Moving to BA in July 09

[livingabroad]

Hi,
We are a family of four (kids 10 and 13) from California and will be moving to BA in late July. What is the best way (internet sites, etc) to find an apartment in BA? What should we expect to pay for a two bedroom furnished apartment. Also, any advise on how to contact public schools to enroll the kids?

Thank you!

[BlahBlah]

Poor kids if there parents need to move to Argentina and send them to a public school.

You should be thinking about 800 to 1500 dollar for a normal appartement, up to 3000 dollar for a luxury department

[Napoleon]

You should also be thinking about Private Schools.

They cost a little less down here than in the USA. Maybe something like AR$15K to AR$20K/kid per year, but I'm not positive. That's not much by US standards.

[elhombresinnombre]

Originally Posted by livingabroad

Hi,
We are a family of four (kids 10 and 13) from California and will be moving to BA in late July. What is the best way (internet sites, etc) to find an apartment in BA? What should we expect to pay for a two bedroom furnished apartment. Also, any advise on how to contact public schools to enroll the kids?

If you are on a company relocation, take all the advice and assistance that the firm offers! They ought to be able to advise on schools and will probably be in a position to offer a garantia for your apartment and ensure that your documents are in order.

If you are coming independently, the usual advice given here is to stay in a hotel for a few days while you find somewhere more permanent to live. The risks of booking over the internet with an unknown company range from the property turning out to be too noisy/unsuitable to losing all the money you transfer. In other words, exercise the same caution that you would do anywhere else.

If you want your children to go to public schools for social or philosophical reasons, fair enough: be aware though that most middle-income Argentine families send their children to Catholic or private schools and the children that your youngsters will meet in public schools will be completely unused to associating with foreigners who will be perceived to be vastly more wealthy than they are - whether or not that is the case. Custom and practice in public schools will be very different from that which you have experienced in California. Also, public schools lack money and other resouces than many would consider essential but are usually staffed by dedicated and hard-working teachers. I don't know this for certain because I've never asked the question but I'm fairly sure that all your papers will need to be in order for your children to be able to attend a public school.

Depending on your views concerning religious faith and education, you might see a Catholic school as a suitable compromise. These tend to be cheaper than private schools because of the public service ethic of the nuns and priests who run them. Otherwise there are private schools, including bi-lingual and English-speaking schools and a search on this site will find more information about them.

You probably know this already but the school year runs from February/March until December, so you will be arriving in the middle of a school year.

[katti]

Originally Posted by elhombresinnombre

I'm fairly sure that all your papers will need to be in order for your children to be able to attend a public school.

We are moving in september, my kids are 16 and 14. I susbsribed them in a private school where they also do the international program. My son (16) will do the international program as this is completely in English (which is his 3th language, he does not speak any spanish yet).
My daughter (14) will do the national bilingual program. For this she needs to do an entry exam of certain subjects she didn't have in the last 2 years (argentine history and argentine geography). The school advised my son not to do the national program as he should have to do an exam of 4 years missed subjects, in a language he has yet to learn!
Also not all the schools offer a IB, that is the degree they should have to be able to study abroud (your homecountry?).
To enter the national program, you have to have a D.N.I..

For Americans there is the Lincoln college, I suppose this is expensive, but it follows the american schoolyear and is focused on american expats.
I don't know anyone who sends his kids to public schools.

I hope this information helps you.

[steveinbsas]

Originally Posted by livingabroad

What is the best way (internet sites, etc) to find an apartment in BA? What should we expect to pay for a two bedroom furnished apartment.

There are many sites for rentals in BA and several threads in this forum on the topic. You can find them via a search. How much you pay will vary greatly with the location. Please be careful. Furnished apartments are relatively expensive but are usually in "better" if not "safer" areas. If you aren't going to enroll in a private health care plan, it's probably a good idea to locate near one of the "better" public hospitals.

How long are you planning to live in BA? Even if the kids are accepted by public schools in BA their attendance may not be credited when you return to the States. If they are planning on going to college (or even graduating from high school) this could be problematic. If thy are here long enough, their performance on college entrance exams might also suffer.

[MJK]

Hi, if you contact your embassy they should give you a list of public schools to contact.
Otherwise you could check the online issues of BA Insider ( http://www.bainsidermag.com/ ) as I remember they were giving a list I believe of public schools in the capital and province of Buenos Aires.

[syngirl]

You are arriving in winter, some public schools inside Capital that don't even have functioning heat. The ceilings are often falling down, and the floors are barren, the buildings are in disrepair. Most just don't even have close to the equipment and facilities that you would see in a public school in the States. We say that the public system in the States is broken, after seeing the system here you will never say that again.

There are some decent public schools in certain barrios, so be careful with your decisions. Do you have any local contacts in BA that can help you out? Unfortunately I can't help you with that since all the Argentines I know send their kids to private schools. My boyfriend went to a public school but that was 18 years ago now and he said he'd never send his kids to one these days. Most foreigners choose private institutes so that their kids can participate in a bilingual or trilingual programme.

There are some private institutes that function on the American school calendar, but most run on the Argentine calendar which means they will be arriving mid-year.

Sorry to completely slam the public school system here, but it is in a sad state of neglect. If more people paid their taxes, and if those taxes were distributed legitimately, maybe they'd function better.

The teachers are very dedicated considering their ridiculously low salaries, but there have also been innumerable strikes, so be aware that a public school could be closed at numerous points during the year with no notice.

Private schools on the other hand, are not regulated, so they are able to increase their tuition fees without warning at any point during the year. So when you sign on do consider that your monthly fees could jump 20% or more at any moment.

[Maxba]

About the schools, if you would like to send them to a public schools, you should really think about which ones, there are a few which are of a good level but they also have an exam to enter because there might be more people interested than they have place for. Carlos Pellegrini for instance is one of the best public schools. It's at Callao and Marcelo T. Alvear. About apartments there are several offers at this page and there are lot's of agencies around town. For more info you can contact me by PM. Good luck!

[livingabroad]

Thanks everyone for your replies. The thought about sending our kids to public schools was "philosophical" as one respondent put it. To clarify, we will only be in BA for 4 months, but sounds like private school is the "only" way to go. We are planning to live in Palermo. Any specific recommendations for private/catholic schools in this neighborhood? This move came about last minute so we are definitely scrambling for info!
Thanks all!