Panama City - 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, I pay about US$400-600 per kid for pre-k - Oct 2018
Yes, and there are a few good ones. - Oct 2015
Daycare and preschools are available at a reasonable price. However, a lot of preschool seemed like in between a preschool and daycare. Instituto Atenea is a proper local school from nursery to 12th grade. Our kids went there for preschool. Other than their psychologist's off the chart questions during the admission interview, we had a very good experience with them. The school is fantastic, most of the teachers speak Spanish but the principal of the preschool speaks English and is very helpful. Cost was very reasonable too (very low compared to international schools). - Jun 2015
There are preschools available but I don't know much about them. There are no daycare centers, people hire nannies which are not cheap. - May 2015
Yes, preschools available but more downtown near the canal, though I see more daycares available now then when we got here. Panama is growing so fast! - Jul 2014
They are available everywhere, and costs per month are what you'd pay per week in the DC area, so not very expensive. - Mar 2014
Most of the above schools offer preschool, but it can be expensive. There are also many Spanish instruction preschools that many ex-pat parents are happy with as well. - Jan 2013
My 2-year-old goes to a pre-school called PlayTime, and we´re very pleased. If you are comfortable varying off the embassy route, there are good options. - Apr 2010
yes, in English and Spanish - Dec 2009
There seem to be some good ones in the City of Knowledge. I plan on taking my toddler soon. They are about US$180 per month (half-day, five times per week). - May 2008
Preschools are readily available in numerous neighborhood schools. The larger private schools offer preschool programs but they are very expensive. - Apr 2008
