# schools-english or bilingual



## pictou (Jun 9, 2011)

Hi

We are moving to SMA in just over a month. We are excited to go there but are also considering other possiblities to relocate to in case we don't like it (I am afraid it may be to brown/dusty-we are used to lush green). Anyway to save time I wonder if anyone knows if there are english or bilingual schools for young kids (pre-school/kindergarten) in the Chapala/Ajijic area? Manzanillo? Merida? Veracruz? Colima? 
Does anyone have any other suggestions as to a place that is green, yet may have breezes or some sort of natural cooling (ie: elevation) that may lend itself to more comfortable living?? (With schools)

thanks


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

You'll find lush green in the rainy season and dust and dry air in the dry season.
You'll find that your children will soon be fluent in Spanish. Yes, there are nominally bilingual schools in the Ajijic, Chapala area.


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2011)

We live in Taxco and it was "somewhat" green when we arrived in March but now it is amazingly lush and green. We moved from Colorado but born and raised in Pennsylvania. We have learned to live with "dry and dusty" but will always like the lush green that we were accostomed to in PA. The great thing about Mexico is that most of the rain falls in the nightimes so you have the lush green without the clouds and daytime rain! I wouldn't worry too much about the dry/dusty look. For us, even in the dry season it was MUCH greener than Colorado. Taxco is nice and cool because of the elevation (6,000 feet) however I'm not sure about schools. Our children are homeschooled but as we assimilate into the culture they are learning Spanish rapidly. Kids don't struggle with language like we adults do. Good luck!


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## pictou (Jun 9, 2011)

Thanks for the comments!


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

I wouldn't be concerned about finding English or bilingual schools. My kids were 5, 8 and 10 when we moved to Mexico and they soon adapted to a regular school. We kept up their English by speaking it in the home, and promoting a love of reading and keeping up a supply of books in English.

Perhaps you will find a school with competent English instruction, but just because a school calls itself ‘bilingual’ doesn’t necessarily mean it will be. The ‘English’ taught in my kids’ schools was very poor. Maybe their classmates learned some English, but my kids cringed at their teachers’ mistakes in English. They soon found that if they used English in class they had to speak with a thick accent because if they talked normally, the English teachers couldn't understand them.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

That's what I was hinting at with the word, "nominally". Best to let the kids 'immerse' and become bilingual naturally.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

I suspect that the question should really be Spanish or bilingual as doubt English only school. Many well off Mexicans will try to send their kids to private bilingual schools.
Which ever you choose, kids won't have any issues and will pick up Spanish quickly.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Pictou, sorry for 2nd note but was thinking last night about your 4 year old. Most of the "normal" public/private schools of which I'm aware in San Miguel look to be K-12. However that doesn't mean that there aren't many kinder/nursery school programs. 
If I were to start searching, I would 1st go to the Biblioteca on Insurjentes(as with most places from Los Balcones, it is basically straight downhill where you shift left one block at the mercado and walk through the square to Insurjentes). The Biblioteca was started after the 2nd World War by the 1st major wave of expats as a way to help the community with an afterschool program. It has expanded significantly and is now a defacto meeting point for expats(along with the jardin) with lots of children programs. If they don't have what you want, I expect that they have all the contacts that you will need.


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## pictou (Jun 9, 2011)

Thank you all for you comments. I definitely would prefer bilingual than straight English. We've been in touch with someone from the Waldorf school in the area and hope to have our oldest enrolled this winter. I also know about the new school supposedly opening in 2012 but I have not heard back from them yet on my inquiries. We still aren't sure if we will stay in SMA in the long term anyway...certainly for 6 months for sure. We are looking seriously at the Chapala/Ajijic area and Manzanillo as well. Thanks to everyone on the board- you all make such a major change in our lives a little bit easier!


