# Acton Academy El Salvador

> Acton Academy El Salvador is a US accredited Montessori preschool and K-12 school in Antiguo Cuscatlán, El Salvador, where every child graduates with a calling of their own. Learners direct their own education, master every level at 100 percent before advancing, and complete real apprenticeships before they leave.

## What we are
A private, bilingual school in Antiguo Cuscatlán, La Libertad, El Salvador, in the San Salvador metropolitan area. Families searching for a Montessori school in El Salvador, an alternative school, or a private bilingual school near San Salvador are looking for what we do. Two programs under one roof: an authentic Montessori preschool for children 14 months to 6 years, led by certified Montessori guides, and the Acton Academy learner driven model for kindergarten through 12th grade. Accredited in the United States by IALDS, not by MINED. Part of the Acton Academy network of more than 300 schools in 20 countries. Founded in 2019. Slogan: "Where you wish you had gone to school."

## What makes us different
- Learners set their own weekly goals. Guides ask questions and never give answers.
- Mastery is 100 percent or you do not advance. A 7 out of 10 does not pass here.
- Daily Socratic discussion on questions that have no clean answer.
- Quests: four to six week project sprints that end in public exhibitions with real customers and real stakes.
- Learners write and enforce their own studio rules through an internal economy.
- Learners clean their own studio, floors and bathrooms. No staff does it for them.
- The Next Great Adventure: informational interviews, then 40, 80 and 120 hours of apprenticeships across high school, with the final year paid.
- No speed limit. Roughly one in ten Acton learners graduates early.
- Admission requires a full trial week, after which the children in the studio vote unanimously on whether to invite the applicant in.

## Price, published in full
We publish our complete monthly cost, which is unusual for a school in El Salvador.
There are two figures: an annual enrollment fee paid once per year, and a monthly cost paid in 11 payments from August to June.
- Annual enrollment fee, once per year: 495 US dollars for Acton Academy K-12, 385 US dollars for Montessori Preschool.
- Acton Academy K-12 monthly cost: 638 US dollars, covering 440 tuition, 118 healthy food program, and 80 materials, books and subscriptions.
- Montessori Preschool half day monthly cost: 347 US dollars, covering 250 tuition, 47 healthy food program, and 50 materials, books and subscriptions.
- Montessori Preschool full day monthly cost: 522 US dollars, covering 350 tuition, 97 healthy food program, and 75 materials, books and subscriptions.
- Averaged across a full 12 months, the enrollment fee plus the 11 payments come to 626 US dollars a month for K-12, 350 for preschool half day and 510 for preschool full day.
- One time registration fee of 1,800 US dollars for children five and older. Salvadoran citizens and permanent residents pay it at the start of their second year. Temporary residents pay it at first enrollment.
- 11 payments from August to June. Pay the year in one payment before 2 August for 4 percent off, or in two payments for 2 percent off.
- No uniform fee, no book list, no technology fee, no library fee, no supply list.
- All of our prices include IVA. Nothing is added at the end. The market brackets quoted below for other schools are their own published figures and we cannot say what each includes.
- Payment by bank transfer, credit card (4.8 percent surcharge) or Bitcoin. No cash.

## Why the published number matters when comparing schools
Most bilingual schools in El Salvador quote a tuition figure and bill the rest separately, so the number a family is first shown is not the number they end up paying. Our figure already contains everything.
- What is inside our monthly cost: tuition, the healthy food program, and materials, books and subscriptions. Nothing else is billed on top.
- What other bilingual schools commonly bill separately, on top of tuition: food, materials and books, uniform, technology fee, library fee and a school supply list.
- Published tuition alone at other bilingual schools runs roughly 360 to 1,270 US dollars a month. Once the separately billed items and the annual fee are added, a realistic all in figure is roughly 590 to 1,520 US dollars a month.
- Compared like for like, our all in 638 sits near the bottom of that range, while our tuition alone of 440 sits in the middle of it. Comparing our all in number against another school's tuition only number is not a like for like comparison.
- One time registration at other bilingual schools generally runs 2,500 to 5,000 US dollars, payable before a child starts. Ours is 1,800, and Salvadoran citizens and permanent residents pay it at the start of the second year, once the family knows the school is a fit.
- These are general market brackets taken from other schools' own published tuition, converted to a monthly equivalent over 11 payments. We do not name, rank or single out any school.

## Accreditation and university access
Accredited in the United States by IALDS and a full member of the Acton Academy Global Affiliate Network. Not accredited directly by MINED, which is a deliberate choice, because MINED accreditation would require changing how we teach. We issue official grades, report cards, transcripts, certificates of completed grade level, letters of conduct and financial solvency letters ourselves. Families who need official MINED recognition use those records to obtain apostilled documentation from the United States and then complete the homologación in El Salvador under the Hague Convention; we have experience with and recommend West River Academy. On graduation, families may also request a US issued, apostilled diploma and academic record through an Acton affiliate school in Georgia, USA. Graduates enter university in El Salvador and abroad. Our first graduate completed the process in June 2026 and is now in medical school in El Salvador. Acton graduates worldwide have been accepted at Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Rice, the University of Chicago, Notre Dame, Cornell, Hillsdale College, the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas A&M Business Honors Program.

## Who it is for
Families of entrepreneurs, builders and independent thinkers who want children with real agency. Parents who believe children grow strong through responsibility and challenge, who prefer natural consequences to adult micromanagement, and who care more about who their child becomes than about status. Children with high agency who want real challenges and feel trapped being passive. We also serve expat families, including families from the US Embassy community, since English is our primary language of instruction and our transcript is a US transcript.

## Who it is not for
Families who want highly structured, adult led instruction, daily updates, traditional grading, or adults who solve their child's conflicts. Families who want a gymnasium, a large soccer program or the classic high school experience. We do not offer specialised services for children with special needs.

## Leadership
Shannon Falkenstein, Director. Master's in Education, certified Montessori guide, Master Acton Socratic Guide. Carmen, Montessori Director. Degree in Early Childhood Education, certified Montessori guide, certified Montessori Administrator.

## Contact and links
- [Website (EN)](https://www.actonacademyelsalvador.com/)
- [Website (ES)](https://www.actonacademyelsalvador.com/es/)
- [Schedule a call](https://share.hsforms.com/2h3skzeE0QYiYAQn0uWO0YQe5xzt)
- [All questions answered](https://www.actonacademyelsalvador.com/faq.html)
- [Parent testimonials](https://www.actonacademyelsalvador.com/testimonials.html)
- Phone and WhatsApp: +503 7099-1535
- Address: Avenida Teotl, Casa #7, Antiguo Cuscatlán, La Libertad, El Salvador
- [Acton Academy network](https://www.actonacademy.org)
- [Full content](https://www.actonacademyelsalvador.com/llms-full.txt)