Cayman also has quite a few private preschools, and then just a handful of private primary and high schools. For all schools though please remember to enrol your children early! New arrivals to the Island are often shocked at how quickly private schools can get filled up here - and you don't want to get stuck without a place in a school for your child.
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Many of Cayman's top preschools follow the Montessori programme, or a version of it, until the third year (ages 3.5 years to 4.5 years) when they start to align themselves with the primary schools so that their students are more prepared for the rigors of Kindergarten. Many of the traditional day care schools, which historically were just a child minding service, have been required by the Government to pick up their standards as many children are entering the primary school system woefully ill prepared to learn to read and write and grasp early Maths concepts. A handful of the very successful preschools have been mentoring the preschools which have had less than stellar inspection reports, and we hope that in time this effort will pay dividends. Once your child moves to primary school you have the choice of the British system or the American system, and in high school you have the choice of the British, American and the International Baccalaureate system.
Although the legal age in which children must start school in the Cayman Islands is 5, all primary schools (private and Government) have Reception/Kindergarten classes for children who are 4. If your child starts school at the age of 5 they will go directly into Year 1. Please bear this in mind.
Nurseries & Preschoolskeyboard_arrow_right
Most of the schools featured in this section accept children from the age of 18 months to five years of age, offering full-day programmes and half-day options. A small handful of schools will take children from the age of 6 weeks, but with the teacher-child ratio legally set at 3:1 at that age, it is often cost-prohibitive for most schools to consider it. Children will traditionally begin Kindergarten (UK system) or a Pre-K class (US system) at their chosen primary school, in the year in which they have turned four. In most cases they must be four before they start at primary school, however, a couple of schools (St. Ignatius, CIS and Triple C) take children from the age of three.
Primary Schools & High Schoolskeyboard_arrow_right
Cayman has a selection of excellent private schools, each following either the British or American curriculum. In both systems the main student intake is for Kindergarten (British) and Pre-K (US).