Why ASB

World-Class Teachers

ASB is able to recruit and hire top international educators and master teachers due to our academic reputation, world-class professional development, and our location in one of the best cities on the globe. We receive hundreds of resumes from international educators every year and have the advantage of being able to select from among the most qualified. Teachers join ASB with relevant teaching experience and continue to receive professional development once they are here to ensure they are using best practices.

IB Results

ASB began offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in 2007 and we consistently score well above world averages. In 2021, our students scored an average of 37 points, with 98% passing. Virtually all ASB graduates go on to attend university, many at some of the most elite universities in the world, primarily in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain and Holland. You can find all of our standardized test results (IB, SAT, MAP, and ISA) here .

Facilities

Our entire campus has been renovated or built from the ground up in the past five years. Facilities include an Early Childhood and Elementary building, a Middle School building, including an auditorium-gymnasium, and a High School building. In addition, there are multiple indoor and outdoor sporting facilities, a spacious library, cafeteria, five science labs, soundproof music rooms, purpose-built visual art classrooms, and high-end IT installations. We recently increased our outdoor recess space by 20% creating one of the largest campuses in Barcelona, giving students plenty of space for recess and sports activities.

Optimal Size

In 2021-22, our school enrollment is 927 students from more than 55 nationalities. Our size allows us to maintain a strong sense of community and a nurturing learning environment while offering more classes and electives, a wide variety of after-school activities and sports teams, and greater learning and counseling support to our student body. In addition, this enrollment level allows students to find friends with similar interests and create diverse and productive classroom dynamics.

International Student Body

Robust Athletic Program

ASB offers a robust after-school team sports program, including soccer, basketball, volleyball, and flag football, where students of all ages compete in local and international leagues. Each sport is played year-round with specialized coaches. In addition, our physical education curriculum focuses on promoting physical fitness and wellness, sportsmanship, and creating a learning environment that allows every child to improve his/her level of success in sport. There are numerous fields and courts, both indoor and outdoor, for students to practice.

Promoting the Arts

As part of our core curriculum, all primary and secondary students participate in visual art and music classes, led by specialists, and we are expanding opportunities for students to take instrument classes during the school day. Every year, primary and secondary students are invited to participate in our after-school musicals, whether onstage, backstage, or through set design. We offer a middle school choir, and elective classes in drumming and ukulele and numerous opportunities for students to perform in concerts and open mic nights.

Strong Spanish Language Learning

While English is our core language of instruction, we also offer a rich Spanish language learning program with small class sizes in every grade level. Non-native speakers of Spanish can quickly advance in a few years towards fluency. We also offer Spanish classes for native speakers which follow the Spanish national curriculum, studying language, literature, and grammar at a national grade level.

A Welcoming Community

ASB prides itself on fostering a welcoming and caring environment for parents, as well as students, helping to immerse them in the local culture. Through our Parents Association, parents can find numerous opportunities to support their children's classrooms, help plan important school events, and connect with other families through informative workshops and social events. We encourage active school engagement of our parent community.

Experiential and Service Learning

At ASB, we believe that some of the most transformational learning experiences often take place outside the traditional boundaries of the classroom. For this reason, students are given ample opportunities to take part in experiential learning, whether through extracurricular activities, sports teams, Model United Nations, speech and debate club, and more. The school also champions a model community service program in which students are actively engaged in the local and global communities. Some examples include providing English tutoring in local schools, collaborating with senior citizens, leading creative workshops for adults with Down Syndrome, working with doctors in Peru and supporting refugee education in Botswana.