Matamoros - School Report Question and Answers

Greatest challenge?

FS families considering Matamoros as a post should think LONG and HARD about the impact on the children. We did do our research and thought ourselves prepared. And, we are getting through it and our kids are learning a lot from this experience. But, of course, researching a place, knowing some of the challenges, and then actually living them are different things. A previous family endorsed St. Mary's (but of course curtailed after a year to go to another post). What they told us about St. Mary's was true, generally speaking. And, their kids did have a good experience there. But, their kids were younger with less FS experiences. Another family with school-aged kids is curtailing as it's been rough for them. Generally speaking, our kids are really isolated here. The Overseas School office should put more honest information out there about border issues for kids. While we're glad they opened up the boarding school options for people on the post, that really only works if you want to send your child away. Most of us aren't interested in sending primary school children away. This might be a great post if you have a high schooler who is interested in boarding school in the U.S. Or, if you want to keep your child in a particular high school (to finish out senior year) while you come to this post. I don't recommend this post for school-aged children who want to remain with their families here. Some things to understand about how kids are affected, living in Matamoros: First, It's a long school day. A consulate vehicle picks kids up at 7am and they don't get back until 4pm. They're exhausted. My son refuses to partake in any after school activity as it would extend his day. Second, crossing the border costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time for the parent. Not only is it costly, it's emotionally exhausting. Really, I'm writing this school report so that incoming families who have school aged children will have a bit of info about the hardship of this post. While we love the consulate team and the work has been good, this is an extremely difficult post for school-aged children. It's mostly totally fine for the preschool aged families, but it's hard to say whether I'd choose this post again, given how difficult it's been on my children. The school community is very nice and the school itself is adequate (though just not sophisticated). But, it has been terribly difficult for our kids because no one will allow their children to come play at our house (dangers of Matamoros). Our kids cannot go outside to play nor is there anything to do outside our houses (we are not in a complex). It's a complete joke that you can go to Guadalajara where you can get your hardship post in (15% differential) when this place truly is hardship and Guadalajara is a lot of luxury (I lived there too so I can speak to this). We're so restricted in Matamoros that there is nothing to do here nor any sport/activities for kids here. Crossing over can be terrible, at time, taking an hour. My daughter does do gymnastics in Brownsville, but it makes for a very long day. Really, this is not a good post for school-aged kids. We knew it would be rough coming here and we chose it and, as I said, the consulate is actually has a great team and I suspect often has a great team of ELOs and mid-level managers, but if the FSO has another post where s/he thinks s/he will enjoy the work, go for that. Also, we are sooooo far south in Texas, that it's hard to drive anywhere cool for a weekend. So,the whole thing or "oh, you can just hop into America and all is well" doesn't really work here. Brownsville and South Padre Island do not have much. And, to get to a city like Austin can take 6 or 7 hours (not good for a weekend trip). I think other border towns are safer and have more on offer on the U.S. side. Brownsville has a mall, a movie theatre, and one decent pizza place. - Feb 2016


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