Balboa Academy and Colegio Alemán del Istmo are both in Panama City, about 6 km apart. Both schools offer American programmes. Balboa Academy also offers Advanced Placement (AP), and Colegio Alemán del Istmo also offers Bespoke and German. Published annual fees are close, at $1,993 - 16,005 for Balboa Academy and $5,488 - 12,202 for Colegio Alemán del Istmo. Balboa Academy takes pupils from 3 to 18, and Colegio Alemán del Istmo from 0 to 17. Balboa Academy is the larger school, with around 901 pupils to Colegio Alemán del Istmo's 110. Typical class sizes are 22 at Balboa Academy and 10 at Colegio Alemán del Istmo.
American Curriculum, Bespoke Curriculum, German Curriculum
Pupils
Pupils
901
Pupils
110
Typical class size
Typical class size
22
Typical class size
10
Instruction language
Instruction language
English
Instruction language
English, German, Spanish
Opened
Opened
1999
Opened
2016
Bus service
Bus service
No
Bus service
No
Essentials
Essentials
Location
Location
Balboa Academy is a private school in Panama City, located in the heart of the capital's vibrant community. The school sits in Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge) in Clayton, Panama City. This location places Balboa Academy in the Clayton neighborhood with convenient access to Panama City's amenities.
Location
The school is located on Street I, Joseph Esses Boulevard, at the top of the hill, Edison Park, Betania, Panama City, Panama.
Stages
Stages
Balboa Academy serves students from PK-3 through 12th grade. Academic stages include Preschool (ages 3-4), Elementary (ages 5-10), Middle School (ages 11-14), and High School (ages 15-18).
Stages
Baby Welt: from 6 months old to 3 years old; Preschool: PK3 to Kinder (3–6 years old); Primary school: grades 1–5; Middle school: grades 6–11.
School type
School type
The school is a private day, college-preparatory school offering a U.S.-standards-based curriculum and dual Panamanian/U.S. diplomas.
School type
German international school offering trilingual education in English, German, and Spanish.
Pupil nationality mix
Pupil nationality mix
Over 40 nationalities represented.
Pupil nationality mix
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Additional learning support
Additional learning support
Honor and support classes are offered.
Additional learning support
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Country affiliation
Country affiliation
Panama and the United States. The school issues dual Panamanian and U.S. diplomas.
Bus transportation is available for all Balboa Academy students. The service is provided by TRANES PANAMA, S.A. Clayton is among the served areas; many neighborhoods across Panama City are included.
Bus service details
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Fees
Fees
Fee details
Fee details
Application and Admission fees - Application / evaluation fee: USD 150, paid online as part of the application process. - Admission fee (one-time, payable on acceptance/enrolment): USD 12,000.
Annual tuition — non‑sponsored students (full year) - PK3 & PK4: USD 7,966 per year. - Kindergarten: USD 12,541 per year. - Grades 1–5: USD 12,665 per year. - Grades 6–12: USD 14,006 per year.
Annual tuition — sponsored students (full year) - PK3 & PK4: USD 9,257 per year. - Kindergarten: USD 13,828 per year. - Grades 1–5: USD 13,965 per year. - Grades 6–12: USD 15,309 per year.
Tuition per term / instalments and billing schedule - The school calendar published for the 2025–26 year uses quarter/term blocks. The school does not publish a public per‑term invoice table on the fee pages; the website invites families to contact the admissions team about payment options. Where a school uses term or monthly instalments, per‑term amounts are normally calculated from the annual tuition and the school's chosen number of instalments; Balboa Academy's public fee pages do not list per‑term amounts or an explicit payment‑due calendar. - Application payment is taken online through the application link. For other billing cadence (annual, termly, monthly), accepted instalment plans and specific due dates are not detailed on the school's public fees page.
Boarding fees - No boarding provision or boarding fees are published for Balboa Academy. The school's materials describe the campus and programmes for day students; therefore boarding fees are not applicable.
Other costs and typical additional charges - Registration/annual administration fees (listed above) apply in addition to tuition. - Uniforms: uniforms are required and may be purchased through the school's listed supplier (Galapago Panama); individual uniform item prices are not published on the school fee pages. - Bus service: a paid bus service is available for multiple areas; route coverage is published but bus fares are not listed on the public pages. - School meals: a daily lunch service (partnered with Yaya's Kitchen) is offered and menus are available monthly; meal pricing is not published on the school's fee page. - After‑school and extracurricular activities: some activities may have additional costs; specific activity fees are not published on the general fees page.
Refunds and cancellations - No detailed public refund policy, pro‑rata withdrawal table or explicit refund rules for tuition or other fees are published on the school's public fees or admissions pages. Families are required to contact the admissions office for enrolment and fee terms; specific refund provisions are not listed.
