Schools in Belgrano

[BAwithkids]

I will be moving to BsAs for the year with my husband and two daughters (ages 4 and 6). We will be living in Belgrano, as it seems a good place for families and will also enable me to be near the university where I will be working. We are seeking suggestions for schools in Belgrano. Ideally, we would love to have both girls in a full-day program at the same school, but will put them in different schools if needed. Any suggestions would be MOST welcome! Thank you!

I apologize to those of you who have read (and so helpfully answered) questions I have about schools in Belgrano in some of my other posts.

 

[fifs2]

Ones Ive visited in Belgrano
Washington
Belgrano Day School
Sworn College

as well as others outside Belgrano. As we`re doing primary education only we opted for a small bilingual school in our neighbourhood which has the most wonderfully personalised "service" - we love it and will suffer ever having to go institutional abroad if required. All operate to Cambridge exam systems and have very different sizes and amenities..it`s all about what matters most to you. We loved Sworn as it was also small and personal but seeing the music, theatre and offerings at Belgrano Day Scool its tempting to want to take advantage of everything..if I recall the US embassy has a list of schools so I suggest you make a planned 1 day tour of all when they reopen for term start - good luck!

 

[mmoon]

Hi there,
I recently moved back to the US, but I check out baexpats every once in awhile, since we always seem to be in the midst of coming back from BA or heading there.
We sent our child to Belgrano Day School and were extremely happy with the program there. The school day was from 8:15-4:15, with half the day in Spanish and half in English. He was basically fluent after two months (with previous exposure to the language). Both of his main teachers with excellent, and they have tons of support for the kids there (librarians, tutors, a child psychologist--of course, nurse, etc). There were great after-school programs as well. BDS has nice school yards and the property is very secure. He had several other kids in his class from other countries, which was important to us, although the vast majority are Argentine. My two complaints would be that BDS is expensive, especially for Argentines, so you tend to get a wealthy population and sometimes absurd things like ridiculously fancy birthday parties and maids essentially taking care of your kid at playdates. Also, I was a bit disappointed in the family community there. We did make plenty of friends, but I don't think the school is well set up for welcoming new families. If you don't know anyone in BA (we did) it could be hard to connect.
Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you have other questions. Deciding on a school was a challenging decision for us, but BDS was a great fit. Alicia is the Admissions Director there, and she speaks perfect English. Best of luck!

 

[BAwithkids]

Hi there,
I recently moved back to the US, but I check out baexpats every once in awhile, since we always seem to be in the midst of coming back from BA or heading there.
We sent our child to Belgrano Day School and were extremely happy with the program there. The school day was from 8:15-4:15, with half the day in Spanish and half in English. He was basically fluent after two months (with previous exposure to the language). Both of his main teachers with excellent, and they have tons of support for the kids there (librarians, tutors, a child psychologist--of course, nurse, etc). There were great after-school programs as well. BDS has nice school yards and the property is very secure. He had several other kids in his class from other countries, which was important to us, although the vast majority are Argentine. My two complaints would be that BDS is expensive, especially for Argentines, so you tend to get a wealthy population and sometimes absurd things like ridiculously fancy birthday parties and maids essentially taking care of your kid at playdates. Also, I was a bit disappointed in the family community there. We did make plenty of friends, but I don't think the school is well set up for welcoming new families. If you don't know anyone in BA (we did) it could be hard to connect.
Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you have other questions. Deciding on a school was a challenging decision for us, but BDS was a great fit. Alicia is the Admissions Director there, and she speaks perfect English. Best of luck!

Thanks so much for the information about Belgrano Day. While many things about the school sound wonderful, the cost and the wealthy parents is not so much our interest . I really appreciate your laying out the pros and cons of the school.

 

[Hache]

Both my niece and nephew completed their primary education at Sworn College and I can say is an excellent School for a bilingual experience but like BDS it has a considerable population of wealthy, spoiled kids. My sister and brother-in-law decided to move them to another private but far humbler school for their secondary education as all that money thing gets really ugly in the secondary years. They couldn't afford the much higher secondary school fees, either. I think Sworn College is a very good choice at initial level, in every aspect. You should check it out. The rich kids thing is a downside but every school has problems.