Online School & Homeschool in Petén & Flores

Online school and international curriculum in Petén and Flores

For Petén and Flores families — archaeology, conservation and tourism in the rainforest, five hundred kilometres from any international school.

Live online Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge A-Level, Pearson Edexcel International, IB Diploma Programme, and American Curriculum with Advanced Placement (AP) for Petén families. The northern department runs an economy unlike anywhere else in Guatemala: Tikal and the Maya Biosphere Reserve draw international archaeology, conservation and research staff on multi-year projects; a substantial tourism and hospitality industry works around Flores and Lake Petén Itzá; and agriculture and cattle occupy the lowlands. It is also the country's most remote department, with Guatemala City around five hundred kilometres south. International schooling here does not exist. Smartious teaches Cambridge and IB live to the Petén.

Challenges Petén & Flores families face

Why Petén & Flores families choose Smartious

The national picture applies in the Petén: education is compulsory at primary and basic levels and administered by MINEDUC, and we could not verify Guatemala's position on parental home education against a primary instrument, the available indication being secondary commentary placing the country among those where it is not specifically regulated. We decline to read that as permission or prohibition, and note that an absence of rules is also an absence of protection. Put the question to MINEDUC. For families on international project postings who remain resident elsewhere, their country of residence's framework applies — a question for their own advisers and one that arises constantly in a conservation and archaeology community. Smartious is not a MINEDUC-authorised institution.

Smartious delivers to Petén families online; the live programme is complete without in-person supplementation.

Live online via Smartious LMS in the Guatemalan morning on a fixed nine-hour offset, with every session recorded — built for remote sites and field seasons.

Petén runs Tikal and the Maya Biosphere Reserve with their international archaeology, conservation and research community, a tourism industry around Flores and Lake Petén Itzá, and lowland agriculture — as the country's most remote department, five hundred kilometres from the capital and with no international schooling. Guatemala runs CST (UTC-6), nine hours behind Nairobi.

Family situations we work with

Petén & Flores communities and nearby areas

Flores · Santa Elena · San Benito · Tikal · El Remate · Sayaxché · Melchor de Mencos

Common questions from Petén & Flores families

Is there any international schooling in the Petén?

None — Guatemala City is around five hundred kilometres south. Live delivery is the only route that reaches the department without sending a child away.

We are on an archaeology or conservation project — does the schooling follow?

Yes: the same curriculum, teachers, and examination board continue to the next country, with examinations sat at authorised centres wherever the family is.

More in Guatemala

Guides for families in Guatemala

What parents say

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