Schools in Puerto Rico

Baldwin School has been nothing but fabulous for our children. We've moved all over the world and this has been our best schooling experience ever.

If you have tuition covered my your company, Baldwin is a good school.  But, the top schools are quite expensive on the island.  Be aware that Baldwin will cost you about $15-16K the first year.  The other two highly touted schools are St. John's and Robinson in Condado.  St John's is about the same cost as Baldwin.  Robinson is about $12K.  Also in the Guaynabo area a well recognized school is Parkville, in the $11K range. 

There are several other options if you do not have tuition covered by the company.  These will be in the $5-$8K range.  Some examples are Cupeyville, Rosa Bell, Academia San Ignacio (elementary, Jesuit, and Spanish), American Military Academy, St. Mary's, Wesleyan Academy, etc.  The list could keep going, but can be narrowed down based on language and cost preferences.

All of these are in the San Juan, Guaynabo, Cupey area.  I do not know much about the Dorado area schools though.  If you are interested, there is a pretty active facebook group full of parents that live down here.  It is a good resource for connecting with people once you arrive and finding information like dentists, doctors, schools, shopping etc.

Have heard many good things about Dorado Academy...Tasis is good as well but I believe there may be a "Brand Name" factor going on there. You would LOVE living in Dorado. We've lived in the other "Expat" areas. We've been in Dorado since 2003...wouldn't live anywhere else in PR as a working person.

ElGringoLoco wrote:

wouldn't live anywhere else in PR as a working person.

It's a matter of personal taste, I guess.

I've been living in small barrio in the mountains for over ten years, working from home.
I wouldn't want to change that for any of the "expat areas".

Touche Gary.  If I could work from home.  I'd be in Guanica.  I'd weekend in Dorado.

I forgot to mention, I think that you were the one who earlier said your husband will be working in Hato Rey.  Aside from his commute, consider the type of life that you want.  If you chose a suburb (as we did), you will need to get in your car for everything.  But, if you can afford the schools up in Condado (St John's or Robinson), you may want to consider living there.  It would mean that you live in an apartment.  But, there are locations up there where you can walk to the grocery store, walk to school, walk to the beach, and walk to restaurants.  This is not true in the suburbs in PR.

I would also consider cost of living.  Dorado is a lower cost area than San Juan suburbs, Guaynabo, or Condado.  You are going to have a nicer house in Dorado for the same money. 

One thing that I also didn't realize when we relocated is that some realtors will pre-negotiate rates before they show you a house.  We looked at houses for $2500 that our (future) friends looked at the same week for $4800.  If you do not have a corporate expat package, make sure that your realtor knows and that she/he shows you places in the entire range.  Take a look at [link moderated] to get an idea of what you can expect, the same place will be listed for several different prices.