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School in Spain: Deciding What’s Right for Your Kids

Max and his teacher Gema the day before school started.

As the mama bear, this was really all I could think about. I was SO nervous about my kids daily life and the decision around the right school for them. I will tell you now – this was the scariest part of the move that turned out to be (I’m writing this on their 12th day of school) just fine. Not to say I didn’t bawl at drop off on day 1. My kids are newly 7 and 9 years old. I think that each child is different and each age presents unique challenges. You know your kid, your comfort levels, and you’ll pick the right school.

There are 3 types of schools in Valencia – and the whole of Spain: Public, private, and “concertado”. Ultimately, we chose public schools and I’ll tell you why:

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

THE BAD: They’re expensive!! High enrollment fees and expensive monthly payments. We had the money but we didn’t want to strap ourselves and not be able to travel in Europe. Also, private schools are usually conducted in English and our biggest reason to move here was to have the kids immersed in the language. We knew that they wouldn’t be pushed to learn Spanish as fast in a private school.

Finally, and our last straw – they are all (but one) in the outskirts of town. This means that we would need a car OR they would take a bus, with a hefty price tag, and this would make for a very LONG day. Pick up around 7:30am and drop off around 5:30pm.

THE GOOD: The education and facilities are great! Most public schools – not so much. Also, there are still opportunities for language acquisition as your kids will be with lots of Spaniards, learning Spanish on the playground and in social settings. The quality of education will likely be a bit better. If your child is a superstar or perhaps of middle-school age, already fluent in 2 languages, etc – you’ll want them to keep a high-caliber curriculum. We just wanted our kids to be loved, supported, and immersed so we weren’t really big on a challenging curriculum/tons of homework.

You will probably be with like-minded expats and well-to-do families. This didn’t matter to me much but I think you might want to consider your social scene as it’s a big part of your life.

If you want to have language choices that you select (minimizing Valenciano, maximizing Castellano, etc) you can make those decisions with private schools.

Biking to school on the first day.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

THE GOOD: They are local, so if you enroll early enough (in May) – you’ll be a short walk from school…which is important as you might be going there 4 times a day because of siesta. Although, we choose to keep our kids in school all day – even during the long lunch break/siesta so that they can play with friends.

They will be completely immersed in the Spanish language. Most teachers don’t speak English at all. This seems scary but it will quickly become normal and your child will adapt. I’m watching my kids grow EVERY day and it’s incredible. Also, they’re free! Lunch is around 4 euro a day and you have to buy books, but that’s it.

THE BAD: The facilities are not glamorous – especially compared to US standards. Some don’t have playgrounds, most are old buildings, and there are no frills.

The enrollment process is more involved and it’s hard to get into schools when you first arrive. The Spanish school system is based on points. You get points for being registered with the government (but everyone has those), points for being an alum (that doesn’t help ex-pats!), points for where you live, and points for siblings going to the school. It’s a bit tough to navigate the Spanish bureaucracy and school is no different. We stayed patient and we had help from a friend with this so it wasn’t too bad. If you arrive after May – you better be standing outside the school in early September ready to beg to get your kid in school – IF there’s space. *My kids are in two different schools because there wasn’t room.

CONCERTADO

THE GOOD: Concertado is the Spanish form of charter schools. They are usually Catholic and there is usually about one concertado per every 2 public schools. There isn’t a huge difference between concertado and public schools – only the religion. It really depends on the one you choose and what’s close to your house.

THE BAD: They are hard to get into, just like public schools. They cost but it’s a very nominal fee. Only 20% of what a private school per year.

The hard part is – you can’t pick a school before you pick a house! It’s frustrating but if you time it right – get your visa by May and have your apartment picked by then as well. May is when the schools open up their extra spaces and they fill up quickly. If you enroll your kids in May you can “relax” and enjoy a LOOONG summer with the kids getting acclimated/traveling. If you’re more adventurous or inexperienced (like us): Arrive in August and the MINUTE that school’s open in September – be standing there with all your paperwork ready to enroll. That landed us in 2 different schools and only a 15 min walk from our apartment, but it was a bit of a gamble.

Sam in front of her school before starting segundo grado primaria

For our family, the first year is about language acquisition – not stellar instruction. It’s about learning new norms, meeting new friends, and learning to deal with change and a new language. Your kids will do great wherever you send them. They are braver and much more formidable than you. Have faith in them and try not to impose your fears on their malleable little minds. Best of luck and let me know if I can help you in any way.

You got this!

Kate

Great list of private schools in Valencia here.

