Forums > Areas > Jalisco's Lake Chapala Region

christy

May 29, 2003, 3:12 PM

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Quality of Public Schools

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Hello all!

I posted on the forum a while back and received some really helpful responses. Thank you to all of you out there who try to answer the questions that are posted as best you can. YOU ARE SO HELPFUL!!!

My question this time is again dealing with schools. I realize that a great majority of you are retired and have no need for this information but I thought I would try anyway and see if anyone might respond. I would like to know what the public schools are like in the area. This "area" can go anywhere from Ajijic/Chapala to Guadalajara. We will be living somewhere outside of Guad. but I need to travel there everyday to go to the University myself so I am flexible on location. My children are 7 and 5. They know very little Spanish but I am not anticipating them having a terribly hard time adjusting. They are pretty easy-going and social. They have only gone to private Catholic schools here in the US so I am a little hesitant about having them in a public school. I would like to put them into Oak Hill but I honestly do not know if I will be able to afford it so public may end up being the only option (other than home-schooling of course) I know the best way for me to find out is first hand with my own eyes but that is not possible until August, so my time will be very limited. Anyway, if I could just get a better feel for the public schools in the area it would help tremendously in my decision making.

So there is my question and a little background. I would sincerely appreciate any comments from any of you knowledgeable forum-goers:0)
Christy

Jerry@Ajijic

May 30, 2003, 7:24 AM

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Re: [christy] Quality of Public Schools

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Christy,

Oak Hill School is no longer private. It has closed and the facilities have been taken over by a public school. There is still Roosevelt school which is a private one here lakeside. I do not know anything about the cost but we have a friend that says he and his children like it.

yorikke

May 30, 2003, 7:47 AM

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Re: [Jerry@Ajijic] Quality of Public Schools

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I thought Oak Hill was being taken over by ITESO?

gentlesurvivalist

May 30, 2003, 6:35 PM

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Re: [Jerry@Ajijic] Quality of Public Schools

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where can I find out more about the Roosevelt school?
Laura Martin Buhler AKA
The Gentle Survivalist

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En paz y La Luz, Laura

christy

May 30, 2003, 7:22 PM

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Re: [Jerry@Ajijic] Quality of Public Schools

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I was told Oak Hill was being taken over by ITESO. That is the same group that owns Instituto de Ciencias in Guadalajara (Zapopan) which looks really expensive. I have emailed them several times over the past few months and received no reply. I am under assumption that tuition rates will be somewhat expensive due to the massive grounds and programs they have at the Instituto. It seems to have a really good academic program although their website has some gliches. ( I could not get all of the pages to open, namely the tuition and scholarship ones) Roosevelt by the way is VERY expensive. I am trying to find the persons' email address I was in touch with there so I can post it for the other forum member but she gave me rates and then told me of another school Jefferson maybe??? that she said was much less expensive. I unfortunately could not find any information on that school online. I am really trying to explore my every option before I come down so that I will be able to find something in the short amount of time I will have prior to the start of the school year. Thank you for your input. I welcome any inforamtion anyone may be able to provide.

Christy

esperanza

May 31, 2003, 6:13 AM

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Re: [yorikke] Quality of Public Schools

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Yes, Oak Hill has been bought out by ITESO, the Jesuit university in Guadalajara. I believe (although I'm not 100% sure) that the name will be Loyola Academy. It will still be a private school.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

wendy devlin

Jun 2, 2003, 2:53 PM

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Re: [christy] Quality of Public Schools

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>I am really trying to explore my every option before I come down so that I will be able to find something in the short amount of time I will have prior to the start of the school year. Thank you for your input. I welcome any inforamtion anyone may be able to provide.

Christy,

Although I have home-schooled my children when in Mexico for extended periods, I can offer up a little information gleaned from an association with families, both Mexican and foreign with school-age children.

Our Mexican friends(those in Guadalajara y Colima City at least) generally, place their children in private schools run by the Catholic Church. They have to be able to 'afford' it, and although I am not familiar with the actual fees, it seems to me that the cost can not be too prohibitive, seeing our friends have two or three children each in the same school. Their opinion tends to be that this affords their children, a better quality of education. However they define it.

But then these families are in the middle-class income bracket.

When our Canadian and or American friends have put their children in school, they have generally utilized the local public school. Most have supplemented the schooling there with some materials in English from home. They tend to view the experience as a cross-cultural experience and language immersion and have not worried about keeping lock-step with whatever curriculums would be followed in the grade level where they are from.

One woman commented that because of the large number of children in the class, the shortage of materials etc. the curriculum seemed primarily based on rote learning...the kind when the teacher chants, 'What is the capital of Jalisco?" And everyone chants back, loudly, "Guadalajara!"

My take on the situation overall, is that between lakeside and the university that you plan to attend, there will be many schools that might meet your needs nicely. There are a lot of kids....hence a lot of schools.

But I would definitely invest time in the classroom with the specific teacher that would have your children...before making any final selections. Hope this bit helps. Wendy

jrice

Jun 2, 2003, 11:59 PM

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Re: [christy] Quality of Public Schools

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I am in Mexico City, so this may of limited use. However, most of the people I know send their kids to private schools if they have the money. My son, 10, goes to a school that charges about 4,000 pesos a month.

I suspect that there are advantages, not least in getting a good grip of the culture, from going to a public school.

At the higher reaches, things become complicated. Even the best private universities in Mexico (Tec, Itam) are pretty limited in terms of scientific investigation, though they often have excellent programs in many fields and are making good progress in more advanced subjects. You want science that cuts close to the edge (or a really prestigious law degree), you usually go to the national public university, UNAM (which, to be fair, is a political snakepit with some really bad "facultades" for undergrads) or a couple of the other public schools.

christy

Jun 13, 2003, 6:13 AM

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Re: [jrice] Quality of Public Schools

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I really appreciate everyone's help! I was hoping to get information via the internet prior to coming down in August so that we would have more time to evaluate the schools but, I have found no information online concerning specific public schools. It also makes it a little difficult since I do not want to make a final decision about housing until I see how far a daily drive it will be to UDG. I was glad to hear that some of you have friends that send their children to public schools with no horror stories. If anyone could tell me any names of Catholic schools in the area I would really appreciate it. I have had no luck finding any of these online either. Hopefully I will have enough time before school starts to check everything out as much as possible. Muchisimas Gracias!

Christy Bomba