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Spain, Madrid
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City Country School is an independent bilingual Montessori school for children and adolescents three to sixteen years old with campuses for Children's House, Elementary, and Adolescence in Madrid. The Children's House classroom includes a garden with a big sandbox, a climbing frame, wooden blocks, and fruit trees. The Montessori environment provides a complete collection of Montessori didactic materials and an outdoor Practical Life area with an English-speaking guide. The Kitchen Classroom sits at the heart of learning, and snacks and lunches are organic, legume and vegetable-based vegetarian meals prepared daily by the school cook; lunch is eaten together with a moment of silence and the Poem Before Lunch. The Elementary program integrates the Kitchen & Garden into studies and project-work and includes visits to Dehesa de la Villa and other parks and botanical gardens. The school offers outdoor spaces such as patios with plants, water and sand to play with and wooden structures for exploration, with nature-based play encouraged through the Out Program.
Instruction is bilingual in English and Spanish. Early childhood learns in a predominantly English-speaking environment with a native English-speaking lead guide. Lower Elementary is a bilingual environment with native English and native Spanish-speaking guides. Upper Elementary alternates between a Spanish language Montessori environment and an English language Montessori environment. The Adolescent Program is an immersion English program with all academic subjects taught in English by native speakers. The Montessori pedagogy is implemented through trained guides, the full Montessori curriculum, didactic materials, and a prepared environment.
Beyond the classroom, enrichment activities include Symbolic Play, Cooking, Aikido, Ceramics, Song, and Activities in Nature. Aikido is studied for six years in Elementary and continued into Adolescence. Kitchen & Garden, Clay Ceramics, Out, Music, and Science Experiments are offered as enrichment experiences. Out involves exploring neighborhood parks for free play, making swings, tents, and climbing trees. Music emphasizes function over form and the focus is on connection.
City Country School is a small, independent Montessori school in Madrid serving ages 3 to 16, accredited by Middle States and combining Montessori pedagogy with an American curriculum. Founded in 2012 by Sarah Cardelús, the school invites children to learn through hands-on exploration, collaboration, and discovery rather than a single definition of success. Instruction is bilingual, with Early Childhood predominantly English and native guides, Lower Elementary in a bilingual English/Spanish environment, Upper Elementary alternating between fully Spanish and fully English Montessori settings, and an Adolescent Program taught entirely in English by native speakers. The on-site facilities span Children's House, Elementary, and Adolescence campuses, including a garden, sandbox, climbing frame, kitchen classroom, and outdoor spaces designed for nature-based play. Distinctive features include the Kitchen Classroom, organic vegetarian meals, and an Out Program that integrates field visits with project work. The curriculum anchors Montessori methods within a learner-centered culture that fosters growth.
