St Michael’s School

An urban environment on a tropical island: perhaps Santo Domingo has just the mix for you! The Dominican Republic is a wonderfully diverse country geographically, with not only beautiful beaches, but also mountains, rivers, and a desert as well as large rural and urban centers. Exploring the island and all it has to offer is wonderful! Dominican culture, vibrant and friendly, is alive and well in Santo Domingo. One portion of the city, the "Colonial Zone," is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a fantastic place to connect with Dominican and, indeed, New World, history.

St. Michael’s School (SMS), founded in 1919, is located in the central Santo Domingo neighborhood of Piantini within a wonderful business district that includes shops, malls, and restaurants. The school comprises a four-story building with air-conditioned classrooms, science and computer labs, art and music rooms, a library, a cafeteria, an auditorium, and a large outdoor recreation area with basketball, volleyball, and soccer courts.

SMS is fully accredited by Cognia and the Dominican Ministry of Education and offers a curriculum based on the U.S. Common Core State Standards as well as a variety of Advanced Placement (AP) courses. In order to meet the Dominican requirements for graduation, students also study Spanish, Latin American and Dominican Social Studies, French (in secondary school), and they must fulfill 60 hours of community service. Graduates earn diplomas from both the United States and the Dominican Republic and are prepared to succeed at some of the most competitive universities in the world. The school prides itself on solid academic performance and high expectations, but it also has a very sound character education program aligning with a Catholic heritage, which families value a great deal. Currently, 620 K–12 students are enrolled; 91% are Dominican, and the remaining 9% are Expats. The teaching staff of 70 includes 60 Dominican and ten Expat teachers.