Schools

If you use facebook, join the group “Expats In Puerto Rico”, it is a site run by this site and has a lot of younger members, some with kids.

All the great private schools have around the same price ($10k  annually), from our search (we wanted to stay near San Juan):

- Commonwealth - Parkville
- Robinson
- TASIS
- St.Johns

We chose St.John's because it more reflects our view of child education (self pace, freedom, not a crazy amount of workbooks or sitting and doing things).  We have two boys and so they need the flexibility to get out their energy.

Our oldest has sensory processing issues and we think St.John's is going to be great for him (they have a full time psychologist on staff).  We *LOVED* TASIS but didn't want to be in Dorado yet.   We didn't like Robinson because its all about sitting and doing workbooks, getting test scores, etc.

Gersh Academy is a school 100% focused on autism, so you should talk with them.

Thank you so much!   I’ve been talking to Gershe Academy already and have ordered catalogs for all those. What do you think of Commonwealth?

We loved commonwealth as well, especially because their staff is the most responsive out of all the schools we considered.  They have a ton of extracurriculars (music, dancing, sports, etc) but are mostly offered for the older children.  We eliminated them because of their location and the fact that we have pre-k and a kindergartner.   Our school rankings were:

TASIS
Commonwealth
St.Johns

and so the decision was between gated communities/suburbia or city life and what schools were best for our kids age.  So we decided if we were going the suburbia route we'd do Dorado + TASIS since it was our favorite, especially at around 4th grade because of the robotics and programming classes.   

But since neither school had great offerings for extra curricular until 4th grade we decided that St.John's was best for ppk-4th.  St.John's has PE more often and they do less transitions which is good for younger children.  They are also the only school with a full time psychologist on staff.

So we are going to do St.John's until 4th grade and keep an eye on Commonwealth.  If it gets more programming classes by then we might consider it over TASIS. It is in a much more affordable area than TASIS, so if you want a good school in a gated community that is more affordable than Dorado I would highly recommend commonwealth.  Especially since you have a 5th grader who could take advantage of the programming classes.

If you do take advantage of Gersh for your younger, I would  say go with St.Johns.  They are in the same area so it'll be easier on you.

Thanks @Sontek for the incredibly detailed info!  We have 2 kids under age 3, and we'll be on the island in Feb to scout homes and schools.  Planning to visit:

TASIS
Montessori Dorado
Robinson
St John's
Ocean Park Kids Preschool

I'll post a more detailed update after our trip, but here's the information that I could find about each school on their website.

TASIS
- http://www.tasisdorado.com/
- Founded 2012
- Total enrollment about 800 kids from PPK-12
- Student Teacher Ratio 9:1
- 23 AP classes available
- Extracurriculars and campus facilities: Performing Arts Center, 64 classrooms, 4 science labs + Fabrication Laboratory (Maker Space), 3 lakes, 3 basketball courts, 1 soccer field

St. John
- https://www.sjspr.org
- Founded 1915
- Total enrollment: over 800, PPK-12
- Class size averages 15 students per classroom in all grade levels
- 24 AP classes available
- Extracurriculars: https://www.sjspr.org/page/school-life/ … anizations

Robinson
- http://www.robinsonschool.org/
- Founded 1902
- Total enrollment: 609 (there were 60 seniors in the class of 2017). 
- Unlike TASIS and St. John, they also have toddler programs for little ones under age 3.  I also saw a section on their website specially dedicated to special needs kids called "Pathways".
- Student Teacher Ratio 7:1
- IB program
- Extracurriculars: http://www.robinsonschool.org/clubs/ and http://www.robinsonschool.org/school-life/athletics/