Family matters

Please comment in the section below about how your school experiences have been similar or different to what Sarah describes. Also, let me remind you that this was one person's experience. As I've mentioned before, my son goes to a local Catalan public school and I've been absolutely thrilled with both the school and the teachers. However, I still believe it's interesting for us to consider different perspectives, especially when thinking about the very important decision of where to send our children to school (or why some of us might make different choices than others).

1. Where are you and your husband from?

The United States (me) and Uruguay (my husband).

2. When did you move to Barcelona and how old were your children?

We moved to Barcelona in 2001, our kids were 2 and 8.

3. What schools did you put your children in?

The 8-year-old child went to The American School of Barcelona (ASB), and the 2-year-old to a local concertada nursery (and primary school) in Sant Gervasi.

4. Why did you decide to put them in different schools?

Our older child had already been immersed in a different culture and language, and we didn't want to switch him from a language he was familiar with at his age.

Also, ASB was far from our home in the center of the city. We wanted our younger child to be closer to us so that she wouldn't have a long commute every day

5. How much did each school cost (roughly) per year?

I don't remember exactly what it cost when we started in 2001, but in the last year 2011, ASB cost about €10,000/year.

The concertada school cost about €4,800/year

6. Now can you please talk about the following aspects of your children's school life (comparing and contrasting between the two schools, talking about what you liked, didn't like, etc.)?

-Interactions/communications with teachers and administration: With a few exceptions, the teachers at ASB were extremely committed educators, prepared and innovative, and constantly updating their professional development.

The teachers at the concertada school were bound to a very provincial system of rote learning, with a few exceptions.