Our mission

Aquinas American School is a Catholic, college-preparatory school that promotes superior academic achievement, mastery of skills and content, and fosters moral citizenship.

Aquinas American School offers the U.S. school curriculum as well as the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, preparing students to further their education either in Spain or abroad. 

School’s Motto: “All men by nature desire to know.”

AAS’ mission, as a community of teachers, is to educate its students:

• Academically: Our mission is to foster students’ intellectual growth by providing a challenging curriculum that spans various fields of study. We aim to equip them with lifelong learning skills and prepare them for future education opportunities, both in Spain and abroad.

• Religiously: Our mission is to educate students by encouraging them to explore the meaning of life and their destiny. We provide the Catholic Faith as a pathway to truth and transcendence, reflecting the values of the broader Catholic Church community.

• Humanly: Our mission is to educate students in the context of Western civilization’s traditions. We foster the development of virtues that enable them to appreciate the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. By cultivating their character, intellect, will, and sensibility, we aim to guide them towards living by an ideal and attaining happiness.

• The family is the natural core for the growth and education of children, while school is an indispensable aid for children’s intellectual and moral growth.
• The school guides a child’s natural desire to learn, helping them understand the reality of things, and to continuously seek answers. The school educates by encouraging children`s understanding of solid moral values in life. Education is a personal encounter between the student and the teacher. While every child grows and develops at his or her own unique pace, the teacher is their intellectual and moral reference, explaining and showing the reality, and providing means for new understanding as well as being the first reference for assessment.
• This meeting between student and teacher properly occurs within a larger community, the school. The teacher, together with the family and community, explains the initial experiences of life´s situations, and guides the child towards honesty and truth. Within the enclosure of the educational community, the child learns to discern and experience daily the importance of solid moral values in life.
• It is the school´s responsibility to have the necessary means to best educate in terms of the latest technology and advances, which must always be age-appropriate for the students and used under the instruction of the teacher. But excellent media alone will not educate. Primary attention must be paid to words and written text, to help the children learn by a natural rhythm, and to shape an understanding of the logical structures of thought and language.
• At Aquinas School we strive to create a climate of appreciation to aid both learning and personal growth. Dedication to rigorous and consistent studying is necessary in order to acquire both knowledge and development of personal skills, and at the same time serve as a serene acceptance of one´s own limitations.
• Aquinas American School, convinced of the supreme dignity of every person as a child of God, educates in the respect due to God and His work. Respect for others and the duty to love our fellow neighbor is joined with an appreciation for truth and goodness as the foundation of our community.
• Taking care of the things around us is a way of expressing consideration and respect towards fellow classmates. The students are educated in this respect, and therefore will learn to be responsible by having to answer for their actions.
• The school promotes in its students love and a sense of obedience and gratitude towards their parents and family, as well as companionship and friendship with their peers. Developing a sense of duty and gratitude to those who are looking out for our best interest is the ideal school of citizenship and moves us to seek the common good.
• Regarding Christian education, daily prayer is a part of school life as the beginning of each school day starts with morning prayer. The school offers the opportunity of preparing for and receiving First Communion, the sacrament of Confirmation and the regular participation of the Eucharist. Religious formation encourages a dedication to the mystery of faith, and teaches us to live responsibly and in communion with the Universal Church, parents, teachers and peers, while helping us be committed to constant improvement for ourselves and others.