The Girls Start School Monday!
After one week exactly, we have found a school for the girls. It’s a miracle.
They will be attending a school that teaches a half day in English, a half day in Spanish, and also some Italian! The school is mostly Porteño children with a few foreigners besprinkled in, but not many.
The school has a neat “new student” ritual. First, we interviewed with the senior staff while the children were present. Then, the next day, the girls came in during the morning Spanish class, got a little tour of the school, visited their classrooms, and then had a big coca cola and cookie party with their future classmates. The whole thing ended up with a bunch of kids on a sugar rush running around the play area.
After that, we spent the afternoon, and I mean the whole afternoon, buying all things school uniform. (Zoe is pissed that there is a skirt for school and a field hockey skirt.) We still have to go find their shoes. And, we forgot if Monday was the day that they wear their gym clothes or their school uniform.
Hours are a bit crazy–they go to school from 7:50 am to 5:00 pm, but they do have a one-and-a-half hour break from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm for lunch. The kids can stay at the school to eat and play, or they can go home for lunch.
We’ll see how it goes, but their program looks pretty good. They teach chess as a part of their curriculum, they have a good computer room and a science lab as well as using different teachers for different subjects at the elementary level. Also, they have gym twice a week–one is an extended physical education day in the school and one is at a field off campus.
Cross your fingers for Monday. Poor girls, it’s a lot to absorb.
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Hi there, Michele ~
My name is Sarah and I am an American from Boston; I met an Argentine and am moving with my 2 kids at the end of January.
I just arrived this morning from BA where I was for one week– Jorge and I went around looking ofr private schools that were bilingual in thew Belgrano area.
We went to the Washington school and looked around. I wold like the kids to experience half and half, since neither knows Spanish except for a few words.
So I am wondering which school you found for the girls and where?
Thanks — Erik is entering 1st grade in March and Amanda will enter 2nd. We will live in Belgrano near Arcos and Monroe.
Take care,
Sarah