Guadalajara, Mexico Report of what it's like to live there - 02/03/16
Personal Experiences from Guadalajara, Mexico
School Name:
Lincoln School
Background Information:
1. Are you the parent of a child(ren) attending this school? A teacher at the school? Or both?
Parent
2. What grade or grades do/did your children attend at the school? During what year(s) did they attend the school?
One child attended for one year (4th grade). The other child attended for 3rd and 4th grade.
3. During what years were you affiliated with this school?
2013-2015
4. What was your reason for living in the city where the school is located (e.g., government, military, corporate, NGO, retired)?
Foreign Service USG
5. Are other schools available to expatriates in this city? Why did you choose this particular school?
After visiting 4 schools upon arrival, I decided on this school for a variety of reasons including small class size, American curriculum, welcoming environment/smaller school size, and was satisfied that the religious expression here was positive rather than judgmental/intolerant in nature.
Admissions & Welcome:
1. Are the admissions and placement procedures clearly stated to prospective families, either on the school website or through other means of communication?
B (Children are tested and then placed. I had no trouble with my kids placed in the equivalent grades to an American school system).
2. How would you rate the school's support and welcome/integration of new students and their families, and why?
B+ (as with all schools, communication is difficult)
Administration & School Procedures:
1. Describe the general climate of the grade level that you teach or your child attends:
Very warm, loving, attentive environment where each child is valued and where teachers are very motivated.
2. For the following attributes, down to the next blank box, grade your experience at the school on a scale of A (excellent) to F (unacceptable/terrible) and provide comments:<br><br>Overall fair and equitable treatment of all students and families:
A
3. How is the overall communication between teachers and parents, and the administration and parents? How is communication facilitated?
B (Depended on the teacher. Usually, teachers responded quickly to emails.
4. Aside from school fees, are there required expenses such as uniforms, laptops/tablets, musical instruments, or field trips that parents are expected to cover? What are the approximate costs?
Uniforms cost a couple hundred dollars at the beginning of the year. There is a little lunch shop where kids can buy food sometimes. No big expenses at this school.
5. Services for gifted students who need academic challenge and students with learning difficulties:
C (This isn't the school for a family highly concerned with acceleration/gifted programs)
6. Availability and variety of after-school activities for various ages:
B- (One of the nice things is that you can arrange private activities like art with a teacher. There is basketball and a few activities, but this isn't the school for lots of after school choices).
7. Maintenance of appropriately high standards for all students:
? Hard to rate this. They do follow an American curriculum and kids are kept on grade level standard (Having moved on from the school, I see that my kids were not behind though I feared they might be behind in Math. They were up to speed in all subjects).
8. Homework assigned (quality, quantity):
B (At first the homework seemed ridiculously much, but the school eagerly adjusted homework and even specialized it to my child to make sure my child wasn't spending too much time with homework. Very satisfied with how this issue was handled.)
9. Administration-parent communication:
B (As with all schools I've experienced 6 of them”communication is ALWAYS a challenge in one way or another. But, they are AWESOME when it comes to going in and talking with them about any issue you might have. They are SUPER open and want to hear your needs and do their very best to respond to them. This sets this school apart from others I've experienced.)
10. Teacher-student communication:
B
11. Academics, answer the following questions "yes" or "no" with an explanation if appropriate:<br><br>Are there any classes or subjects where students are not appropriately challenged?
Math wasn't challenging enough for a child who is relatively strong in math.
12. Does your child receive any special-needs assistance or instruction at this school? If yes, what types? Who provides services and where:
No
13. Do you believe the special-needs assistance is appropriate and fills your needs? Explain:
14. Does the gifted and talented program meet the needs of students? Please explain:
They do not have a GT program.
15. Does the school offer a wide variety of elective or non-core classes such as art, music, and drama?
No
16. Please describe any classes or programs that you believe are missing:
They are a small school and do well with their resources. It's hard to expect enhanced programs in such a small school.
17. Are there academic requirements such as trips or other activities that cost money in addition to school fees?
A few, but their cost is minimal. They even tried to refund me US$5 after a sleep away trip where the school didn't spend as much money as was anticipated. I found it incredible that they tried to give parents money back. Of course, I told them to keep it.
18. What activities do you feel are missing?
This is not the right school if you're interested in after-school activities.
