This school thing is such a big decision! Let's see, I have now been struggling with it for months. I know Alice, et al, are right and I agree--public school is best for a multitude of reasons. But--here's the dilemma--Ken and I want to take weekend trips and travel within and outside of Italy while we are there. As far as we can tell, all public schools are from Monday through Saturday. I know that in France there are some districts that have chosen not to have school on Saturday, contrary to the norm there. Are there any public schools in Italy that only go Monday-Friday? Thanks once again.

Hi Jane. If you doa search, there was a discussion about this eary on in this site. In additino, I remember basically, that most people said Saturday classes did not prevent them from doing things over the weekend. I mean, a few days during the year here and there isn't going to cripple Casey. Also, I think some of my cousins' kids go to private school and don't have Sat. school. (It isn't an International School, just a regular private school.)

Good luck.

Here is a direct link to the thread. Thanks for pointing to it, Julie!

Annika and Julienini--thanks for the thread. I remember reading it before but had lost track of it. But--I still wonder if there are any public schools that do not go on Saturday. Anyone know?

After rereading that entire discussion, my dilemma continues as there certainly are pros and cons both ways. Think I will contact Diane and see how it is going with her kids. As everyone says, the International school is super costly but in the long run it may be worth it for a year. Casey has attention deficit disorder--very smart but with a focusing length of 30 seconds--maybe.So--smart doesn't help a whole lot when it comes to getting work done. I think maybe patience for that kind of thing may be more likely in the international school where English is the instructional language. I am concerned with his limited frustration level that the Italian school with the language barriar would be too overwhelming for him.

Wish it were next year at this time--we would be there, Casey would be in school and we'd be starting our adventure!

Oh--Annika--congrats--I see you have become a moderator while I was gone. You'll be great at that! And--who gave us all the new smiley's today? I need translations of some of them!

Hi Jane. You're right...the school decision is so difficult! To answer your questions abouat Saturdays, an Italian acquaintance is teaching at a public school in Rome and it is only Mon-Friday, but the days are longer (8:30-4:30), so they are around. Perhaps someone knows about the schools in your soon-to-be area.

We had Dante enrolled in an international school about an hour away, but then decided to give the local school a try when my husband visited last year and his cousins all praised it. Now their criteria might not be the same as mine, but at least my husband said the kids looked happy. One of my desires for at least this year is that my son learn as much Italian as possible. The International school didn't even teach Italian in first grade, but said he'd pick some up on the playground. I wanted more. Also, if we hope to finish the house we are building in this village, there's no doubt that having him go a half mile down the street is WAY more convenient, not to mention free. THe commuting to the other school might have required that we rent a little apartment close to it, and expenses would have grown and grown. I have the idea that if the local school is a horrible fit for Dante (who tends to be creative and expressive and energetic!) then I will call the International school and beg them to take one more...or home school (which I hear is illegal?) the rest of the year! I am really hoping it doesn't come to that, and everyone tells me to be positive, that he'll be fine. Romanians and Sengalese children have gone before him in our little school, though in this village the teachers are a little frightened of a boy who doesn't speak much Italian!

Dante will start school on Monday. We visited this past week and have had a tutor come to the house twice this week, but that will be it until next week. So I can keep you posted on how it goes. We've got our fingers crossed. Dante thinks of Italian like a secret code or something and he's interested in figuring it all out. He has strong verbal skills (speaking English very young and very clearly) so I'm hoping that helps him now.

Ellen (efe) has children starting public school in Florence this year. She said that her children will get special "Italian for foreigners" classes and the older one will also study at a private language school.

Can you fit in a trip this year to visit the schools? That will help make your decision easier...but it's still so hard! I hope I made the right decision and only time will tell. But in any case, a mistake can always be rectified one way or another. You have to weigh all the factors, make a decision and go with it. I'm sure the international schools are very nice, and if you can afford it and they are M-F and more sympathetic to learning differences...then I say go for it. You are NOT moving here permanently, so that will also keep him on track with his reading and writing in English.

Got to run now...PM me if you have questions or if I forget to post an update. Oh, they started school two days early this year so they could use those two days during the year to make 3-day weekends (attached to a holiday and a Sunday). Now THAT's my kind of scheduling!!

Our grade school here are MOnday through Friday. They have 3 days a week where they are in school until 4 and 2 days where they get out at 12:30.

Jane, I think if you take Casey out for a few Saturdays (if the school works on Saturdays) it wil not be a huge problem. Sure if it is every weekend but once a month etc. shouldn't cause the teachers to comment.

One thing though, it is great to plan to go on little trips on weekends, visit ruins, whatever but what ends up happening to most people that I know is that they settle in and just stick close to home. I never go anywhere which in a sense is fine by me, I love my village but I do feel at a loss when someone mentions a town only 45 minutes away and I have never been there.

