Just starting to research...

Hi Olusha!

Welcome to Expat.com and thanks for this introduction.
Hope other members will be able to advise you on this move

Regards
Armand

Taking your daughter to Puerto Rico and not enrolling her in a private school would be a giant leap backwards in her education unless you are a highly motivated, skilled and experienced home-school teacher-parent. Your daughter will easily loose several years of educational progress.

Interesting. I know when I was in Uruguay, the students were actually ahead of what we were learning in the USA. I'm not saying I don't value education, but my daughter is a very artistic person and I can already see her life path being that of someone whose career will be heavily dependent upon creativity...not formal education.

I don't WANT her to fall behind though. I wonder how much damage would be done if we were only there for a couple of years and came back before she started high school.

In my opinion, the only benefit of high school is the social aspect. If it weren't for that, I'd encourage her to go to high school online as quickly as possible and move on to what she wants to do with her life as early as 16 or 18. That's what I'd do if we stayed in the regular "states", anyway.

I will not have enough money to pay $1,000/mo. for private school. That would defeat the purpose of moving. Hmmm....I guess I'll need to look into the cost of private school a bit more and perhaps see what home schooling is like. I don't have a negative view of it and it may be good for us.

I'm not an "experienced" home schooler, but I don't believe you need to be in order to be successful. Most aren't when they begin and I do have some education background.

Hi Olusha. I am a local who went to private school on the island and I have two nephews who went to public school. I'd like to share some of my experiences on the subject.

I graduated from Notre Dame High School in Caguas in 1997 with straight "A"s. The curriculum targeted the local college entrance exam, which is slightly different from the SAT, but I still managed to get highly competitive scores in both exams without the need for supplementary prep courses.

My nephew, who is every bit as academically intelligent as I am (perhaps even more), also graduated with straight "A"s. He didn't take the SAT but his local college entrance exam score was good and competitive and allowed him to get into any University that he wanted on the island. But his score was lower than mine by almost 200 points.

The difference in our test scores could have been predicted by the amount of homework that we had to do. While it was normal for me to spend two hours a day at least 3 days a week doing homework my nephew rarely ever brought any homework home. I had to make an effort to get good grades. All that my nephew had to do was pay attention in class and show up every day.

The main reason for this disparity was the availability of books. I had textbooks and my nephew didn't. As a result my school could tell us to study an entire chapter to take a test that covered 10% of it but the school of my nephew couldn't. His teachers had to tell him the exact material that would be covered in the exams and as a result he only had to learn a fraction of what I had to learn. And this is the norm in Puerto Rican public schools.

So, what are your options?

1. Magnet public schools: Unless your child is a prodigy who has a backpack full of written recommendations this won't be an option.

2. Regular public schools: I will recommend supplementing your child's education with some home schooling if you decide to take this route.

(The vast overwhelming majority of public schools in Puerto Rico use the Spanish language. If your child is going to enroll in one of them you need to work a lot on her Spanish)

3. Home schooling: I know nothing about this. Sorry. But you might want to ask these people for more info:
http://www.casaescuela.org/http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/pr/FAQeng.asp

4. Private school:

Cost: Some private schools on the island will cost you 15K a year but some of them will cost you less than 5K. But luckily the cost of a school is not always directly proportional to the quality of its education. A cheap private school can be as good as an expensive one. The one that I went to was very cheap and it was rather competitive. What the more expensive schools offer is, in my opinion, the right contacts. Some people say that who you know is more important than what you know.

Denomination: Most private schools on the island are religious schools. If you enroll your child in a religious school try to enroll her in a Catholic school. The Catholic church is one of the few churches that accept evolution and the big bang theory and this is reflected on the curriculum of its schools. And the vast majority of universities teach globally accepted science so you want a school that can match this up. And I am not a Catholic so I am telling you this from an objective perspective.

Language: Some private schools are bilingual. Others are not.

If the thread doesn't liven up in a few days I might post some more but you will be better served by the stories of actual expats so I'll let them do the talking.

In the meantime I'll give you some generic advice.

1. There are no expat heavy parts of the island. Yes, there are parts with many expats but they're still a small minority.

2. You should try to make some expat acquaintances. Never underestimate the negative effects of cultural isolation.

3. A single bad neighbor can ruin your Puerto Rican experience so please, if you can, visit the places that interest you before you think of moving there with your daughter.

Good luck!

Adolfo, thanks! I didn't know that there were private schools in the lower prices ranges...I'll start researching that now.

When I lived in South America, I had ZERO contact with any American people the whole time and I was fine. I was home sick for my family, but I loved the cultural differences and none of that stuff bothered me. But sure, it's not like I'm against Americans. I'm just saying that I don't need to be in a neighborhood full of them, necessarily.

I definitely don't plan to rent something before I look at it, but I don't see how it could be possible to figure out whether there's a crazy neighbor before I rent a place. I imagine you'd be in the exact same situation in any city in any country, wouldn't you? There's always a chance of living next to someone who makes life difficult, that can't be a Puerto Rican thing.

