Metropolitan School of Panama

The short version

The short version

The Metropolitan School of Panama (MET) is a private international school teaching Early Childhood 3 to Grade 12, and the first school in Panama — and Central America — authorized to offer the full International Baccalaureate continuum (PYP, MYP and DP) in English.

Founded in 2011 by a group of parents, it joined Nord Anglia Education in September 2017 and operates from a purpose-built five-hectare campus in Green Valley, Panama Norte, opened in 2020.↗↗

For a relocating family, the practical summary is this: the MET is the shortlist entry if you want the full IB pathway with the resources of a global schools group — and its fee page is the most transparent in the market.

For 2026-27, non-sponsored annual tuition runs $11,475 (Early Childhood) to $18,948 (Grades 9–12), but if your employer pays, the “sponsored” tariff applies at roughly 23–25% more, plus a $12,000 one-time admission payment per child and an annual enrolment fee of $1,160–1,900. Confirm your tariff class before comparing numbers across schools.↗

What the school is

A parent-founded IB school inside a global group

The MET was founded in 2011 by parents aiming to set a new standard for private education in Panama; within three years it was an IB World School, and it remains the country’s pioneer of the full continuum in English.

Joining Nord Anglia in 2017 plugged the school into the group’s collaborations — MIT for STEAM, UNICEF for social purpose, and the Global Campus platform linking students across the group’s schools worldwide — while the school retains MEDUCA approval as a private school on an international calendar (Resolution 4527 of 2012).↗↗

One correction to the record that matters for your commute planning: many older guides and directories still place the MET in the City of Knowledge at Clayton. That was the original campus.

Since 2020 the school has occupied its own five-hectare site at Calle Primavera in Green Valley, Panama Norte — a different axis of the city entirely, on the northern corridor beyond San Miguelito.↗↗

The community is mid-sized for the market: more than 775 students of about 45 nationalities with roughly 125 faculty, on aggregator data.

Being group-owned distinguishes the MET from Panama City’s two independent heavyweights — ISP (non-profit association) and King’s College (owned by the rival Inspired group) — which is worth remembering when you read marketing: the MET is the Nord Anglia campus in town, not a sister school of King’s.↗

Academics in practice

The full IB continuum, with group-scale enrichment

Students move through the PYP (ages 3–11), MYP (11–16) and Diploma Programme (16–19) entirely in English, with Spanish woven through as the host-country language — the school describes mastery of both as a goal.

The 2020 campus was designed around the programme: classroom “neighbourhoods”, eight design and STEAM labs, a Black Box theatre, an IB Suite for Diploma students, and a one-to-one Apple programme (iPad to Grade 4, MacBook from Grade 5).↗↗

On results: a 2026 secondary profile reports an average IB Diploma score of 32.2 points, above the global average of about 30, with individual scores of 43 and 44 and destinations including Imperial College London, Toronto, NYU, McGill and Amsterdam.

We could not locate a dated first-party results page, so treat that figure as attributed reporting and ask the school for current cohort results with class sizes. External quality evidence otherwise rests on NEASC accreditation and the IB’s own programme evaluations — Panama has no government inspection of international schools.↗

Admissions and cost

Admissions, and the market’s clearest fee page

The MET offers rolling admissions with students able to join after the year begins.

Its published 2026-27 schedule lists annual tuition for non-sponsored families of $11,475 (EC3–4), $16,560 (Kinder–Grade 5), $18,771 (Grades 6–8) and $18,948 (Grades 9–12); sponsored families — defined by the school as those “whose company covers their employee’s school fees” — pay $14,127, $20,607, $23,379 and $23,601 respectively.

An annual enrolment fee of $1,160–1,900 (registration plus technology) applies to all students, and tuition includes the daily snack and lunch programme.↗

The one-time admission payment is $12,000 per new student — but the mechanics are unusually flexible: a $500 discount for single-instalment payment, deferral into three instalments across Kinder to Grade 2 for Early Childhood entrants, two instalments for Kinder–Grade 10 entrants, and a halved payment for new students entering Grades 11–12 for the IBDP.

Tuition is due in one payment by 15 July 2026 or three trimester instalments (31 July, 30 October, 22 February); late payments carry a 10% surcharge, and sibling discounts run 5% for a third child and 10% for a fourth.

Budget separately for EAL or Exceptional Education support, IBDP exam fees, transport, ECAs and athletics, which sit outside tuition.↗

Prior-year context: the published 2025-26 non-sponsored tuition ran $11,250–18,576, so 2026-27 represents an increase of roughly 2% — modest for the market. Like every international school here, the MET runs the August–June calendar, so families arriving from Panamanian-calendar schools should plan the switch at the August boundary to avoid losing half a year.↗↗

The family experience

Green Valley, and a commute that inverts the usual map

Green Valley is described as Panama’s first smart and eco-conscious urban area, and the campus leans into it: wildlife and greenery around 77 classrooms, a six-lane pool, an AstroTurf field, a parents’ café, and a Library Commons. The catch is geography.

Panama Norte sits beyond San Miguelito on the northern corridor — convenient for families based in that arc, but a genuine cross-town run from Costa del Este, Santa María or the city centre at rush hour.

The school buses students across Panama City; get the actual route map and morning timings from admissions before choosing housing.↗↗

Community texture: the MET describes itself as a tight-knit “MET family”, and with lunch included, uniforms and a full ECA and athletics programme (AASCA membership included), the day is self-contained.

As with all group-owned schools, expect Nord Anglia’s global machinery — expeditions, Global Campus challenges, Juilliard- and MIT-linked programmes — to feature heavily in the pitch; the visit question is how much of it reaches your child’s classroom week to week.↗↗

Take these to the school

Questions that move beyond the tour script