before May 1st.
Practical Takeaways For Foreign Families
- Apply as early as possible before your target start date (ideally several months ahead, and before mid-summer for an August start) since both main international options are relatively small schools with limited seats per grade.
- Expect to submit prior school records/transcripts, a photo, and (for special needs students) specialist evaluation reports as part of the file before a decision is made.
- A completed application does not guarantee a seat — space availability at the requested grade level is a separate gating factor from meeting the academic/admissions criteria.
- Get school-fee and deposit specifics directly from the school (ISC publishes a fee schedule; CAIS's fee page did not surface specific published tuition figures in our search), since fee schedules change yearly.
International Bilingual Schools Enrollment
International School of Curaçao (ISC)
- Curriculum
- IB continuum (PYP, MYP, DP), instruction in English with Dutch, French and Spanish courses
- Process Steps
- The process is an online application: create an account, upload required documents (including a passport-style student photo), pay an application fee by bank transfer, and then the Admissions Office reviews the file and contacts the family about acceptance.
- Waitlist Reality
- Final placement depends on space availability at the appropriate grade level in addition to meeting admission requirements — ISC explicitly ties admission decisions to 'space availability at the appropriate grade level' alongside academic fit, so a desired grade can be full even for an otherwise qualified applicant.
- Application Timing
- ISC accepts applications for candidates throughout the school year rather than a single fixed admissions cycle, so families do not have to hit one hard annual deadline.
- Required Documents And Criteria
- Admissions review considers previous academic performance, assessments, teacher recommendations, and individual characteristics and talents, and all required documents must be submitted before an acceptance decision is made.
- Location Note
- Emmastad, Willemstad — within the main urban/nomad-relevant area
- Special Needs Note
- Applications for special needs students must be accompanied by complete evaluation reports from specialists, and the school states it is not equipped to handle students with severe academic or physical handicaps.
- School Size Context
- ISC is a relatively small K-12 school (a few hundred pupils total, roughly half Curaçaoan and half international families from countries including the Netherlands, US, Canada, Venezuela and Spain), which means grade-level sections fill up faster than at a large international school.
Willemstad
- Curriculum
- Cambridge International Examination curriculum (secondary level), plus Papiamentu and Dutch
- School Name
- Curaçao Advanced International Secondary School (CAISS/CAIS)
- Waitlist Reality
- No published waitlist data was found; families should contact the school directly for current seat availability and fee/deposit details, which were not published in a way we could independently verify.
- Application Notes
- Entry does not require a specific prior secondary track — the school states students from any VSBO/HAVO/VWO background, or anyone who successfully completed basic ('Funderend') education, can join or transfer in at the same level.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.