Kindergarten

[janrick]

Hi

I am browsing the forum to get an understanding of the kindergarten situation in Buenos Aires (Palermo specifically).

My daughter is 4 and currently she is enrolled with Boston Children in Palermo. Its been ok so far, but when she started sala de 4 now after the summer it was disappointing to learn that they removed one of the teachers. Apparently the rules they have at Boston is that from Sala 4, only one (1) teacher attend each group. The group that my daughter is in have 22 kids and It just feels it must be impossible to handle 22 4year olds for one person and maintain some kind of quality..Besides, the rooms are really really small..I actually feel bad every morning leaving here there..(although. por suerte, my daughter does not complain herself that much ..)
Where I come from, the rule of thumb is one teacher for every 6-7 kid at this age.. when I say this, the answer I get is that the law in Argentina states 1 teacher for every 25 kids, so, Boston is within the limits

Also ofcourse there has been increase in prices, this year the increased the fee so its now 5,500 pesos per month (doble turno) excluding food. In total, with food and some campo de deporte, and some extra dance class I pay 7,500 pesos per month.

So, basically, they remove one teacher but increase the price.

I just have the feeling that this is just plain business and the quality of the "education" is secondary. Being a private school I actually had higher expectations of Boston.


Whats peoples opinions, experiences?

 

[Crema Americana]

I too was shocked at the number of kids per class/teacher and the very small size of the classrooms at a private school.

I'm afraid that's just the way things are here... although some schools may be better and they are lowering the students per teacher ratio. Before it wasn't uncommon for an elementary class to have almost 40 kids and one teacher. Some progress is being made, but it's slow, and it's clear education isn't really a priority.

 

[syngirl]

The increase in price is common, you have to prepare yourself for a 30% increase every year, and brace yourself that some years they may do a "reajuste" of 5% or so halfway through the year. I always say to find a place that comfortably fits within your budget when you start as the increases can be tremendous (as well as the increases between nivel inicial, primaria, and secundaria)

If you are truly unhappy, you may still have time to find another place -- there does tend to be some reshuffling at the beginning of the school year as some parents can't deal with the price increases, or there are other changes that make them unhappy.

In that price range there are a lot of schools in the Belgrano R area. And a lot of the schools come with deportes and natacion included (I'm not sure if yours does, or if the dance class is an extra on top of deportes/natacion). Ours just started at a school in Urquiza and the price is, for the time being, reasonable. They cap class size at 24 but they are also only up to grade 7.

One of the better resources if you speak spanish is planetamama -- there in the foros the women talk about prices, what they are happy with, unhappy with etc. You can do a search on Boston school if you are looking for other opinions about your current school, or in the responses you may find recommendations for comparative schools nearby -- http://www.planetamama.com.ar/foro/search.php?keywords=children%27s&op=Buscar

 

[Bajo_cero2]

I went my whole life to schools where we were maximum 15 students per class, but my parents where concern about that and they did a lot of research.
With all my respect, if a school has a name like "Boston" I would have doubts about how good it is. There are just a few schools with that kind of names that are outstanding and many who pretend to be alike in name, just for "new richs".

My children go to la Pata Cata and they keep the 2 teachers at Sala de 4 but it is far from Palermo.

http://www.elegircol...apital-federal/

 

[syngirl]

I should add that my son has 23 students in total, they are I think 15 in the morning and 13 in the afternoon -- not exactly sure, I'd have to check his class list. Not all of the students are going journada completa. Is salita de 4 at the OPs school obligatorio? Or is it possible the same thing is happening, some students come in just for half day.

 

[janrick]

my daughters class they have 22 kids in the morning and 17 in the afternoon and its one teacher, although different one in the morning and the afternoon. So yes, some kids just do half day

 

[Bajo_cero2]

It is mandatory since 5 years old (prescolar).

http://portal.educacion.gov.ar/inicial/

At La Pata Cata they are about 10/2 at both clases (sala de 2 and 4)