For updated Guanacaste school information, please see our recent posts on Tamarindo-area private schools and Playas del Coco-area private schools.

La Paz

Private International Bilingual School Costa Rica

La Paz Community School is an international, Baccalaureate authorized, non-profit, bilingual preschool through high school. La Paz offers many unique qualities such as its dual language program, morning peace meetings, IB program, and community farmers markets. Their philosophy revolves around developing peace within the self, the family, the community and the world. La Paz is one of the most elite schools in the area, located in Playa Flamingo, just 20 minutes from Tamarindo and a little over an hour from Liberia international airport.

Click here to visit their website.

CRIA  

Private School Guanacaste Costa Rica CRIA

Formerly known as Country Day School of Guanacaste, CRIA now stands for Costa Rican International Academy. CRIA (“criar” means “to grow” in Spanish), is now an independent, non-profit community school. It is a private, U.S.- accredited nursery school through high school. It offers boarding options for international students, study abroad programs, and much more. They have an incredible campus filled with state of the art facilities  –  a near-Olympic-sized swimming pool, covered gym, theater for school plays, etc.

The student/teacher ratio at CRIA is at 8:1, with class sizes averaging at about 15 students (similar to the top tier private schools in the US).

Click here to visit their website.

EducarteEducarte International School private School Guanacaste Costa Rica

Educarte is an international, bilingual, affordable private school located in La Garita, Tamarindo, Guanacaste. Educarte offers a unique education from preschool through high school. Educarte follows Costa Rica’s basic MEP curriculum but prides itself in featuring additional learning opportunities such as art, environmental awareness, and student creativity. Compared to the other private schools in the area, Educarte offers very competitive pricing. After recent construction, Educarte will soon offer an Olympic sized pool, a new library, and sports complex.

Click here to visit their website.

Tide Academy 

Tide Academy Tamarindo Costa Rica School

Tide Academy is a flexible-schedule, bilingual private school focused on an alternative learning style. Their class schedule is Monday-Thursday, 8-12pm (with lunch until 12:30pm and optional activities until 2:30pm).  It is located right in Tamarindo, about 5 minutes from the beach. Tide is perfect for families that travel a lot; according to their website “The school will allow students with additional commitments to complete their studies on another location without having to play catch up when they return. Students should not be penalized for living a non-traditional life.” TIDE has small class sizes and a unique (optional) surf curriculum built into the experience.

Click here to visit their website.

Waldorf School

Waldorf Private School Guanacaste Costa Rica

The Guanacaste Waldorf School is a bilingual school where approximately half the curriculum in Spanish and the other half in English (and German is taught twice per week!). The follow the same philosophical approach as all Waldorf Schools, encourage the “reduce, reuse, recycle” motto daily and only serve vegetarian school lunches.

Click here to visit their website.

By: Genna Marie Robustelli