Another super helpful resource for schools/links: Moving2Valencia

September 26, 2018/by Kate Hickey

Setting Up Your Spanish Life Part 1: Bank Account and Cell Phone

Before arriving, I thought our first week would be stressful and I would be in a constant state of loser-tourist-map-holding. I am the worst with directions.

I was so wrong! It was an exciting and invigorating week. The kids were in awe of everything, people were so accommodating with our shotty Spanish, and we had a blast walking everywhere and building our stamina for our new pedi lifestyle. If you’re nervous about getting everything together – don’t be – it was easy and fun if you pace yourself and remember that from 13:00 – 15:00 you HAVE to chill at home because nothing will be open….siesta lifestyle baby;)

BANK:

Pretty easy: Email Maria Luisa Soto Torres at Sabadell to set up an appointment. She will respond very quickly and she speaks English and has lots of experience with Brits and Americans alike: SOTOMARIALUISA@bancsabadell.com. There are many Sabadell bank branches but her address is Avenida Cardenal Benlloch, 11, Valencia 46021 and all you’ll need is a passport. You need the bank to be your first step as you will not be able to get a cell phone without a Spanish bank account.

Thanks Maria for the heads-up on the Valencia vs. Madrid game at Mestalla. ¡Viva Valencia!

Some people will tell you that you need a NIE card or NIE number (which comes in your Spanish visa while you are stateside before the NIE card which you will have to get in Spain) – this is not true. Bring it if you have it, but it’s not necessary to open the account. You don’t need a lease either, just a passport.

You will pay your landlord, cell phone, and likely your utilities using your Spanish bank account so be sure to save or pass along your “IBAN” number once you receive your account info. We got a debit and 2 credit cards with our account and the account itself costs 30 euro quarterly. We want to use the debit so that we’re not nicked every time we withdraw from a foreign bank but we won’t be using our Spanish credit card as there are no reward points like with our CapitalOne Visa from the states. However, there is no interest on the credit card so it’s personal preference really.

Sabadell has a lot of partnership banks so you’re able to use most ATMs in Europe for free – as long as you withdraw over 60 euro. Just to name a few: CajaSur, Caixa, and Bankia.

I can’t say nice enough things about Maria Luisa at Sabadell. She sat down with us for 45 minutes, gave the kids sticker pages, and even called City Hall for us. She helped my hubs and son get tickets to the Valencia C.F. futbol game too. Such a sweetheart. She will answer your emails right away.

CELL PHONE:

There are lots of great cell phone options. Pepe Phone is very affordable and our landlord uses them for our internet which is lightning fast. Their plans are around 20 euro per line per month. We went to VodaFone and are currently paying around 60 euro for both phones with great data/minutes. They also provide streaming TV channels if that’s your bag.

You will need to bring a bank account IBAN number as well as your passport. Likely, do not expect to walk out with your new phone as the phone company will need to verify your information and that takes around 24 hours, so choose a branch that is close to where you live. We completed the whole process in under an hour. You can choose to lease a new phone through the cell company (paying every month) or they will just give you a SIM for a phone of your choice.

Of course we had to figure out what the heck a “fartons” was (donut) and try some local horchata at the market. Churros and chocolate? ok. That too.

So how did I find lil Miss Spanish Maria Luisa at the banco? Facebook! Definitely join a Facebook Expats group if you haven’t already. It’s great to get ideas of places to eat, local things happening, and to find out who’s trying to rent an apartment with a doberman and 29 euro…eye roll. Very important: Take the “advice” with a grain of salt. So much of it is one person’s ill-prepared experience, is very outdated, or is something that happened to someone’s cousins, grandma’s friend.

So that’s where we started, one thing each day. Of course, contact me with any questions and I’m happy to help. If you’re stateside and thinking “omg. too much to deal!!” No worries just bookmark this and re-read this when you’re actually in Spain… “tranquila amiga” 🙂

August 28, 2018/by Kate Hickey

Moving to Spain

Moving to Spain: FAQ’s

People have so many questions and it’s so interesting to hear everyone’s curiosities. I wanted to put together a list of FAQs so that inquiring minds could know. It’s also a lot to explain many times over in casual conversation, so it’s better said in writing so when I see you in person, we can talk about real things like “This Is Us” and GOT.

The only question I don’t answer here is “What city?” because we are taking a trip next week to figure that out – we’re between Málaga and Valencia and we’ll keep you posted.

1. What do the kids think? Do they know?!

Yes, our kids know!! We have been talking about this as a family for over a year. We have dreamt about it together, gushed over pictures online, watched House Hunter’s International, and researched hot European “fútbol” players for Max as he chooses his new home team. They are super excited and we’ve been 100% real with them. It’s been really encouraging for me to see them supersede my expectations.