19. Have your children participated in the activities offered? If no, please indicate why:
Individualized art program and individualized Spanish tutoring—both awesome that teachers taught these things after school and didn't charge an arm and a leg.
20. Does the school provide appropriate assistance to new students?
Yes
Academics & Resources:
1. What personal or academic counseling resources are available at this school? Is there a dedicated college counselor at the school? Is he/she familiar with universities worldwide?
A (They deal very well with emotional well-being of students in the elementary grades.)
2. Does the school have a library? How large is it? How updated are the books? Can students borrow books to read at home?
B (Small library and adequate but cannot compare to the American school library).
3. How are information technology resources at the school. Are they up-to-date? Is there a computer lab?
C (Limited resources)
4. Describe the physical education resources at the school. Is there a gym? A swimming pool? Are there playing fields or tennis courts available?
C (Average in that, while they do have P.E. and make the kids get exercise, their grounds are tiny and hence, very limited).
5. What is the approximate teacher-to-student ratio in the grades that your child attended?
A (Very small class sizes...about 12 students to 1 teacher.)
6. Are Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses available in upper grades? If this is an IB school, is the full diploma required of all students?
N/a for grade school
7. Is the amount and type of homework generally appropriate for the age and grade of the students?
Yes, see my response about "homework assigned."
8. What fine arts electives are available (music, drama, visual arts)?
B- (This isn't the school for lots of sports and music options; however it's awesome that individual teachers will give private lessons, as able to your child. We did this for after-school art. Individuality is great here.)
9. Are the teachers at the school required to speak English as a first language--or at least fluently?
Yes
10. What services are available for gifted/advanced students at the school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
11. What extra-curricular activities (including sports) are available at this school? Have your children participated in these activities? What activities do you feel are missing at the school?
Minimal after-school activities such as basketball.
Social & Emotional Well-Being:
1. Do expatriate students socialize with local students at the school? Are both groups successfully integrated into the school culture?
Depends on the effort of the expat family. The local families at Lincoln are welcoming to new families.
2. Are there are any problems with exclusionary behavior, cliques, or bullying at this school? Please describe any problems your children may have experienced in this area.
No that I saw at the younger grade levels. I heard there were a few problems at the 6th grade level.
Overall Impressions:
1. What is the greatest strength of this school?
This school is incredible in the following ways: 1) They walk the walk and not just talk the talk about Christian values. I was worried it would be lots of bible talk and exclusion toward people who didn't believe the way they do. Not the case at all. While we are a Christian family, we are not fundamentalist by any stretch and I was concerned when I first looked at this school's website. But, what we found in the school was truly a loving, good, hard working community where children are respected and nurtured. This school was my daughter's favorite school of all of her schools and I'm eternally grateful she got to experience the community there. 2) This school is amazing in that it honestly is open to feedback. They just do not get defensive in the least (watch out for the American School as they are incredibly defensive and difficult to provide feedback to. I had kids in both schools).
2. Greatest challenge?
In Guadalajara, the majority of children at bilingual schools are second language learners (of English). As such, I feel that the entire English language arts program suffers at all the schools. That being said, it also depends on your child. My daughter blossomed in her writing abilities because she is already self-motivated. But, my son (like so many boys) was allowed to do mediocre work but still get high grades for it because, compared to other students, he still wrote better than native Spanish speakers writing in English.
3. Would you choose this school again? Why?
Yes, definitely for my daughter, but not for my son. Each child is different and needs something different. If you're looking for an environment where there are small class sizes, lots of attention and nurturing, and an American curriculum, then this might be a great place for you. And obviously, if you're looking for religious education, then this school serves that need. But, other kids (like my son) thrive in a more institutional/larger environment with more technology and the possibility for enriched subjects like math (The American School has a stronger math program but also check out Thomas Jefferson School which is on par with the American School, but has a much better administration and is much eager to work with parents and has gifted and talented).
The Lincoln School is a winner. Parents get obsessed with wanting the "best" education, thinking it's purely measured by how accelerated a program is (hence even Talesmag has so many G&T questions), but educating the kids involves so much more and I see even more clearly what a good education my daughter had here, now that we've moved to the next post. It encouraged in her a love of learning and responsibility to do her best and grow her head and heart.