Cristina-do you mean if we moved to around Siena, we could have a Monday-Friday school? That would be too good! Is that true of all the schools there or just yours. The only reason we are tied to Florence is because of the school thing. We are open to location if we go to public school.

Diane--thanks for the update. I'm anxious to hear more. I sent a pm to Ellen yesterday but am afraid she won't see the little flag on the mailbox. Maybe I should just e-mail her. Good luck with Dante's school.

Where I live school is from 8:30 til 1:00 including Saturdays.
10 km down the road they have school from 8:30 until 4:30 - no saturdays
If your baby misses a few saturdays its no big deal.

The "big" problem here is when the flu season comes around - my daughter has 9 kids in her class so when 5 of them get sick they get held back. A few times there have been only 2 kids in her class for a day or two!

Jane, you may find that just living in a foreign country feels like you ARE already on an extended vacation, without your anticipated urge to travel around a lot. Settling in, getting registered with the Questura, figuring out whose Capuccino you like best and where to buy your mozzarella and how to make a crostada (or whatever your weaknesses are!)is kind of fun. Even food shopping is mentally stimulating as there are new foods, trying to figure out labels, all those chocolates! etc. We've been here nearly 6 weeks I think and have been away for one night near Barb & Art and maybe 4 nights at the beach. And this is during vacation season here. So, what I'm saying is that with helping KC with homework, shopping, cooking, reading, writing, studying Italian etc., one weekend away per month max will probably be plenty! You will be busy. Then there are the two weeks at Christmas, a week at Easter etc when you can do a little more travelling. I just look out at the great view from my balcony and am satisfied, you know what I mean? Initially I said, well I'm in Europe, I have to SEE some places, but so far this time I haven't even been to ROME yet and it's only about an hour away! It's an adventure anyway! (Today's adventure is an overflowing cesspool, again! ) Can't say I'm ever bored!

We live outside of Milan and my husbands little cousins (1st & 3rd grade) do not go to school on Saturday. There is Saturday school but not until middle or high school. Also, I dont know what time 'school' offically ends, but they are there until 5PM with an after school program since both parents work.

Oh-so frustrated--just wrote a long response and then hit the wrong key and it all went away!

Diane, Jennifer and All-thanks so much for the good thoughts! Cristina certainly has created a wonderful community. I am already rearranging my mind set based on Diane's and Barb's input as it makes a lot of sense. In fact, I wish I were on your balcony right now, Diane, surveying the landscape (but forget the cesspool).
I still would like no Saturday school as I think 6/7 is too much time in school for kids. I would love it if some of you could give me the names of villages that don't have Saturday school so that we can begin checking them out. Either Tuscany or Umbria would do.
Any more thoughts would be appreciated!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jane and Ken,

I live in a small town and my kids have a similar schedule to Christine's -- two long days and three short days (or vice-versa). However, the little villages close by offer other schedules that include full-time five days a week and other schools have Saturday sessions. It may be that if you look around a little, you can chose the arrangement that works best for you. We are allowed to choose within our area.

quote:

I sent a pm to Ellen yesterday but am afraid she won't see the little flag on the mailbox. Maybe I should just e-mail her.

Hi Jane - I got your emails, as you know, but what is this about a "little flag on my mailbox"? I don't know where to look...

If I had sent a PM like I said I did, the top of the page would have had "NeW PM" next to reply and then a little flashing envelope. But--I lied--I didn't send you a PM--I sent an e-mail. I was confused. I will send you a PM so that you can check it out. OH--I see I have a flashing envelope right now.

OK--you've been PMed.

Jane, some of the schools in Siena are m-f but I do not know which ones. The school my kids go to is in Quercegrossa which is 10 minutes from the walled city of Siena. Basically it is in the countryside. but close enough to a larger city that you have a lot of opprtunities.

Hello everyone. I am a newbie to this forum and seeking some basic information. First, some background.

I currently live in US and my company is merging with an Italian company. We were a small multinational company with Worldwide headquarters in Virginia. I have had operational responsibility in our warehouse in the Netherlands but weare moving our European headquarters to Bologna. I have done extensive travel throughout Europe because of my job but now I have been offered to move to Europe to manage our total business. To most of you, this probably sounds like a no brainer but I want to make sure I understand the ramifications for my family before I make any decisions. I admire the stories I have read about people venturing out to live abroad. Fortunately for me, I will have some assistance because of the job offer which should make the transition easier. My main (initial) concern is schools.

We have 3 daughters (13, 9, 6) and none of us speak any Italian. My wife doesn't work though she may be interested in doing something to occupy time and help cover our higher cost of living. We will definitely want to start with the international schools but haven't found anything around Bologna. Fortunately, I have some flexibility with where we live but need to be relatively close to Bologna (or I guess Rotterdam, Netherlands but Italy sounds so much more appealing). We were looking at the schools in/around Florence. So I guess I will ask some questions:

1. Does anyone have any recommendations on international schools within reasonable vicinity to Bologna?
2. Are all international schools of comparable cost?
3. Do the schools have transportation and if so, how close do we need to live to the school?

