Comparing US and BA schools

[kc_w]

Hi everyone! Apologies if this isn't the right place for this kind of thread.

I'm not a parent, but rather a freelance writer based in Buenos Aires who is looking to profile parents who moved from the United States to Buenos Aires sometime in the last few years and have experience looking for schools for their children. I also hope that this thread may be able to serve as a place for parents to offer advice and insight regarding the various considerations to keep in mind. From what I understand, some of these factors include:

• Very limited — and expensive/competitive — options for schools that adhere to a Northern Hemisphere schedule, for students who plan on reintegrating to the United States or European school schedule.
• Reputation among some private schools as being elitist, stuffy, overly religious, etc., yet are still considered the best option by many expat parents given endemic issues afflicting the public school system. Not to mention, of course, that many expat parents will be looking for a bilingual school, many (though not all) of which are private.
• Any expat families that opted to homeschool their children? Is this recommended, and if so, why?

Please feel free to bring up additional points, of course, and recommend specific schools with which you have had positive experiences. And also feel free to message me privately if you are interested in setting up an interview or something of that sort. Hopefully this can serve as a helpful resource for folks.

 

[Caribbean Cool]

Maybe this crowd is too old for you.........good luck

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

Definitely got a limited audience on here.
Mostly retirees

 

[dimitrije]

I am not from the US, but I have kids in Lincoln. There are only two genuine English-speaking schools in Buenos Aires with Northern Hemisphere calendar: Lincoln, which is where most expats kids go and BAICA, which is too religious for my taste. There are Frech, German and even Russian school, and even more bi-lingual schools with fancy names (St. This, St. That, St. Fulano...), but they are following Argentian school calendar with some classes in English. Of course, there are many excellent Argentian private schools. BUT, for an English-speaking expat family that will spend 3-4-5 years and then continue schooling in another European or Northern American school, Lincoln and BAICA are the only choices.

hope it helps.

 

[DarrenKK]

I don't see your offer of compensation? You're a professional writer, correct?

 

[Caribbean Cool]

I don't see your offer of compensation? You're a professional writer, correct?

A new perspective on being useless

 

[DarrenKK]

@Carribbean Cool. I don't think you should call them useless because of the lack of detail. Hopefully they will update accordingly. Let's see I guess.

 

[earlyretirement]

Maybe this crowd is too old for you.........good luck

Speak for yourself. There are a LOT of younger crowd on this forum. Not all of us are Medicaid/Medicare eligible like you are. LOTS of younger crowd that I rent my places to. In fact, I just rented to someone on BAExpats and rented my apartment for 2 years. They are very young as are probably the majority of people on here now. Lots of the old timer BA Expats crowd have left Argentina. They couldn't hack it here.

Caribbean Cool, you're in your last decade or two of life. The others on this forum are just starting their few decades. That's how you have to look at it.

I have a 7 year old and we considered moving to BA with them. I also have a middle schooler and a high school student. The only reason we didn't move is my daughter plays competitive tennis and she made the Varsity tennis team as a freshman. So moving would disrupt her life. I will do it once my two older kids are out of high school. Now, I just commute back and forth for work.

There are elite schools like Lincoln School which I'd never send my kids to. But there are also some great schools that people have posted about in the past. You can do a search and see the names. My friends all have young kids and they go to private schools that are half the day in English. Their kids are all fluent in Spanish. It's something crazy cheap now with Blue dollar rates. I think like $400 US per month per kid which is dirt cheap.

Good luck!

PS I'd NEVER recommend or advocate home schooling. Almost ALL the kids I know that were home schooled have something wrong with them. They don't have social skills as they never were around other kids. Just not a good idea, IMHO.

 

[nikad]

I have a 29 year old and a 12 year old. When I was pregnant ( along with his dad who was an US expat for 10 years in BA at the time ) we decided we were not sending our child to a bilingual school as we were simply not interested in him learning English with a foreign accent. Instead we went for a school that had all three levels: kindergarten, elementary and high school, just so he could have a nice circle of friends and teachers would know him, etc. Even though tuition is important, it was not our priority as we always believed school was a place for socializing mainly. Top of our list was a school that prioritized human values over money and competition. Any content you can teach yourself these days. Kids spend a lot of time in school, so it has to be supportive, understanding and caring during all stages of their development. I think school - parents interaction is also very important: we should both be on the same side.

 

[Caribbean Cool]

International Schools in Argentina

Argentina: This list contains the most popular international and bilingual schools in Argentina: nursery schools, primary and secondary (high) schools, International Baccalaureate, and other diploma in Argentina with fee information.

www.expat-quotes.com