St Dominic's International School, Portugal

St Dominic's International School, situated 25 kilometres from Lisbon, was founded in 1964 by the Irish Dominican Sisters. It is a private co-educational day school and exists to serve students aged 3-18 in the international community through the medium of English. Its mission is to offer an international education of the highest calibre through the curriculae of the International Baccalaureate Organization.

The Junior School offers English, Portuguese, Swedish, mathematics, social studies, information technology, art, craft, music, physical education, under the umbrella of the IB Primary Years Programme in Nursery, Kindergarten and Years 1-6.

The IB Middle Years Programme is offered in years 7 to 11. The subjects offered include English language and literature, Portuguese, French, German, Swedish, history, geography, mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, natural economy (environment), music, art and craft, computer studies/information technology, drama, media studies, design technology, international studies and ethics/philosophy.

In years 12 and 13 the students follow a curriculum which prepares them for the International Baccalaureate Diploma examinations. ESL, Special Needs are part of SES (Student Educational Services). Appropriately qualified teachers are employed from international locations. The average length of stay for overseas-hired teachers is three to four years. Locally hired staff are generally longer term. The student population represents 53 nationalities.

Classes begin in early September and run to the end of June with breaks for Christmas and Easter. The school day is 08:30 to 16:00. Co-curricular activities are held both at 15:00 for Junior School and after school for Junior and Senior Schools and include art, drama, computer, music, sports, languages, ballet, judo and faith formation.

The school is housed in two one-storey buildings. It has a self-contained Nursery/Kindergarten, 31 classrooms, two gym halls, art rooms, library, science and DT laboratories, music and computer rooms. There are facilities for soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, hockey, badminton and athletics. The school has an open admission policy, but requires reports from previous schools. Exams in English and Maths can be requested.