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ron

Ron - I don't know that much about the international school in Florence except what I read about it on there website when I was researching school for my kids. Take a look at here to start: http://www.isfitaly.org/about.html. Most of the international schools in italy are approx the same price from what I remember (a few grand more or less). I believe there was bus service for an extra fee at the international school in florence. Also, When we drove from the airport in Bologna into the city of Florence it took us about an hour and a quarter I think. I hope this answers some of your questions to start... good luck...

This is response to Ron's concern about finding a school for his daughters. My husband and I were relocated to Italy with our three kids. I opted to enroll them in the local schools and I am so happy that I did. Most of my collegues have done the same. My son was 6 (first grade) when we arrived and after a couple of weeks fit right in with his classmates. With the help of a private tutor (which will likely be paid for by your company), your daughters might do just fine! The advantages are that you'll have more choices of where to live, you'll meet lots of local people and you'll learn the language more quickly as well.

quote:

you'll meet lots of local people

This is a really important point. I always had a lot of friends through my husband but I never had any people that I met on my own and struck up friendships with. Having school age children has changed that. My circle of friends now is huge and aquaintances even larger. I love helping out at the school when thery need someone, chatting with the teachers or other parents, etc. Even going to the grocery store is more fun as I run into parents of schoolmates all the time and we head off for a cup of coffee or a slice of pizza to chat. Having kids attend a local school is an immediate in for a foreigner who wants to make friends. This means that the kids make friends who are nearby too.

Cristina, that is good news about options for M-F schools. Also, Siena is a good location to consider as we really like the area, rental options and locations open up, etc. Questions: 1.) What is Quercegrossa like? Is it a good place for us to consider? 2.) If we were to have Casey in school there are you aware of ways to get some private tutoring for him?
Boy-do we need to get over there to really get a handle on all of this!

Jane, I haven't read all the thread- I am currently waiting for Francesca and Matteo to fall asleep and I have little time) but I have to tell you this.
Not all school have saturday clkasses.
Cortona in is comune has 6 elementary school.
The only one that has Saturday classes is the one IN Cortona. For the very same reason you mentioned (weekends and short vacations) I moved Matteo from Cortona's school to Pergo's one- of course with Matteo's own agreement. Pergo is a fraction of Cortona, out town, maybe 10 min drive. He'll go to school mon to fri, The days hours will be as follows from 8,20AM to 1,20 on Tuesday, Thursdais and Fridays, from 8,20AM to 4,20PM on Mondays and Wednesdays. in these days he will eat at school.

He is a little sad about leaving his schoiolmates, but he also realized that Cortona is NOT NewYork, and it will be VERY EASY to keep contacts with his ex school friends.
If you want to you can write me privately at
alexf@il-girasole.com

Hiope this helps.

Alex
Thanks for this encouraging word. Does this mean that you can just arbitrarily move kids from one school to another?

quote:

Originally posted by Jane and Ken:
Alex
Thanks for this encouraging word. Does this mean that you can just arbitrarily move kids from one school to another?

Yes, but technically always in the best interest of the child.
That means that while Matteo was still inscribed in Cortona for his second grade, in order to move him to Pergo, I had to do to the school offices and ask for a nullaosta, an authorization essentially. I filled out a form and when it said "reasons" I wrote "family reasons". Next day I got the paper, and I rushed to Terontola which is where the Pergo direction is. Filled a couple of forms and that was it.
Matteo starts his new school TOMORROW!

I like the school of Pergo, the more I see it the more I lke it! There are 19 kids including Matteo, not all Italians, 2 english, 2 italo-americans, 1 french, 2italo-english, 1 romanian, 1 moroccan, 1 albanese.
See the pattern? more internationality, I want my kids to be citizen OF THE WORLD!!
About language.
Kids are INCREDIBLY SMART! I bet you know.
There is a friend couple here Gregory and Flavia, he's afroamerican, she's of Italian origin. Their kid, Kyle, came here in March with them speaking NO italian. You should hear him. Yesterday he was at the phone with Matteo. Just come here (or wherever you decide to go) few months befor school. Let's say late May, and hang in the main square, meet locals, and make new friends, a traveller, should be good at that. And all will be fine.
Off to horseback riding!!

Alex--this school is quite intriguing! It sounds too good to be true!! Is it in a village? Would there be places to rent around the school or would being in Cortona be better and follow your path for transfer? Do you actually live in Cortona or below? We hope to narrow our vision to 3 potential locations before we come over in February or March to finalize some things. Cyndi is making the outskirts of Ravenna sound good and now Cortona. Any more ideas from anyone.

On the way to school today, Casey was talking about "while we are in Italy..." which was good. And then he said "When we are there, I am going to ask Sofia (his Montepulciano girlfriend) Tu capisci l'italiano? And that's just from listening to tapes in the car--so I guess you are all right in that language is acquired quickly by kids.