Public High School Recommendations

[GS_Dirtboy]

Hey!

Anyone have any experience with either of these two public high schools?

1. La Escuela Normal Superior en Lenguas Vivas - Sophia Broquen d. Spangenburg (Lengüitas).

2. Instituto de Enseñanza Superior en Lengaus Vivas Juan Ramón Fernández.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[el_expatriado]

Wow, you are really brave to send your kid to a public school here in Argentina.

 

[ElQueso]

It's becoming a very difficult choice to put kids in private schools. Three years ago my sister-in-law's school in Tortuguitas cost me $450 pesos a month. We moved back to the city and it was an immediate jump to $650, which I understood coming into the city. Last year my last payment was $980.

This year, it started off at $1550 and we'll see how long that lasts...

The two schools she's attended are run-of-the-mill private Catholic schools, nothing fancy. There's a relatively decent public school about 4 blocks from our apartment that looks better and better every month!

 

[el_expatriado]

It's becoming a very difficult choice to put kids in private schools. Three years ago my sister-in-law's school in Tortuguitas cost me $450 pesos a month. We moved back to the city and it was an immediate jump to $650, which I understood coming into the city. Last year my last payment was $980.

This year, it started off at $1550 and we'll see how long that lasts...

The two schools she's attended are run-of-the-mill private Catholic schools, nothing fancy. There's a relatively decent public school about 4 blocks from our apartment that looks better and better every month!

Understood about the prices, but do you really want your kids educated by the communists that run the Argentine public school system? Most Argentine public schools are anti-american as well (I don't know your nationality, but that would make it a no-go for me). Plus the public teachers are on strike for half the year, the classrooms don't have heat in the winter or A/C in the summer, and the buildings are falling apart. It just seems cruel to subject your kids to that kind of environment.

 

[YanquiGallego]

Wow, that is a lot of money for private schools in a city where the salaries are so low. You have to be rich here in order to give your kids the commodities you can get in the States and Europe at a fraction of the cost.

I have noticed that backpacks and school gear here are also quite high.

Everytime I walk by La Cebra Toy Store and see the prices of some of those toys (300 peso Barbies, WTF?? 250 for a board game??) I cringe.

 

[el_expatriado]

Everytime I walk by La Cebra Toy Store and see the prices of some of those toys (300 peso Barbies, WTF?? 250 for a board game??) I cringe.

This is what a country without free trade looks like. Welcome!

 

[ElQueso]

Understood about the prices, but do you really want your kids educated by the communists that run the Argentine public school system? Most Argentine public schools are anti-american as well (I don't know your nationality, but that would make it a no-go for me). Plus the public teachers are on strike for half the year, the classrooms don't have heat in the winter or A/C in the summer, and the buildings are falling apart. It just seems cruel to subject your kids to that kind of environment.

I completely agree with you. That's why we're sacrificing to keep the sister in private school, it's just hard. I wasn't serious about putting her in a public school - we'll move to Paraguay first.

But some don't have that option.

And BTW - the run-of-the-mill private schools aren't that different from the public schools in terms of what they teach. I know a few of the teachers are highly anti-American (or anti-Imperialist I think is a better term) and they occupy teaching positions in subjects that are mandated by the government.

Like the Malvinas class my sister-in-law is currently tolerating. Where they have to go online, for example, and find data and write papers on why the Malvinas belongs to Argentina (not a history and a debate about both sides, of course - nothing allowed that refutes the official position). That is being taught in Geology.

Or the economics class that is taught, where the professor's blog page starts off with "Nuestro mundo sufrió cambios vertiginosos durante las últimas décadas aplicando un modelo de desarrollo que sólo beneficia a unos pocos" (Our world suffered dizzying changes during the last decades, applying a development model that only benefits a few). That is being taught in history by the same teacher, as well.

The teachers wax quite prolific about their dislike of the Capitalist world in these private schools.

There are others that are more foreign-oriented, shall we say. But they are extremely expensive and completely out of my price range. They also have to teach the same state-mandated subjects.

The school my sister-in-law went to in Paraguay, where she lived, was what my grandmother used to decribe in her times in the 'teens and 20's in the States, being poor. Two room classrom that held all from kindergarten through high school. dirt floors, kids going to school in ratty clothes and no shoes due to their pverty.

It's all relative as to the level of education.

but if we moved to Paraguay, i could give her a decent private education there as well, something her parents can't.

 

[el_expatriado]

And BTW - the run-of-the-mill private schools aren't that different from the public schools in terms of what they teach. I know a few of the teachers are highly anti-American (or anti-Imperialist I think is a better term) and they occupy teaching positions in subjects that are mandated by the government.

The teachers wax quite prolific about their dislike of the Capitalist world in these private schools.

There are others that are more foreign-oriented, shall we say. But they are extremely expensive and completely out of my price range. They also have to teach the same state-mandated subjects.

I think the foreign-oriented schools are going to be the best bet. Too bad they are so expensive. Still, there must be some good private schools that aren't totally under communist control. The very fact that they are private instead of state run would seem to indicate that they should be to the right of the state schools.

In my experience "anti-imperialist" is just a euphemism used by xenophobic Argies for anti-american or anti-anglo sentiment.

 

[sergio]

In general educational establishments in Argentina are anti-American. At the leading bilingual schools you'll find an upper class preference for all things British and a certain tolerance but subtle disdain for the US. At the other schools there is more open anti-Americanism, especially the state schools. An Argentine friend hated every minute of his state school education which he tells me was totally inadequate (only half a day of studies is the NORM in these schools!) and presided over by narrow minded, far left leaning teachers. In one class the teacher reproached him in front of the class for expressing admiration for the accomplishments of the United States. The teacher pointed his finger at the boy, warning him that he disliked those who continually "looked to the north" for everything. My friend wanted to remind the teacher that the very school he was attending had been named after a US President but feared more of the teacher's wrath.

 

[el_expatriado]

In general educational establishments in Argentina are anti-American. At the leading bilingual schools you'll find an upper class preference for all things British and a certain tolerance but subtle disdain for the US. At the other schools there is more open anti-Americanism, especially the state schools. An Argentine friend hated every minute of his state school education which he tells me was totally inadequate (only half a day of studies is the NORM in these schools!) and presided over by narrow minded, far left leaning teachers. In one class the teacher reproached him in front of the class for expressing admiration for the accomplishments of the United States. The teacher pointed his finger at the boy, warning him that he disliked those who continually "looked to the north" for everything. My friend wanted to remind the teacher that the very school he was attending had been named after a US President but feared more of the teacher's wrath.

Most of the upper class Argentines I have come across do not have a disdain for the US. In fact, they spend plenty of time in Miami and have even given me pointers on places to visit in Florida. They usually save in dollars, have bank accounts in the USA, and wear US-brands. They and their kids speak English and many times they have a cousin, nephew, brother, etc., who is living in the USA.

I would say that most upper class Argentines have a much stronger connection to the US than to Britain. I can't comment on the schools, though.

The problem is that most middle class Argentines have been brainwashed into thinking that the US and the developed world is the source of their ills. The Argie politicians have done a very good job in pulling the wool over their eyes while they continue to rob the country blind.