Hello,

We are going to be on sabbatical in Florence for 6 months starting this January. My eldest daughter is in Kindergarten in California and will start a new kindergarten class in Florence starting January. She is friendly, open minded and makes friends easily but she does not speak Italian (yet!) We are leaning towards sending her to Scuola Cuore but are a little worried about the instruction being in Italian. The nun whom I spoke with was very compassionate and seemed cautiously optimistic as there are a few other english native speakers which has made me lean towards sending her there. I would love to get any advice or talk to anyone who may be able to direct me to an expat family attending the Scuola Cuore. We also looked at the International School which looks great (although expensive. Any advice on either schools would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading this email and I would be happy to post my experience once we arrive and settle in.

Have you already asked the International School if they will take her just for 6 months? I have heard recently that although they will do this they will still expect payment for the whole year. It is a nice school and I am considering sending my daughter there in a few years. She is 4. She attends an Italian catholic school. I have heard of the other school. I was told the nuns were all from the U.S.? Is that wrong? Also I know a few people who have taken children out of FIS to send them there instead! Will you be living over that side of the city? If not, have you looked at the schools in your area? FIS is almost impossible to reach without a car depending on where you live, of course!