Need Advise On Bi-Lingual School

[Brunette36]

Having said that, all the schools I have mentioned are for the super rich, specially the first 4.

 

[Sridhar7]

Thank you so much and we appreciate all inputs. To elaborate more on our situation, our twins are going to finish academic year in April and plan is to move family in May. Twins would be 6 years in August so we are planning to get them admitted in first grade. My assignment is likely going to be at least for 2 years so plan is to join them in a bi-lingual school so that in case we move to US or India, its easy transition for them.

-Sri

 

[ghost]

I am glad you had a good experience. Belgrano Day school also told someone I know that he couldn't enrol his (adopted) daughter the following year without considering that his wife had died 8 months before and that that was the last thing the girl needed. The man was shocked as he had attended Belgrano Day School himself.

Being Argentinian and also a fully trained teacher I can openly say that the most prestigious bilingual schools in BA are St Andrews, Northlands, Newman, St George's and St Catherine's/Moorlands. They also pay their teachers more. St Andrews is a foundation is not a business and they hire as many teachers abroad as they can possibly afford.

And which of these offers an IBA???
You failed to mention BAICA?

 

[DRSG]

As someone who has worked in education in BA as well as in Asia I would advise you to be careful about what you are expecting from your school. In general, the schools here do not foster academic rigour, excellence or perseverance in their students. This may not be as much a concern for you in your children's primary years, but it can be a sign of lowered expectations in the lower grades. Question to ask might be, how many students carry on from primary to secondary school (retention rate), and how many high school graduates succeed in obtaining international diplomas (GCSE, IBDP). Also, a lot of schools paint a veneer of authenticity especially in their supporting literature or during their parent visits.

As for the immersion side of things, most bilingual schools in BA have an overwhelmingly local student population so for your kids it will mean they'll get extra exposure to Spanish through their friends. Our 4-year old picked up enough language to play in less than a year. Good luck

 

[Brunette36]

And which of these offers an IBA???
You failed to mention BAICA?

You are very naive. In all the schools I have mentioned, doing IB is a requirement not an option as it is in other schools.

 

[mmoon]

I am glad you had a good experience. Belgrano Day school also told someone I know that he couldn't enrol his (adopted) daughter the following year without considering that his wife had died 8 months before and that that was the last thing the girl needed. The man was shocked as he had attended Belgrano Day School himself.

Being Argentinian and also a fully trained teacher I can openly say that the most prestigious bilingual schools in BA are St Andrews, Northlands, Newman, St George's and St Catherine's/Moorlands. They also pay their teachers more. St Andrews is a foundation is not a business and they hire as many teachers abroad as they can possibly afford.

Regarding your comment, I did find BDS to be shockingly well organized for a school in Argentina. I made my other comment about contacting them ASAP because I did not get the sense that they were accustomed to accommodating the last minute requests of the families. For example, no new students joined our son's class once the school year began. It was very un-BA-like in terms of how they managed to keep the families from overstepping their boundaries and expecting to always get deadlines and such extended. I am sorry to hear about your friend's situation, but we found them to go above and beyond to meet our son's needs at BDS.

 

[mmoon]

From the Belgrano Day School website regarding diplomas and such:
Belgrano Day School graduates obtain the University of Cambridge International Examination awards (IGCSE, AICE, AS and A levels) and the national Bilingual Baccalaureate.

Also, if you someone is solely looking for a prestigious school versus the best one for their kids, I think that's a different question. None of these bilingual schools are inexpensive, but there are certainly some that are more fashionable if someone really cares about that hoohah. Not sure what kind of school community you will find there...

As someone who has worked in education in BA as well as in Asia I would advise you to be careful about what you are expecting from your school. In general, the schools here do not foster academic rigour, excellence or perseverance in their students. This may not be as much a concern for you in your children's primary years, but it can be a sign of lowered expectations in the lower grades. Question to ask might be, how many students carry on from primary to secondary school (retention rate), and how many high school graduates succeed in obtaining international diplomas (GCSE, IBDP). Also, a lot of schools paint a veneer of authenticity especially in their supporting literature or during their parent visits.

As for the immersion side of things, most bilingual schools in BA have an overwhelmingly local student population so for your kids it will mean they'll get extra exposure to Spanish through their friends. Our 4-year old picked up enough language to play in less than a year. Good luck

 

[syngirl]

Thank you so much and we appreciate all inputs. To elaborate more on our situation, our twins are going to finish academic year in April and plan is to move family in May. Twins would be 6 years in August so we are planning to get them admitted in first grade. My assignment is likely going to be at least for 2 years so plan is to join them in a bi-lingual school so that in case we move to US or India, its easy transition for them.

-Sri

So were your twins born in August 2009? I ask because getting them into the first grade is going to be the very first hurdle you can expect to deal with. Here the cut off date for grouping by age is 30 June. So for instance, our child was born 8 July 2011, ie he is turning 4 in July. However in order to qualify for the Salita de 4 (the age 4 room) he would have to turn 4 prior to the 30th of June. So he will be the very oldest in the Salita de 3 this year. And I believe for 1st grade here the child must turn 6 prior to 30 of June of 2009. This is by law, so you are going to have to find a school that is willing to bend the rules for you, and some just will not have it -- and they will further use the excuse that your children are coming from abroad and don't have Spanish so therefore they "should" be admitted as being amongst the eldest of the Salita de 5 or Kindergarten group. The school year starts at the beginning of March, so many schools will also use this as an excuse as to say "on top of that they are starting late so they must go into the Salita de 5".

If your funds allow it you may decide Lincoln is your best choice as they run on the American academic year.

Good luck with getting them into the grade you desire! It can be quite a tough battle sometimes!

 

[ghost]

You are very naive. In all the schools I have mentioned, doing IB is a requirement not an option as it is in other schools.

Naive? I am many things. Naive is not one of them perhaps sarcastic. As it was a loaded question because the IB insnt worth squat. And you failed to answer the question. But never mind I know the answer.

 

[Sridhar7]

So were your twins born in August 2009? I ask because getting them into the first grade is going to be the very first hurdle you can expect to deal with. Here the cut off date for grouping by age is 30 June. So for instance, our child was born 8 July 2011, ie he is turning 4 in July. However in order to qualify for the Salita de 4 (the age 4 room) he would have to turn 4 prior to the 30th of June. So he will be the very oldest in the Salita de 3 this year. And I believe for 1st grade here the child must turn 6 prior to 30 of June of 2009. This is by law, so you are going to have to find a school that is willing to bend the rules for you, and some just will not have it -- and they will further use the excuse that your children are coming from abroad and don't have Spanish so therefore they "should" be admitted as being amongst the eldest of the Salita de 5 or Kindergarten group. The school year starts at the beginning of March, so many schools will also use this as an excuse as to say "on top of that they are starting late so they must go into the Salita de 5".

If your funds allow it you may decide Lincoln is your best choice as they run on the American academic year.

Good luck with getting them into the grade you desire! It can be quite a tough battle sometimes!

Thank you for your pointers. We are now in BA and likely would repeat [background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]Salita de 5[/background]