Catholic Schools in Mexico City: What Relocating Families Should Know
Mexico is one of the most Catholic countries in the world, and Catholic schools are a long-established part of private education in its capital. For relocating families, whether practicing Catholics or families looking for a bilingual school with a strong sense of community, Catholic schools in Mexico City deserve a place in the search alongside the international schools.
A long tradition in a Catholic country
In Mexico’s 2020 census, about 78 percent of the population identified as Catholic, and about 76 percent in Mexico City. The schools reflect that history. Religious orders have run schools in the capital for generations: the Society of the Sacred Heart opened a school here in 1883, and Marist, Benedictine, Lasallian and Salesian communities are among those teaching in the city today. Alongside them are schools run by lay networks with a Catholic identity.
The sector is large. Well over a million children attend Catholic schools across Mexico, from preschool through high school. In Mexico City that means real choice: large schools and small ones, schools in the central neighborhoods and in the west and south of the city, and schools with quite different characters.
Celina Arbizú, Bennett’s consultant in Mexico City, regularly includes Catholic schools, many of them bilingual, among the options she discusses with families. You can read more about how she works in our interview with Celina.
How Catholic schools fit into the Mexican system
Public education in Mexico is secular under the constitution. Private schools are in a different position: since a constitutional reform in 1992 they have no longer been bound by that rule, which is how Catholic schools teach religion as part of the school day.
Most are incorporated into the national system through the Ministry of Education (SEP). Incorporated schools follow the official study plans, so in practice a Catholic school teaches the Mexican national curriculum with religion and faith formation added. They also follow the SEP calendar, which for 2026–27 runs from the end of August to early July. For a family arriving from the United States or Canada, that is a familiar shape of year.
Bilingual, and sometimes more
Spanish is at the center of school life, and many Catholic schools in Mexico City are bilingual, teaching a substantial share of the day in English. Some add a third language. Several prepare students for external English certifications, such as the Cambridge exams, so that a child’s level is documented when the family moves on.
What a school offers at the end, and how well it travels to universities abroad, differs from one school to the next. If your child is likely to apply to university outside Mexico, raise that at the first conversation.
Single-sex or coed
This is one of the clearest differences within the sector. Some Catholic school networks teach boys and girls separately, particularly in the primary and middle school years, often with a mixed preschool. Others are coed throughout. It is worth knowing which you prefer before you start visiting, because it narrows the field quickly.
Admissions: what schools publish, and what to ask
Published admissions processes at Catholic schools in Mexico City tend to follow a similar pattern: a visit or information session, an application, an interview with the parents, and academic assessments for the child. Some add a socio-emotional or psychological assessment and an English placement test. Schools commonly ask for recent report cards and letters from the current school.
Two questions matter to many relocating families and are rarely answered on a website. The first is whether the school expects families to be Catholic, and what part religion plays in the school week. The second is how the school supports a child who arrives without Spanish. Practice varies, so ask each school directly, and ask early.
Fees also vary widely from school to school, and some sit well below those of the city’s largest international schools.
Across Latin America
The same tradition runs through the region. Around nine million children attend Catholic schools in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in many cities they include bilingual schools with long histories. For a family whose next posting is elsewhere in the region, that can offer real continuity: a similar ethos and a similar rhythm of school life in a new country.
Catholic schools are one part of a wider picture in Mexico City. If your family has ties to another language or community, our guide to French, German and Jewish schools in Mexico City covers that side of the city.
Find the Right Catholic School in Mexico City
Working out whether a Catholic, bilingual or international school is the right route for your child, and then finding the specific school, is the work our Mexico City education consultants do every week.
Get in touch with a consultant who knows Mexico City’s schools, for an hour of clarity →
Bennett International Education Consultancy works directly with hundreds of families each year across the globe. We support families by helping them make informed decisions about the best-fit schools for their children; with our guidance, they secure placement in preschools, private day schools, public/state schools, boarding schools, colleges and universities, including schools with particular programs, such as special needs support.
