San Jose - Post Report Question and Answers
Are preschools available? Day care? Are these expensive? What has been your experience with them, if any? Do the schools provide before- and/or after-school care?
Yes, preschool and daycare is widely available and considerably more affordable than the DC area. A month of preschool tuition here will get you one week in DC. - May 2024
A lot of great pre-school options as well, some Montessori. Cost is reasonable. - Sep 2020
They exist but we have no experience. - Jul 2018
Good preschools are available but can be a bit on the expensive side. - Dec 2016
It's good if you have a good salary and expat package to cover the high costs of living here. Or if you can live away from San Jose and enjoy the outdoors, you will probably be happy. But living in San Jose would be hard for anyone who works Monday-Friday because it's hard to escape the traffic (and the accompanying noise and insanity) in San Jose. - Feb 2016
There are many. About US$300-350 monthly plus various fees is typical. - Apr 2014
Excellent. We use Prodigy Kids Academy. It is a small school with a 4:1 ratio of students to teachers. It is a Montessori school and is a true Montessori school with trained teachers. Many schools here advertise they are Montessori but do not follow the teachings or have the proper equipment for Montessori. We are extremely happy with PKA and have elected to keep our twins there for their kindergarden year. PKA will take kids from 10 months to 7 years old. It is located in Escazu and is reasonably priced compared to other US preschools. - Jun 2013
Most people have 1 or 2 nannies. Nannies are mostly from Nicaragua. They are super caring with babies and not expensive. Everyone I know has a nanny that also cooks and cleans. I haven't heard anything about preschool. - Feb 2010
Daycares are totally inadequate. This is not a problem because nannies are relatively inexpensive and certainly plentiful. HOWEVER, do your research on Costa Rican labor law before hiring one. - Jul 2008
