# Lots of questions, and little knowlege



## artchick (Sep 9, 2010)

I am an art teacher living in Kansas and it is my husband's and my dream to move to Italy to experience the culture for about 2 years. Here are our stats.... 5 kids 16,6,4,2, newborn. I have a BA in art education, and my husband has a BA in math, a MS in business, a MS in educational administration and a ED in Athletic Administration.  We are trying to research the in and outs of making a move to Italy somewhere around Tourino. Where do we need to start? How do we secure jobs while in the states? What about schooling for the little ones? What are the legal avenues we need to look at before this type of move. We would like to move in 2-3 years when the oldest graduates from hs. I would appreciate all the information anyone can offer. We are just in the research stages now and still have all the rosey glasses excitement that one has when embarking on a major life change!! Thanks alot!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

artchick said:


> I am an art teacher living in Kansas and it is my husband's and my dream to move to Italy to experience the culture for about 2 years. Here are our stats.... 5 kids 16,6,4,2, newborn. I have a BA in art education, and my husband has a BA in math, a MS in business, a MS in educational administration and a ED in Athletic Administration.  We are trying to research the in and outs of making a move to Italy somewhere around Tourino. Where do we need to start? How do we secure jobs while in the states? What about schooling for the little ones? What are the legal avenues we need to look at before this type of move. We would like to move in 2-3 years when the oldest graduates from hs. I would appreciate all the information anyone can offer. We are just in the research stages now and still have all the rosey glasses excitement that one has when embarking on a major life change!! Thanks alot!


Unless you have a passport from an EU country, your major problem is to secure a visa that permits your family to do what you want. Your teaching qualification won't be recognised as valid to teach in Italian state schools (even if you have fluent Italian), so your only hope is with an international school, esp with a US curriculum, or a school on US military bases, both of which recruit teachers in US. Your husband, if not a teacher, may be able to secure a job in education admin at the same or similar school. With the recession and changing defense policy, the number of such schools is in decline, as well as demand for teachers. Another way is to teach English as foreign language, but visa will be hard to secure as there's a lot of competition from highly-qualified EU nationals, who include British and Irish.
Look at DoDEA: The Department of Defense Education Activity
and DoDDS Europe - Welcome - there are seven schools on US military bases in Italy.
International Schools in Italy - Italy Schools


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2010)

Hi artchick

My parents did precisely that many many years ago, and eventually decided to stay on. 4 kids, coming from the southwest USA, in love with the idea of a full immersion in Italian culture. I can't say i regret it, because this has become our second home, but the beginning was not easy. Jobs are much harder to find here than in the States, even if you are an Italian. As US citizens you have no inherent right to come and work here, you are an immigrant just like any other non EU citizen, so you can either do it the legal way, applying for jobs from the US and then getting a business visa based on that, or come here on a tourist visa and try to scrounge something. A lot of people choose the second option, but I strongly recommend against it with a family. One solution could be to come here for a long, low budget summer vacation (several months) and look around. Joppa summed up the job prospects, and there is not a lot else. 
One thing to consider also is education for your children. I was dumped into the Italian public school system at a time when I did not speak Italian because my parents could not afford expensive expat international schools. Simultaneously learning a new language, curriculum and social skills was absolute hell for me and my siblings and had long term negative impacts on our academic careers


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## rshores (Jan 23, 2010)

If you're working for one of the overseas schools, you should be able to get your kids in for a reduced price. _Please note: I haven't verified this information._ My kids are in an American school over here, and all of the teachers kids are in the same school. Italian is a required subject in (at least our) school here.

Check the listings on this site (http : // www . state . gov / m / a / os / c1699 . htm) as well as the links above, as there are schools in Rome that aren't on the above list, but are on this one. (take out all of the spaces in the link... I'm not allowed to post links yet)


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