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

I'm aware of the International school opening in 2012. Also saw that another school, near the new town hall just opened and was K-12 as well as a University.
My guess is that in 6 months you will be so immersed in all San Miguel has to offer that you won't want to leave. It is a great mix of families, artists and retirees that are all very active in local programs. Just getting the Atencion on Friday mornings, we liked it with breakfast in the jardin, will show the almost unlimited activities for the next two weeks,
Have a great time as you will have a hard time duplicating the culture, history and active expat community anywhere else.
Oh by the way, do get a copy of Archie Dean's Insiders guide to San Miguel as really a starters reference bible.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

There should be public kinders everywhere and usually will take any age as long as the kid can handle the bathroom functions on their own. There are also private kinders that may be called something like 'Jardin de Ninos'


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## mongoose (Aug 22, 2011)

first post here,
and as i make mmy leavign giving classes as teacher in bilingual schools i could be of some help.
I do not know SMA area so cannto offer any help on that. 
Ok you will not find a english only school, and if you do it will be an exception to the rule. 
I know both in Merida and in Veracruz there are Bilingual schools. 
The quality though will differ greatly and can be complex to evaluate. for example a school can have mediocre academic standards but have native english speakers, essentially being place that is more of a status symbol than a place to learn. on the other side you have places that have high academic standards but the english level will be bad, for example Math in splanglish. If you can find a school wherever you live that has both high academi standards and a high level english stick with it.
if you are interested in the merida or veracruz I can get give you list of schools that might be of interest to you. Describing them if you wish. just pm me


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

pictou said:


> Thank you all for you comments. I definitely would prefer bilingual than straight English.


You may even find that a straight Spanish school is preferable to a ”bilingual” school, unless you are lucky enough to find a school where your child’s teacher speaks English well. Otherwise the “English” your child will be exposed to at school will not be a good model.


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## pictou (Jun 9, 2011)

maesonna said:


> You may even find that a straight Spanish school is preferable to a ”bilingual” school, unless you are lucky enough to find a school where your child’s teacher speaks English well. Otherwise the “English” your child will be exposed to at school will not be a good model.


We have been in touch with the Waldorf in SMA where apparently it is a spanish speaking school but the teachers speak english which sounds perfect to me! Been having some difficulty connecting with them so far but hopefully that works out-sounds like a good one!


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

I also want to mention also that when we moved to Mexico City, we enrolled our 5-year old in a public kindergarten and it was an excellent experience, although you might not have thought so if you knew the bare bones of the situation. Average class sizes ranged from 40 to 45! Moreover, there were no such things as substitute teachers; if a teacher didn't show up, her students were shared out among the other kindergarten teachers.

My kid’s teacher was excellent. Her teacher’s education took this kind of an environment for granted, and she dealt with a class of 45 five-year-olds masterfully. They did a lot of activities which seemed like playing and fun, but when the teacher explained it to us, we realized how carefully they were designed to teach the children social, cognitive and physical skills that they would be using next year when they started to learn reading and writing. 

You wouldn't be able to count on the public schools being adequate everywhere you end up, though. We are fortunate in living in a part of the city where there are several decent public schools. This isn't very common in Mexico as a whole.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

I looked up Waldorf school. Looks very interesting and very San Miguel with arts/holistic focus. It does show as a bilingual school about 15min north of town on the road to Dolores.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Another option you might want to try if in a large city is, Google "montessori school mexico". For some reason Montessori is very popular in Mexico but not up to the same standards as the US and elsewhere. My sister who is a long time Montessori teacher and admin assumes that the difference is the cost of teaching materials. They still may hold to many of the Montessori principles


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## mongoose (Aug 22, 2011)

sparks said:


> Another option you might want to try if in a large city is, Google "montessori school mexico". For some reason Montessori is very popular in Mexico but not up to the same standards as the US and elsewhere. My sister who is a long time Montessori teacher and admin assumes that the difference is the cost of teaching materials. They still may hold to many of the Montessori principles


how does one put this lightly? that particular system in mexico is seen as soemthing for "special"children. Difficult children are sent to those schools in general here.


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2011)

One resource that I used was asking a teacher who gave English classes to our company personnel for her school references. She had gone to Greengates School in Mexico City as a child. Her recommendation was for an accredited bilingual school here which hires and brings teachers in on contract from England, the US and Canada. Each primary grade class also has a well-qualified Mexican teacher for the Spanish teaching side. The kids learn both languages from a qualified native speaker.

This school has only 15 to 25 kids per class, with two teachers, so they get more attention. When the kids graduate, they can go on to university in the US or the UK without the TOEFL requirement. Their alumni also seem to do well at the MX universities.

I believe that for the MX education authorities to approve any school in MX, they must have classes in Spanish, but can add other languages if wanted. That would rule out finding an English-only school. There are other requirements by law such as MX history etc.


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