Fee payment options (what is publicly stated) - The application/evaluation fee is paid via the application link during the application process. Beyond that, the school's public pages invite enquiries about payment options but do not enumerate accepted payment methods (credit card, bank transfer, local payment portals) or give step‑by‑step payment instructions on the general fees page. Families are directed to contact the admissions office for payment arrangements.
Summary of verified figures and totals - Key published figures (application fee, admission fee, annual fees, tuition rates for sponsored and non‑sponsored students) are taken from the school's public fees and admissions pages. Third‑party fee aggregators also reproduce these figures and show combined first‑year totals that include the one‑time admission/registration charges plus annual tuition.
What was not publicly available on the school's fee pages (brief note) - The school's public pages do not provide an itemised per‑term invoice table, explicit payment due dates or schedules, detailed payment‑method instructions (credit card vs bank transfer vs payment portal), per‑item uniform or meal prices, or a published refund/withdrawal refund schedule. For those items, families must contact the school's admissions or finance office to obtain the official payment schedule, instalment options, accepted payment methods and the school's refund policy.
Fee details
Application fees - No published single-number application or admission fee is available in the school's publicly available admissions materials. The school provides an online Parent Admission Application Form for initiating enrollment, but the form and accessible admissions pages do not list a specific application or registration amount.
Tuition fees by year group (amounts) - The school does not publish tuition amounts by year group or by term in its publicly available materials for the 2026/27 or 2025/26 academic years. No per-term or per-year numerical fee schedule is publicly posted. As a result, specific tuition figures for each year group and per term cannot be provided here.
Billing schedule and payment terms - Tuition (la escolaridad) may be divided into ten (10) monthly instalments. - Payments are required within the first ten (10) days of each month. - The school states that the matricula (enrollment/registration payment) covers normal wear and tear of facilities, basic first‑aid insurance for the student, and costs associated with internal academic record handling and necessary insurances. - The school reserves the right to set or change specific payment schedules and to require particular billing arrangements as decided by the school direction and governing bodies.
Boarding fees (if applicable) - The school presents itself as a day school; no boarding program or boarding fees are listed in publicly available materials. Therefore boarding fees are not applicable.
Other costs and recurring additional fees - The school identifies recurring additional cost items that families are responsible for, which include regular fees for psychology services, photocopies, special activities, and graduation activities. - The school also indicates families are responsible for costs to replace library, laboratory or other school resources and equipment when damage is caused by the student beyond normal wear. - No public price list is published for uniforms, meals, transport, extracurricular program fees or textbooks; the site's online shop shows no defined products for sale, and no published price list for uniforms or school-supplied materials is available. Consequently, specific uniform costs or related item prices are not available in public materials.
Refund, cancellation and withdrawal information - No detailed numerical refund or reimbursement policy for paid tuition, matricula or other fees is published in the school's publicly accessible admissions pages or parent manual excerpts available online. The publicly accessible internal regulations describe payment obligations and instalment structure but do not provide a public, itemized refund schedule.
Fee payment options and methods - Public materials do not list specific accepted payment methods (for example, bank transfer, specific credit cards, online payment gateway) or the precise mechanisms for making payments. The site is built on an e-commerce/ERP platform, but no active payment product listings nor an explicit payment-method statement are publicly posted. Families should assume the school can establish formal payment channels and billing documentation but no specific payment options are published.
Summary of available fee-related facts - Numerical amounts for application fees, tuition by year group or per term, uniform costs, boarding fees (not applicable) and explicit payment-method details are not published in the school's publicly accessible admissions or documentation pages; only the structure and administrative rules around payment timing and instalments, and categories of additional charges, are publicly stated.
Diving deeper
Diving deeper
Boarding arrangements
Boarding arrangements
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Boarding arrangements
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Uniform requirement
Uniform requirement
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Uniform requirement
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Food options
Food options
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Food options
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House system
House system
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House system
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Governance and ownership
Governance and ownership
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Governance and ownership
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Academics
Academics
Curriculum details
Curriculum details
Balboa Academy provides PK3-12 with a US standards-based curriculum and English as the language of instruction. The middle school offers courses in English, Social Studies, Mathematics, Sciences, Modern Languages, Computer Science, and an Encore curriculum, with accelerated options and Panama-required courses taught in Spanish. The school operates on a 180-day calendar with two semesters (August to mid-December; mid-January to mid-June). The high school offers 19 Advanced Placement (AP) courses and 4 PreAP courses; AP subjects include Art History, Biology, Calculus AB, Comparative Government, Computer Science Principles, English Language, English Literature, Environmental Science, Human Geography, Physics 1, Psychology, Seminar, Research, Spanish Language, Spanish Literature, Statistics, Studio Art 2D, Studio Art Drawing, and World History. The AP Capstone Diploma is available for students who complete at least 4 AP subjects in addition to AP Seminar and AP Research. All Balboa Academy graduates earn both a U.S. high school diploma and a Panamanian Bachiller en Ciencias y Letras.
