By The Hillier Team
Almost every family we help relocate to New Providence asks about schools before square footage, and that's the right order. The island has four well-established independent schools, and where they sit shapes which communities suit which families. The happiest outcomes we've seen come from looking at both together rather than one and then the other. Here's how the landscape lays out.
Key Takeaways
- New Providence has four established independent schools, each built around a different philosophy.
- Three sit in the island's western corridor while St Andrew's anchors the east.
- Several communities have a campus inside the gates or just outside.
- Lyford Cay families often make the school run by golf cart, which is its own kind of luxury.
What Are the Main Independent School Options on New Providence?
Families moving here generally look at four schools, and the useful comparison is by educational approach rather than by any sort of league table. All four are co-educational day schools taking children from the toddler years through secondary, and all four draw a truly international student body alongside Bahamian families. What differs is the framework each has built around.
How Each School Approaches Learning
- Lyford Cay International School is an IB World School running all four IB programmes, founded in 1962, with a 7-acre lower school and a 17.5-acre upper school campus designed around verandas and indoor-outdoor learning.
- Windsor School builds on Cambridge International materials in the primary years and College Board standards above, with Advanced Placement courses and BGCSEs, and teaches through the Harkness seminar-table method across three campuses.
- St Andrew's International School opened in 1948 and blends both frameworks on a 35-acre campus, running the IB Primary and Middle Years Programmes with IGCSEs in Grade 10 and the IB Diploma above.
- Tambearly International School keeps things small at around 175 students on a 4-acre campus, teaching a US curriculum enriched with British, Canadian, and Bahamian material, with chess woven through every grade level.
Which Communities Sit Closest to Each School?
This is where the property conversation and the school conversation meet, because the island's geography does a lot of the work for you. Three of the four cluster along the western corridor while St Andrew's sits out east on Yamacraw Hill Road, so the side of the island you choose largely sets your morning routine.
How the Pairings Tend to Work
- Lyford Cay has the Lyford Cay International School lower school inside the community itself, with the upper school on its own gated campus about half a mile away.
- Old Fort Bay sits just east of Lyford Cay, and Windsor's lower school is right there, which makes for one of the shortest school runs on the island.
- Albany hosts two of Windsor's three campuses on property, Little Windsor for the toddler years and the upper school for Grades 6 through 12, with an Olympic-size pool and track.
- Sandyport has Tambearly inside it, and the school maintains a walk-in gate on Sandyport Drive specifically for residents, so plenty of families simply walk.
- Ocean Club Estates on Paradise Island pairs most naturally with St Andrew's, since both sit on the eastern side and the drive works comfortably in a morning.
What Does the Golf Cart School Run Actually Look Like?
It's one of the details we describe most often, because people don't quite believe it until they see it. Inside Lyford Cay, the roads are private, and the scale is walkable, so families with children at the lower school often handle drop-off by golf cart rather than by car. It sounds like a small thing until you live it for a week and realize how much of your morning it gives back.
Why Families Talk About This One
- The lower school sits within the community, so the trip from a Lyford Cay home stays entirely on internal roads.
- Carts are simply part of how residents move around here, whether that's to the beach club, the tennis courts, or the marina.
- The upper school is about half a mile on, which keeps even the secondary run short, and for families arriving from cities with real commutes, this is usually the moment the lifestyle clicks.
How Should Families Time a Move and a School Place?
Start the school conversation earlier than feels necessary, alongside your first property search rather than after an offer. Each school runs its own application, assessment, and interview process, and places in popular year groups fill in advance.
What We'd Suggest Sequencing
- Reach out to admissions at your two or three shortlisted schools before narrowing your property search, since their timelines will shape yours.
- Plan a visit that pairs campus tours with showings nearby so the daily routine becomes concrete, and ask about year-group availability for your children's specific ages rather than the school overall.
- Let us map the morning route from any home you're considering, because the map and the actual drive aren't always the same thing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have to live in Lyford Cay to attend Lyford Cay International School?
No. Admission runs through the school's own application and assessment process and isn't tied to living in the community or holding club membership. Plenty of families commute in from elsewhere.
Which side of the island should we look at?
It depends almost entirely on the school you choose. Western communities suit families at Lyford Cay International, Windsor, or Tambearly, while the eastern side pairs naturally with St Andrew's.
Can we visit schools before we commit to a purchase?
Absolutely, and we'd encourage it. We regularly build relocation visits combining campus tours with showings in the Nassau communities closest to each one.
Reach Out to The Hillier Team Today
Choosing a school and choosing a home are really the same decision here, and getting the pairing right is what makes the first year feel easy rather than improvised. We've guided families through this from both directions, and we're glad to share how each community's rhythm fits each campus.
If you're weighing a move to New Providence and want to think it through properly, reach out to The Hillier Team, and let's start with the school question. We'd love to help you land somewhere your whole family settles in quickly.
If you're weighing a move to New Providence and want to think it through properly, reach out to The Hillier Team, and let's start with the school question. We'd love to help you land somewhere your whole family settles in quickly.
