Pan American Christian Academy

In Brief

PACA is the right call for international Christian families who want a small, faith-integrated American school with a strong track record of US university placements and fees well below Graded or Avenues. If the Christian dimension is not important to you, look elsewhere first.

PACA sits in Jardim Textil in the south-east of the city - further from the main expat residential clusters in Morumbi and Jardins than most international schools. That location partly explains why fees stay lower: R$77,964-R$101,200 per year puts PACA comfortably below Graded and Avenues while still offering a dual American-Brazilian curriculum, AP courses, and accreditation from ACSI, MSA, and Brazil's MEC. The school has been operating since 1960 and runs a genuine American-style school calendar from August to June.

Sixty percent of students are international, which gives it a more globally diverse feel than St Paul's despite the smaller enrolment. The school reports that 80% of graduates go on to US universities - Cornell, Duke, Notre Dame, NYU, UCLA are cited - with 20% to Brazilian universities including Insper and USP. Class sizes are kept manageable and the student-to-staff ratio reflects a school designed for close contact rather than scale.

The Christian identity is embedded throughout: weekly chapel services, biblical integration across subjects, and a pastoral approach shaped by faith. That is a feature for families who want it and a genuine constraint for those who do not. The Jardim Textil location adds meaningful travel time for families in the Pinheiros or Jardins areas - allow 30-40 minutes at school-run times.