Curriculum details
Trilingual curriculum with instruction in English, German, and Spanish; German language is a central focus of the program. The school serves early years through middle school, including Baby Welt (from 6 months to 3 years), Preschool (PK3 to Kinder, ages 3–6), Primary (1st–5th grades), and Middle School (6th–11th grades).
Student teacher ratio
Student teacher ratio
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Student teacher ratio
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Exam results
Exam results
In 2023, 210 Balboa Academy students took 403 AP exams, with 77% scoring 3+ on at least one AP exam.
Exam results
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Higher education progression
Higher education progression
Class of 2025 received 779 university offers, with an average of 13.4 offers per student and an average of $848,000 in scholarships awarded per student. Graduates have gained admission to universities across the United States, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Panama; institutions include McGill University, University of Toronto, Western University, Columbia University, Georgetown University, Duke University, University of Florida, and University of Michigan, among others.
Higher education progression
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Gifted and talented
Gifted and talented
Balboa Academy offers a rigorous AP program with 19 AP courses and 4 PreAP courses. AP Capstone Diploma is available for students who complete AP Seminar and AP Research along with at least 4 AP courses. AP courses receive a GPA weighting of 0.5.
Gifted and talented
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Academic calendar
Academic calendar
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Academic calendar
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Wellbeing & support
Wellbeing & support
Social & emotional learning
Social & emotional learning
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Social & emotional learning
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Special educational needs (SEN)
Special educational needs (SEN)
—
Special educational needs (SEN)
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English as an additional language
English as an additional language
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English as an additional language
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Mental wellbeing
Mental wellbeing
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Mental wellbeing
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Safeguarding
Safeguarding
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Safeguarding
—
Safeguarding policy
Safeguarding policy
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Safeguarding policy
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Facilities
Facilities
Facilities overview
Facilities overview
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Facilities overview
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Sports facilities
Sports facilities
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Sports facilities
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Academic facilities
Academic facilities
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Academic facilities
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Extra curricular facilities
Extra curricular facilities
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Extra curricular facilities
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Parent experience
Parent experience
History
History
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History
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Community
Community
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Community
—
Parent teacher association
Parent teacher association
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Parent teacher association
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Extra-curricular
Extra-curricular
Academic & intellectual
Academic & intellectual
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Academic & intellectual
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Arts & creative
Arts & creative
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Arts & creative
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Cultural & language
Cultural & language
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Cultural & language
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Social & hobbies
Social & hobbies
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Social & hobbies
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Community & service
Community & service
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Community & service
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Leadership & professional
Leadership & professional
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Leadership & professional
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Lifestyle & wellbeing
Lifestyle & wellbeing
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Lifestyle & wellbeing
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Language provision
Language provision
Language provision
Language provision
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Language provision
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Bilingual teaching
Bilingual teaching
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Bilingual teaching
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Immersion programs
Immersion programs
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Immersion programs
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Reputation
Reputation
Awards
Awards
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Awards
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Accreditations
Accreditations
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Accreditations
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Admissions
Admissions
Admissions
Admissions
Make an enquiry by completing the Enquiry Form. The Admissions Team will contact you to arrange a visit to the campus. Complete Balboa Academy's online application and pay the $150 application and evaluation fee. Include copies of the child's passport, birth certificate, immunization records or the Immunization Form filled out by your child's pediatrician, copies of both parents' passports, and all academic records including the current school year's grades. Balboa Academy accepts copies in English or Spanish; originals translated into Spanish by a notarized translator in Panama are required by MEDUCA if records are not in Spanish. An in-person or virtual evaluation and interview will be scheduled. The evaluation for Preschool lasts about 30 minutes and for Kindergarten through 12th grade about an hour, and it is conducted entirely in English. The Admissions Committee reviews complete applications and makes a final decision within 10 calendar days. Students may be accepted without conditions, accepted with conditions, denied, or placed on the waiting list. If offered, enrolment fees are payable to join Balboa Academy. The school teaches in English.
Admissions
Admissions are open for 2024-2025. BABY WELT: from 6 months old to 3 years old. Preschool admission: from PK3 to Kinder (3–6 years old). Primary school admission: 1st to 5th grades. Middle school admission: 6th to 11th grades. The admissions department responds to inquiries for information and new student applications. Location: Street I, Joseph Esses Boulevard, at the top of the hill, Edison Park, Betania, Panama City, Panamá.
Scholarships
Scholarships
The Nsouli Scholars Programme provides 50 full-scholarship places at Inspired schools at any one time for the duration of students' education. The endowment honours Nadim Nsouli, founder of Inspired, and scholarships are awarded with inclusivity in mind, including individuals of Lebanese origin.
Scholarships
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Waitlist
Waitlist
Candidates may be placed on Balboa Academy's waiting list.