When you talk about "visiting" the places that interest me, do you mean the individual neighborhoods or cities that I'm contemplating renting in? Or the properties? What do you think I could do to avoid getting a bad neighbor? hah not sure I see that there's anything I could do about it.

Maybe try to rent a house that is surrounded by acreage? lol

Not sure what "type" of life you are looking for here but you can have from mansions or penthouses to farm houses and anything in between.  Crazy neighbors come in all neighborhoods and all $$ ranges and languages.... if you are looking for quite... this might NOT be the place.... Puerto Rican's play music LOUD  all the time....and they generally speak loudly as well especially in groups and when drinking.  otherwise, it's a great place to live.  did you check sites like www.pridco.com/       Puerto Rico - The List: The Best Places in Puerto Rico To ...
gopuertorico.about.com/od/top5attractions/tp/TheListPlaces.htm
www.puertoricoexplore.com/Attractions/H … ndex.html,www.numbeo.com › Numbeo › Cost of Living,         www.puertoricoistheplace.com/.../top-te … to-rico...  might give you more info.

try this one as well:   
http://www.escapeartist.com/puerto/rico.htm

Thanks for the links! I'm looking around Google still, but not every second of every day just yet...I'm still ruminating over the idea a bit.

It's loud EVERYWHERE? Hmmm. I don't have a set work schedule so that won't bother me as much as it might bother my daughter.

Olusha, If love PR Beach Towns, I would recomend you moving to the west coast, Rincon is a quiet, laid-back town nearby two middle size cities, Mayaguez and Aguadilla. The Town of Isabela, Aguada and Moca are also nice, and close to the beach scene in the west.

Aguadilla has some nice private schools that may be an option for your daughter education.

Welcome to Puerto Rico! Bienvenida a Puerto Rico!

David

Olusha wrote:

It's loud EVERYWHERE? Hmmm.

It isn't, but it is more socially accepted. That's why if you see a house that you like you should ask your potential neighbors about the noise levels.

I live in a place that was relatively quiet until fairly recently. But then a gas station about a block away decided to blast music at nights to attract more people. And I've got a public school nearby and kids love to show off by riding scooters up and down the street while blasting reggaetón music out of impossibly powerful speakers. I've called the cops a few times to complain about this and they've done absolutely nothing. And to make matters worse my town has recently become a Mecca for off-roading. Hearing processions of a hundred ATVs on the weekends has become normal. And when people tried to ban this thousands of off road vehicles marched on to the capitol building. And some mayors, who are the people who are supposed to uphold peace and order, rode with them to support them.

So, don't live in the main road of a town and do your research before you move into a place.

But no, it isn't loud everywhere. :-)

Thank you for all the advice, I really appreciate it.

David, from looking around, I'd already realized that the western side of the island would probably be where I'd want to be. Thank you for specific town suggestions, that really helps. Then I can go to the real estate sites and actually do a specific search to see what kinds of properties/prices I can expect.

I'm actually getting kind of excited. I'm thinking about moving in with my parents for the summer to save even more money so I can have some down time when I get there to just enjoy the transition and help my daughter get adjusted.

There is an expense that hasn't been mentioned in this thread that you should factor into your budget: a car. You might be able to manage without a car in the Metropolitan area, but it will become much more difficult to move around elsewhere. Public transportation in Puerto Rico is pretty bad. Traffic is hell for this reason.

On the upside, there are used car dealerships everywhere and basic liability insurance is extraordinarily cheap.

Thanks adolfo! Yes, a car is the biggest bummer of this entire situation...I actually JUST bought a car a couple of months ago. I also bought an extended bad a** warranty with it that cost me a couple grand since I hate having to deal with cars breaking down. It's transferable, but I'm definitely gonna lose some money selling it now.

Looks like driving my car down to FL and then shipping it would just be too expensive, huh? I keep seeing "it's expensive, don't do it" everywhere, but I don't really see how MUCH it is anywhere. I have a very low payment now and my car has low miles. I'd like to take it with me if at all possible and even if it costs me $3,000, it would probably be a better idea for me to ship it since I'd lose more than that selling it now.

I need to do some more research on that. Thanks for reminding me.

Here is a site that will estimate the import or excise tax on your specific vechicle. The newer and more valuable the more it will cost you.  My new 2012 Buick Enclave was $14000.... unreal hacienda.gobierno.pr/vehiculos/eng_index.html
additionally there will be the actual shipping cost which will vary depending on the weight of the vechicle and where it is being shipped from. I received a quote for my truck from Atlanta it was $2000. you can also drive it to a specific port to ship and it is a little cheaper.  We were given the option of New Jersey or Jacksonville Fl

Olusha,
I'm following your queries. I too am a single Mom with a 13 yo son.  I just wanted to wish you luck in your endeavor.  I'm just in the dreaming stages right now.  If I do finally take the leap, I'd like to email you and see if you did as well.  That way, maybe we could hook up once down there.

Take Care & Many Blessings,
Melziemae

PS: I had a gastric bypass in November '10 and I know how you feel about being cold all the time.  I feel your misery hun.