Bratislava's international school for the early years.
An English-speaking school for the years that matter most. Here, sixty children from 21 countries learn the way young children learn best: hands-on, together, and mostly through play.
The only international school in the city center that starts this young.
Admissions are rolling, and we reply to every inquiry the same business day.
Now enrolling 2026/27Who Will Know My Child?
Two qualified teachers lead every class and spend most of the day with their group together. They will greet your child by name on day two, and they will know how they slept, what they built this morning, and which friend they sat with at lunch.
Each class has its own pair of teachers, and the whole team plans the week together, so your child is known in every room of the school.
A trained school counselor is part of the teaching team, in the building every day, for children and for parents.
Ten adults, one team, and a founder who still teaches.
A Day at Handprints
Children arrive from 7:30 and play while the room fills up. By 9:30 everyone is in morning circle, singing and checking the calendar, and by 10:00 the classroom has turned into a workshop: block towers rise, paint dries, someone counts out spoons for the pretend café. Lunch comes up from our own kitchen, quiet rest follows, and the afternoon opens back into the gym, the garden, and free play until pickup.
None of it looks like a lesson. All of it is one.
From Nursery to Kindergarten
Your child joins the class for their age and moves up through the school year by year, each class building on the one before it. Most families start in Nursery and stay through Kindergarten.
First words, first friendships, and learning what school feels like.
Children talk, sing, and negotiate all day, with English growing daily.
Letters, numbers, and hands-on class projects.
School readiness, in English with daily Slovak.
Starting earlier? Baby Club, our free weekly morning for parents with children under 18 months, is the first door in. Read about Baby Club →
How children learn at Handprints.
Children learn best through play. It is how they test ideas, build language, solve problems, and learn to work with other people. Decades of early-childhood research support what teachers see in the classroom every day: when children play, they learn. Our whole program is built on that principle.
The practical details parents ask about.
lunch and two snacks cooked on site daily, pork-free, adapted for allergies
gated, green, and with no street access
all of our teachers, including allergy and EpiPen response
only adults you list may collect your child
own bathroom and rest area in every classroom
photos during the day, weekly plans and reports, three parent meetings a year
The school garden · private, gated, no street access
The Day and the Week
The day
Doors open · free play as children arrive
Morning circle, then the day’s learning activity
Outside time, then lunch from our own kitchen
Quiet rest
Gym, garden, and free play
Pickup
The week
The week's theme opens at morning circle
Gymnastics and gross motor skills
The topic becomes something children make
Every child has a place to sing
Teachers write home: what we learned
About once a month, the topic leaves the building: the zoo, the castle, the theater. Read about exploration learning →
“Within Bratislava, it would be hard to find a better mix of quality, care, and professionalism for this level of early education.”Eva Fabianova · Google review · two children at Handprints · Read parent reviews on Google
Full-time tuition is €885 per month, meals from our own kitchen included.
Semi-annual and annual payment bring it down, a second child pays 10% less, and part-time and Summer Camp options are available.
Book a Tour
Accredited by the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic · aligned with Colorado’s CDEC guidelines · co-funded by the European Union
The school is best understood in person. Come for a morning visit: watch circle time, meet both teachers, and get answers to all your questions. A tour takes about thirty minutes, and children are welcome.
Moving to Bratislava later this year? Write to us now. Families often start this conversation months ahead and from another country, and asking early holds your place in line.