I would definitely live near the school in Aravaca, an american style school or La Moraleja, an IB school.  My kids go to an IB school here in Beijing, but the International School of Spain is quite small compared to their school here, 268 vs 1500.  Also, I need to ask them if they do a half IB and half certificate diploma, which would be best for my son.  How close are these two towns to the US Embassy? 

Do these areas consist primarily of single homes or apartments?

What other schools would you recommend? 

thanks so much,

Ingy

ingy - 17 October 2007 01:58 AM

I would definitely live near the school in Aravaca, an american style school or La Moraleja, an IB school.  My kids go to an IB school here in Beijing, but the International School of Spain is quite small compared to their school here, 268 vs 1500.  Also, I need to ask them if they do a half IB and half certificate diploma, which would be best for my son.  How close are these two towns to the US Embassy? 

Do these areas consist primarily of single homes or apartments?

What other schools would you recommend? 

thanks so much,

Ingy

A few things to consider.  The tuition for the American School is pretty high compared to other schools here, about $21,000 per year per student, depending on the level.  Also an enrollment fee of about $4500.  Pozuelo and Aravaca are nice, Pozuelo a bit nicer in my opinion.  Mostly apartments and row houses.  Prices are between 3500 and 4500€ per meter.  You could buy a detached home but that will run you anywhere between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000€ and up.  You dont get a lot of bang for your buck in Madrid.  If you are here for a short time (a few years) you may consider renting.  2500 to 3000€ per month will get you a nice big place 250 m2 for example.  You will absolutely need a car, if not two cars.

The US embassy is located in Madrid.  There is a brand new train that connects Pozuelo to Moncloa in Madrid, which is a major bus, metro hub.  Driving into Madrid is INSANITY.  The “international schools” here are in reality, full of Spaniards and Spanish is what is spoken, so ask about this up front if your kids are not fluent in Spanish.  As far as I know, the American School is the only one that is accredited in the US.  There are a lot of British schools here as well where English is the primary language.

Good Luck

Im quite sure all INternational Schools are credited for US Colleges (I went to the INternational School Manila and it was filled with US students).

What is very sad (and a waste to say the least) is that if you have kids that live for a few years in a country and leave without learning the local language. If my kids spoke english and would move to spain I would defenitly want them to learn the local language, and mingle with the local kids and absorb its culture.  If an american family moves to spain and sends the kids to the american (or english) schools, and leave without learning spanish, this is really a pitty IMO. Send them to local schools, have them grow up bilingual, and for sure they will be one step ahead of their peers when they get back home. As far as school curriculae, I cannot immagine pubblic spanish schools being underated compared to pubblic US or UK schools.

My 2 pence worth

claudio - 24 October 2007 10:58 AM

Im quite sure all INternational Schools are credited for US Colleges (I went to the INternational School Manila and it was filled with US students).

What is very sad (and a waste to say the least) is that if you have kids that live for a few years in a country and leave without learning the local language. If my kids spoke english and would move to spain I would defenitly want them to learn the local language, and mingle with the local kids and absorb its culture.  If an american family moves to spain and sends the kids to the american (or english) schools, and leave without learning spanish, this is really a pitty IMO. Send them to local schools, have them grow up bilingual, and for sure they will be one step ahead of their peers when they get back home. As far as school curriculae, I cannot immagine pubblic spanish schools being underated compared to pubblic US or UK schools.

My 2 pence worth

I agree in principal but if the kids are older it would be really tough to start learning Spanish and keep up.  My kids go to a French school starting last year, my 4 year old was at the limit for being accepted and they monitered him pretty closely to see how he was doing with the language…he’s only just turning 6 now and they are moving pretty quickly with the curriculum.

I thought i would add my views considering i live in Madrid and work for a British School there. The school i work for teaches the British curriculum whilst also teaching Spanish as a language and Spanish studies (history etc). We have kids here from all over the world but the majority here are Spanish (about 80%) and therefore, although lessons are in English, the language outside of the classroom is Spanish. British education tends to be favoured over Spanish education in the U.S and the UK in particular - and you wll find that universities in the US and UK will ask for proof of English language proficiency if taught primarily in a language other than English. This is even true to people speaking English as their first language as their written English is likely to be sub-standard in comparison to someone who studied at a school in English.

I agree with learning the language of wherever you go but firmly do not believe in sending children to local schools to do this. Why not get the best of both worlds and get them studying the curriculum widely regarded as the best in the business whilst also allowing them to learn Spanish outside of the classroom. We have a girl here who is British but lived in S.Africa for 7 years before Spain and spoke Africaans and English before starting here at 16. Now 18 and off to University, she has a British education, A level Spanish to which she speaks Spanish with relative fluency and is off to a top UK university.

Hope this helps…

just something else to consider if you plan on moving to Madrid, besides the other topics herein, is the absolutely hideous air quality throughout most of the city. i think most ex-pats, well most earthlings probably, come from places with far better air quality than madrid, and if you plan on staying for any significant amount of time, i think this is something you should think about when choosing a place to live. i have been in madrid for years now, and despite doing huge more-than-average amounts of exercise, i think my lung capacity has actually decreased significantly over the years, due to the dangerous pollution levels, which on many, many days of the year are up to 6 times the recommended amount. bear in mind that the madrid municipal government shamelessly manipulates the pollution data by only including average figures for all of the pollution meters in the city, including the ones way out in the boondocks and in the middle of humongous parks. oddly, some of the ones in the big traffic-filled plazas have been “out of order” for years and never repaired, and are simply not included in this randomly created “city-wide average.” if these park-located meters were not included, rest assured that madrid’s pollution levels would horrifically surpass the permitted amounts and the city would be forced to put out health hazard warnings almost daily for months on end, especially in the winter.

anyway, just a consideration to keep in mind, especially if you have any health issues like asthma, allergies or lung disease, or if you want to avoid having them in the future.

just my two cents on schools after living here for a looong time: the german, swiss or french schools are WAY better than the rich-brat-filled american school, and your kids will learn a third language to boot! they are extremely hard to get into, however…

Nacozari—How far from the city center do you need to be to escape the smog? What neighborhoods do you recommend?

forind - 07 September 2009 02:33 PM

hi whats latest inputs regarding stay in madrid..
my friend is moving there for 2 months…
I would like to give him some suggestions so pls help…

If you gave some more info I could help a bit more.

Is he going to be working?  If so, in what area.
If it’s tourist stuff, what does he like, partying, museums, sightseeing.

Is he going alone or with a family.

What is his budget.

Actually I heard only the best things about Madrid - people tend to be in general more friendly/open minded etc than the rest of spain????

I am moving to Madrid in April. Im kinda nervous to be a total stranger but I want to know which areas to search, those that wont give me nostalgia ^__^ teehee

The warm welcome given by the staff at this lovely Catalonia Las Cortes hotel, was in perfect counterpoint to the chilliness of the weather outside, after all it was February! Rooms are both stylish and comfortable with all the amenities one would expect in a 4 star hotel. The only downside was that the air conditioning was a little loud, however we did have this turned on to full during the night. The location is perfect for visiting the museums and art galleries and it was apparent that the area will become lively and buzzing come the onset of Spring. Even in snowy February it has a good vibe.