Admissions
Kairos Montessori believes that the purpose of an education is more than the mere acquisition of facts. Indeed it is “an aid to life,” a much broader and richer pursuit. Further we firmly believe that parents are the primary educators of their children, no matter which school or educational pedagogy they choose.
As such we seek to partner with families, to bring to bear all the academic and developmental benefits of a Catholic Montessori education. Our admission process is designed to help families discover what that is, and whether it is for them.
Kairos admits children aged 3*-18 (*defined as children who will be 3 no later than August 31st in their starting year).
Our Unique Fee Approach
Kairos is a non-for-profit. There are no owners and therefore no dividends. Kairos ownership sits in an association (KMCS). Associates oversee that Kairos remains faithful to its mission in a responsible and long-term minded way. This means there is not a profit motive, rather its mission and the education provided are the uncontested areas of focus for how decisions are taken at Kairos.
From the start, Kairos has strived at creating a real community of families. By design, it has set its fees as low as possible, to avoid making fees a filter preventing local families from being able to choose Kairos for the education of their children.
Kairos has a 2-band fee system, with a lower Band I and higher Band II. The 2-band fee system exists to enable the provision of excellent international education across a financially diverse parent community. It is our strong conviction that part of what makes a School great is its ability to attract families with different economic realities. The higher fee band allows those families who can and want to pay more, to do so - and in doing so they improve Kairos by promoting economic diversity. Families elect their fee band level at time of application, and over time, Kairos manages admissions to achieve 50% on each of the 2 fee bands. Our approach towards fees is distinctive amongst private schools, and a vital ingredient in nurturing a joyful and fulfilling environment for students.
Kairos is deeply committed to encouraging attendance by large families - sibling discounts (applicable to annual tuition fees) are as follows: 15% discount for 2nd child, 25% for 3rd child, 40% for 4th child, and 50% for all other siblings.
Organic, locally-sourced food, cooked on site, is included in School fees. Fees include all stationary, work materials and trips.
Kairos accepts digital Tickets from the following companies: Ticket Restaurant de Portugal, Edenred and Coverflex. Kairos is only able to accept the digital Tickets (paper versions are no longer accepted). In the event that parents use this form of payment, it is kindly requested that payment is made 15 days ahead of the above term deadline, so as to allow for the additional processing time.
You can find the 2025/26 fees here.
Location
Kairos is located amongst the pine-woods of Quinta da Marinha. You can find the School address here:
Quinta da Marinha
Casa 25 - Eira
2750-004
Cascais
Kairos Office
+351 21 487 2076
office@kairosmontessori.com
Admissions Process
Our admissions process is outlined below:
Review School Handbook in detail.
Having reviewed the Handbook, if you wish to apply, please complete the Pre-Registration form.
Once you have completed the 2 steps above email admissions@kairosmontessori.com to arrange a visit. If possible, we encourage both parents to come, and without their child/children. The visit will take about 1 hour, in which you will be shown the School and meet School administration.
After your visit, parents who remain interested in applying, write a Letter of Application (noting why you would like your child to join Kairos) to admissions@kairosmontessori.com. The school considers the submission of an application to be an indication of the family’s willingness to embrace the Montessori philosophy and methodology that was witnessed and explained during the visit.
Class Experience with child - this consists of your child spending 2-3 days at School, so that we can understand if we are able to welcome your child in the class and, if so, how we can best support them. Our goal is to enable each child to develop as a well-integrated human being: intellectually, socially, spiritually, physically and emotionally and so we strive to assess all these during the class experience. No place should be assumed prior to a successful class experience as this is a critical milestone in our admissions process.
Final Answer - Applicants are notified of admissions decision on or before March 30th for applications received before March 15th deadline. We accept families on a rolling basis after the deadline if space is available and maintain a wait list when a program is full. All accepted families will be sent a Registration Form and then have 15 days to complete and sign the Registration Form, and pay the Registration Fee. A child is considered enrolled only when the above have been received by the school.
At Kairos we aim to forge a collaborative relationship between home and school. The work we do at school is built upon the foundation laid by parents at home. Children benefit the most when their home and school lives are complementary. To that end, we ask that parents read and sign the Home - School Partnership.
Note on Children’s House Admission: Owing to very high demand, Children’s House admissions are now grouped into 2 admission windows: 1) Early Admission - end September; 2) Final Admission - end March. In each case Kairos collects all admissions up to the window date, and then on the basis of places available, offers class experiences and places in the subsequent month. Kairos allocates places on the basis of class composition - mix of boys and girls, relationship with other families at School, location (proximity to School), involvement with the Local Parish, and expected length of stay in Portugal.
Financial Aid
Kairos seeks to build a community that will help students become their best selves. Scholarships can play a critical role in this by diversifying the student body and engendering a shared sense among families of commitment, generosity, fellowship and destiny.
We strive to make our unique education available to families who could not otherwise afford a private British and Montessori education by being a not-for-profit association and carefully controlling costs. We have no shareholders or competing interests other than the well-being of the school. Whatever profits we make get reinvested in staffing, the campus or the student body.
Compared to other British-curriculum international schools in the region, our tuition fees are highly competitive and we provide generous sibling discounts. We also offer financial aid to students from families that resonate with our mission and would deeply value a Kairos education.
Our St Joseph Bursary Scholarships are granted to students on a needs basis and are means tested. The process to become eligible for a scholarship is as follows:
1. Families of new students who have been accepted and those already enrolled can contact us at bursaries@kairosmontessori.com with their intent to apply for a scholarship
2. In order to ascertain each family’s economic reality, we will need to receive documentation of key sources of family incomes and primary areas of family outlays, including tax filings for Portuguese income tax for the last three fiscal years and a current payslip from each income-earning member of the family. Please note that all financial information is kept strictly confidential and will only be reviewed by the head of the scholarship committee.
3. A meeting with the head of the scholarship committee will follow that aims to foster a mutual understanding of the why and how of scholarships at Kairos, respective expectations and what is essential from both the school’s and family’s point of view.
Once completed, this process will grant the student a one-year scholarship. Although our commitment to scholarships families will extent the full academic life of the student, families will need to reapply annually as financial circumstances can change.