Sekoly Kintana, Fort Dauphin, Madagascar
Spend a month in a Malagasy classroom.
Worldschooling families with kids aged 11 to 14 can join our small Montessori-aligned class in Fort Dauphin, southeast Madagascar, for four weeks at a time.
Three four-week windows are open.
Each window has room for three to four visiting kids from up to four families. Exact start dates are set with each family; write to us and we’ll work it out together.
Who we are
We’re a family of four living in Fort Dauphin, my husband’s hometown. He is Franco-Malagasy, I’m American, and our children were born in Bayonne, France. We’ve been here since 2018.
We once planned to worldschool. Then Covid arrived, we settled in Fort Dauphin, and I spent the last three years building a small Montessori school, Sekoly Kintana, the Star School.
Now that our own kids are older, we have a class for 11- to 14-year-olds too. We’d like to welcome a few worldschooling families with tweens and teens so they can join the group, get to know Madagascar, and share real learning and daily life with young people from here.
What a month looks like
Your child joins our upper class as a full member for four weeks: same room, same rhythm, same projects as the Malagasy students. Not a program run alongside the school, but the school itself.
The heart of it is Madagascar: Malagasy language, history, culture, and the everyday life of the Anosy region. These are things you can’t really find online or in textbooks, and our students are the best teachers of them.
The work is real and it goes deep. The class has visited Fort Flacourt as part of its study of Malagasy history, studied plants at Domaine de la Cascade, and traced the origins of writing and mathematics in Mesopotamia all the way to a 1:300 model of the ziggurat of Ur.
Our school is multilingual and we’ll support your child’s French and English too. But we’re looking for families who come mainly to learn Malagasy and about Madagascar, not families looking for a French or English immersion.
Field trips in November 2026
Outings are part of the school month. A November stay would include:
- Nahampoana ReserveLemurs and native forest, a short drive from town
- Domaine de la CascadeStudying plants and exploring nature
- AndrakarakaA science outing with the class
- Pic Saint-LouisAn optional hike up the peak above Fort Dauphin, for those who want it
- Surf lessonsLearning to surf on the beaches around town
Is this the right fit?
It works well if you
- have worldschooled or travelled before, ideally in Africa or somewhere similarly unpredictable
- are self-sufficient and flexible when the internet is slow or plans change
- want your child to learn Malagasy and about Madagascar first
- are happy with a small, real school rather than a designed experience
It probably isn’t a fit if you
- are worldschooling for the first time
- need a fully organised, hosted stay. This is not a white-glove experience.
- are mainly looking for French or English practice
Daily life in Fort Dauphin
Power and water in Fort Dauphin are generally reliable, and we have a backup generator on site. Still, this is Madagascar: expect the occasional outage, slower internet than you’re used to, and plans that sometimes shift.
For more about the area, from getting here to where to eat and what to pack, see the Taolagnaro Guide.
Cost
What’s included
- Full school days and materials for your child, plus lunch, snacks and every outing the class takes
- Arrival welcome and orientation: I’ll meet your family, take you by bajaj to the market, and walk you around Fort Dauphin
- Introductory Malagasy lessons for the whole family
- Access to the Voky Be co-working space for parents
- Not included: lodging, your own meals and other expenses
Income from visiting families goes back into the school, which serves local children in Fort Dauphin.
Optional extras, arranged separately
- Weekend camping trip to Lokaro
- Weekend trip to Berenty Reserve
- A trip we plan with you around other parts of Madagascar at the end of your stay: Morondava and the baobabs, Andasibe, Toliara and more
Lodging, arranged separately
Lodging is not included. You can stay on-site with us or book independently. In Fort Dauphin expect roughly US$500 to US$1,000 per month depending on what you’re after.
Stay on-siteVoky Be Lodging, run by my husband Airbnb in Fort DauphinIndependent options in town Booking.com in Fort DauphinHotels and guesthouses in townSchool life and the coast around us
Get in touch
Tell us a little about your family: your children’s ages and languages, and which window you’re considering. We’ll write back personally.
Tonga soa eto Madagasikara 🇲🇬