When my family and I lived in Porto Alegre, Brasil in 1982-1986, the only school available for American children, as I recall, that was available in english was the Pan American School of Porto Alegre. The school, which my children did not attend, was extremely expensive, at least it was for us. In our opinion, the school catered to families of corporate executives or the more wealthy families. Not our case. Today in Brasil, what are the better choices for expat families who primary language is english and would like to give their children a good education in an english speaking school while they are learning a second language of portugues? "Education" might be a good sub-tab to be added to the directory list located in the left column.
Schools in Brasil for American Expat Children
Hi mperry1946,
A quick check on Google doesn't show anything else in Porto Alegre, so I would suspect that PanAmerican is about it. If there are any other intenational schools in the city they will likely be much the same too, mostly catering to foreign executives who can pay very high fees for their children's educations.
I would really recommend putting your kids into a crash course in Portuguese and encourage them to learn as much of the language as possible before the move. They could then be placed in a private school (escola particular) which operates in Portuguese, but will give a more rounded and better level of education than the public schools. I can't see how they can avoid becoming fluent in Portuguese if they are to be placed in the public school system or private schools, they just wouldn't be able to function. If they are unwilling or unable to learn the language then PanAmerican would probably be your only option, expensive as it is.
Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team
Not sure if we are going to return to Porto Alegre. My question was intended for the Brasilian expat community throughout Brasil. My concerns are for my 28 year old daughter who has a dual citizenship (American/Brasilian) and her 6 year old daughter. When we lived there after a couple of years, we sent our oldest son to Colegio Farroupilha, a good private school in Tres Figueiras. After two years there, he had a good grasp of Portuguese and did well in school for a "Gringo Americano."
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