Empathy School International

A small, democratic, nature-led school in Ubud's Gianyar area, founded in 2020 by a Harvard-trained husband-and-wife team and built around social-emotional learning rather than a single curriculum.

Around 100 students aged one to fifteen, drawn from over 40 nationalities, with a roughly 80/20 expat-to-Indonesian mix. The model blends Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Waldorf and project-based learning, with a Cambridge overlay for older students. Heavy emphasis on student voice, community decision-making and outdoor work.

The school requires real parent involvement, including seminars, gatherings and onboarding new families, which is unusual at this fee level. Teacher training of around 300 hours per year is a stated commitment. Parent voice in the wider expat scene is positive but limited. This is a school for families who actively want a democratic, SEL-first model and are willing to put in the time, not for parents looking for a conventional academic conveyor belt.

• A small nature-based school in Ubud, founded 2020 by Eric Gonzales-Payne and Hui Ya Ting, around 100 pupils aged 1-14 from more than 40 countries, with classes averaging four children. Around 80 per cent of families are digital nomads, expats or recent migrants to Bali.
• Pedagogy combines Cambridge primary with Montessori, Reggio, Waldorf and project-based learning. Lessons happen in bamboo huts outdoors, students go barefoot, food is plant-based and toys and refined sugar are kept off site.
• Parents are required to be involved: leading seminars, joining gatherings, advising on subject expertise and meeting leadership regularly to discuss their child's growth. The model leans heavily on parent buy-in.
• One Reddit parent in the Bali expat thread says their kids attend, are very happy, and that the school has plenty of international families. A separate post-2024 thread shows a family relocating to Ubud specifically to be near the school.
• No independent aggregator pool, no Mumsnet or expat-forum critique, and no published inspection. The available signal is consistent and positive but small, and skews toward founder voice and lifestyle media rather than independent parent reviews.