Choosing the Right School for Your Child in Barcelona

Sponsored by Barcelona High School.

It is hard to imagine a more important decision than finding the right fit for your child to learn, play and grow. But choosing the right school can be daunting, especially for newcomers who demand a world class education. Luckily Barcelona High School offers families flexibility and a place for their child to be happy as well as prepare them for university.

Barcelona Metropolitan interviewed BHS founder Akida Mashaka and academic director Amanda Slefo to showcase an alternative to traditional, local international schools.

Can you give some background on the school? For instance, when and why was BHS started, how has it evolved, and what are its core principles?

Akida: BHS was started in 2020 coming out of COVID.  Why was BHS started? I would say that it is two-fold. One is my wife; we have two children—one teenager—and we wanted to provide the best possible education that he could have. He trains in tennis and the goal is for him to get a tennis scholarship to the best university possible in the US. In high school I was voted class clown and eventually I was able to get into Harvard Law School.

Along the way, I majored in psychology in undergrad. I learned some principles that I thought I could bring to the table to help many teenagers have a successful learning and academic experience.

Amanda: The school has evolved from being this tiny group of student-athletes, like Akita’s son Noah for example, into a community that caters to all different kinds of expats and local families, too. Our core principles are of course to help teenagers excel academically but it is also important to us that they figure themselves out psychologically, emotionally and socially.

Amanda, what is your background in education and how did you end up in Spain as a director and partner at BHS?

Amanda: I was a history teacher at Evanston Township high school which was ranked in the top 95th percentile of all high schools in the United States and then I came to Barcelona with my husband. I met Akita. I started working at the school for a little bit before we eventually became partners.

BHS is an International School. What countries are represented by your student body?

Amanda: We have kids from all over the world. We have students from China, Venezuela, Canada, Australia, the United States of course, Italy, France, Palestine, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, North Korea, South Korea and many more. In fact, we do not have one country overly represented because they are coming from all over the world.

What does the school day look like at BHS and what is the schedule; are there any group activities and how is social life?

Amanda: We have a shortened school schedule. We start the day at 9:15 and we end around 2:30. There is a 45-minute break for kids to go outside or get something to eat. The social life here is really nice, because we are a close-knit family which ensures that these kids are always hanging out with each other on the weekends or going to see each others’ sports clubs where they spend a lot of their time.

And there are definitely lots of different group activities. For example we get together to have different kinds of debates, and we bring in different guest speakers. If they are lucky at the end of the year we might take them to Port Aventura!

I see you offer the American high school diploma, and your accreditation is in the United States, but does that mean that students can only go to university in the United States?

Amanda: Students may apply from anywhere in the world, just like any American high school student. But we find that most of our students choose to go to universities in the UK and in Spain.

Why do students choose your American program at BHS versus an IB or a British one that offers A-levels?

Amanda: At BHS we offer AP courses which are equivalent to IB or A-level courses. With those kinds of courses on a student’s transcript they can apply to any university in the world, including the most competitive or prestigious ones.

Do you have open enrollment, meaning can students enroll at any time during the school year?

Amanda: We offer open enrollment which allows families and students to apply anytime they need to.

How many classes do students take and what electives do you offer?

Amanda: Students must take a minimum of six courses. They must take four core classes which include language, arts, math, history and science.

For the remaining two courses they can choose from a list of over 50 electives that we offer. If they want to have more than six courses, they are welcome to do so as well.

I notice that you have AP courses. Can you discuss these courses more?

Amanda: AP stands for Advanced Placement. They are a higher level course than an honors class. AP courses range from calculus, to physics, to U.S. history and all different kinds of classes. They are just advanced, and universities love to see AP courses on American high school transcripts.

What modern modes of education does BHS use to enhance education standards?

Amanda: We use a blend of three different approaches with our students. We blend flipped learning the Harkness method and STEAM education.

Flip learning means that students access content first and wrestle with it themselves and afterwards it is re-taught to them after they have been exposed to it.

The Harkness method is radically student centered and tries to create pragmatic problem solvers.

Finally, STEAM is a blend of science, technology, engineering, the arts and math to create a well-rounded student.

Why do families with athletes choose your American school program versus, for example, the more traditional American schools in Barcelona such as the American School of Barcelona or Ben Franklin?

Amanda: We believe families choose us because we offer a lot of flexibility. Especially for our student-athletes who have a tennis tournament, for example, or soccer practice. We are very open and flexible as well as having a shortened school schedule, so students can go to multiple trainings a day or maybe they have guitar class or Spanish class that they want to go to after school. It is this sense of flexibility. We have a really small community that allows us to offer a bespoke education. We have a personal approach to everything that we do.

Akida: And for the last two years of high school here, some parents choose to have an American program. They do not want to combine IB and the American program—which has been a big reason why we have gotten a lot of students who want the American program for 11th and 12th grade.

How do you help students get into universities and prepare them for their careers in the future? Are there any special arrangements or initiatives you have launched for this?

Amanda: This is my favorite part of the process. I am with the students from beginning to end. From researching universities and countries that they are interested in all the way to the final part where we submit the application and they get the acceptance letter.

We have launched a couple of different initiatives that help build a high school student’s transcript. One of those is that we have an agreement with Treehouse. We were fortunate enough to get to meet and talk with the CEO of Treehouse, who agreed to launch a special initiative with Barcelona High School only, where students can study Python or C++ and get a certificate to say that they understand this language. Universities love to see things like that.

Furthermore, we have a movement therapist that comes into work with the students once a week, we have an art teacher that comes in and then we really try to bring in guests who have real world experience that align with the students’ interests.

For example, the students are really into Bitcoin and NFT so we launched an NFT minting project with an NFT professional. We really try to listen to what the students’ needs and interests are and then bring in guests for them to get that kind of exposure.

What is special about Barcelona High School?

Akida: What is special about Barcelona High School is our mission. It is not all about academics. It is also about being psychologically and emotionally confident. I think that is one thing that differentiates our school from all the traditional schools.

Amanda: To add to that, there is a lot of love here. We really are connected to the families and to the students, so we really understand who the child is, who the emerging adult is, and we try to play up the strengths that students already possess. I think that is what makes us unique.

Where is BHS located?

Amanda: We are very fortunate to be located right in the heart of the city, just outside the Diagonal metro stop. It is easy to get to for our students and their families.

Akida: We are one of the only international/American schools in Barcelona that is centrally located to ensure that students can come from all over the city as opposed to other American schools or other international schools that are located in the surrounding areas of Barcelona.

The plan was to be in the center of Barcelona to ensure that students can come from the center, or they can come from the surrounding area. For example, we may have students from Sitges and Poblenou but also from Gràcia and Eixample. We want to give access to as many families as possible that want to join BHS.

(Interview edited for length and clarity.)

To learn more about Barcelona High School please visit barcelonahighschool.com.

Barcelona High School, known as BHS, is for those who want an innovative, non-traditional, school with a flexible schedule that helps its students excel academically and psychologically, while also providing university counseling and guidance, all in a fun and social environment.

Written and sponsored by Barcelona High School.