Pre-K through 12 in Tamarindo on a personalized US curriculum — around 80 students from 17 countries at an 8:1 ratio, with high school accredited via Middle States through North Atlantic Regional High School.
TIDE Academy is the school on this coast that does not look like the others, and that is the entire point.
Around 80 students from 17 countries, at an 8:1 student-teacher ratio. The school describes itself as built for students whose interests run past a conventional academic structure, and the model reflects that: one-on-one personalized education, adapted to each student, with a lot of the learning happening outside the classroom through internships at local businesses and community projects.
TIDE runs a personalized US curriculum from Pre-K through 12th grade — Pre-K and Kindergarten primarily in Spanish, then Grades 1–4, Grades 5–8, and high school.
For high school, accreditation comes through a partnership with North Atlantic Regional High School, which is accredited by Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. That partnership covers grades 9–12.
The school reports a 95% college acceptance rate and 85% extracurricular participation.
Families who want a small, flexible, deeply personal setup — and whose kid is the sort who does better with room to chase something than with a fixed timetable. If your child is already self-directed, TIDE tends to click quickly.
It is also worth being straight about the flip side. TIDE is not an IB school, and it does not publish as much detail as the bigger campuses do. If you want a large campus with extensive facilities and a heavily structured program, look at Journey, La Paz or CRIA first.
More than any other school here, TIDE is one you have to visit. The model is unusual enough that a website cannot tell you whether it fits your kid. Walk the campus, meet the teachers, and watch how the students actually spend a day.
Details from TIDE Academy's own published materials as of July 2026. Confirm current programs and accreditation directly with the school.