Single mom/ RN curious about PR

Scubagirl81 wrote:

1) anyone know what the demand is for nurses in PR? I can speak some Spanish and am currently working on changing that to speaking fluent Spanish.

I'll ask my brother in law who is a RN here in PR about license requirements. Spanish is important although I can imagine that private clinics will be happy to hire a native English speaking RN.

Scubagirl81 wrote:

2) my children are 5 and 3 , by the time I would move they'll both be school age, what is education like there? Should I even consider pub. Ed. ( is it even an option?) or should I bank on needing private school?

Public schools aren't very good over here; if you can afford a private school that is what I'd recommend.

Scubagirl81 wrote:

3) what are the best areas around San Juan for a middle income family? I'm looking for safety first and foremost and reasonably affordable housing. Being near the beach would be a plus but not mandatory.

Most jobs are in San Juan but like in any other big city there are areas where you don't want to live. Also, rents are higher in greater San Juan then elsewhere.
There are plenty of smaller communities all over the island where it's good to live. I guess you would like to be close to your work and to the school so I'd look for a medium sized town. On the north coast checkout Fajardo (east, 30 minutes from San Juan), Dorado, Arecibo (west, 15 and 40 minutes from San Juan).
If you don't mind being further away from San Juan I'd look at Mayagüez at the west coast and Ponce at the south coast.
The beach is never far away - PR is 100 x 35 miles.