Just yesterday I overheard Max upstairs as Sam was looking for something: “It’s not here Sam, Mom sold it, but you won’t need it in Spain.” “Oh yeah!” was her reply. ha! They’re just fine. At least so far…

2. How can you afford this?

I’m putting this at the top because it’s what a lot of people are thinking so let’s just get on with it: Our life in Spain will cost us the same amount as our life in Nashville. huh? Yes. Think about it:

We wont’ have cars or car insurance!!! +$800/month, our furnished Spanish apartment is less than a mortgage +$600/month, we will have NO space for home goods/clothes +$150/month, our health insurance is cheaper +$150.

We will spend this “excess” on travel, public transport, stateside storage, managed treasury for our business ($50/month) but that will really be a break-even.

The expensive part of the process is the start up. The visa is going to cost about $1,000 and the tickets to get to Spain, scouting trip, and realtor fees are going to probably run us about $5,000. After that initial cost, we’ll be back to breaking even with our life in the US. Fun fact: Eating out in Spain is cheaper than cooking. PRAISE HIM.

If you think you can’t live somewhere because of the money – do your research, don’t assume, and pretty please don’t let this be your barrier to travel.

3. Will you keep your business?

YES!! We’ve worked so hard to “fill the funnel” and we’re excited to continue to do digital marketing and build websites. We will have to let go of speaking appearances and we’ll be slightly limited for phone call hours because of the time change, but that’s about it. We look forward to spending our energies wisely and that will no longer include a commute. We also believe that we’ve established strong client relationships and we deliver a quality and affordable product so I don’t think people will care that we can’t sit in on a meeting. I guess we’ll see.

4. Are you selling your house?

Yep. And about 70% of what’s in it. We looked into renting our home but it’s not something that we want to deal with. We know that we don’t want to move back to this exact subdivision, so bye. I’m not at all phased by this as you can tell. A house is wherever my 3 people are. We will store our family antiques and some special pieces that my brothers made.

5. What about the kids schools?

There are 3 types of schools in Spain: concertado, private, and state schools. Concertado is comprable to charter schools in the US, they are often affiliated with a church and they cost to attend. Private schools are impossible to get in unless you’re a diplomat’s kid. I know because I tried all 4 in Valencia and was rejected. I really REALLY struggled with this part of the move as the schools dictate the city and neighborhood and vise versa.

All said, we’ve decided to put our kids in state schools. Our #1 priority for this move was for the kids to speak Spanish and private schools are conducted in English. Also, the Spanish siesta is REAL and our kids might be coming home in the middle of the day for 2-3 hours so we needed our school to be in our neighborhood. I will write a blog later about schools. I read books on this, sent dozens of emails, and hours of research – it remains the most important part of the move.

6. Why Spain?

It’s pretty warm year round – sorta like Florida.
Europe means we’ll be able to weekend in Paris, Mallorca, Croatia, Vienna, and a million other places we’re dying to see.
Spanish!
It’s affordable.
Rich culture and great people.
Sangria and the beach.

7. What did your family say?

They are so sad to miss the kids but they understand that this is an amazing opportunity. This was easily the worst and hardest part of the process for me for sure. I put this off until we were 1,000% sure that we were all systems go and I had a gnarly stomach ache for months before breaking the news in tears. It hurts to disappoint the ones you love but I think that regret hurts more.

8. How long will you live there? Will you move back here?

Not sure. We know that we love Nashville and lots of our family is here. We think that 1 year in Spain is the absolute minimum for all of the work and $ we’ve put in. Right now, 12-24 months is the plan. The other plan:

Have no plan.

9. Is your blog to make money?

From whom?! No. Blogging doesn’t work that way unless you’re established and drive lots of web traffic. So, unless you Venmo me rn – I’m doing this for pure fun, to help others, and to document the process.

10. How does the Visa work?

I am almost there with our visas!! It’s a tough process and I’ll blog on the dirty details later. We are going to apply for a “non-lucrative” visa and it is valid for a year. We will re-apply in Spain after 12 months. This type of visa is not a fit for everyone but after lots of research, it works for us. Each country requires a different visa and the processes are drastically different so don’t use my experience as a barometer unless you are moving specifically to Spain.

Also, should you move with a company, au pair program, school, the military, etc., they usually handle the lion share of the application process – so again, don’t let this freak your freak. Plus, call me – I’ll help you out with a pep talk or a wallowing and wine session.

Hope I answered all of your questions. If I missed a something you’d like to know, please comment and I’ll answer. If you have experience with any of this or really any thought at all – I’d love to hear it. I’ll be blogging about once a week so check back! Thank you SO much for reading and visiting our site and please Pin if you’re a Pinterest person;)

February 11, 2018/by Kate Hickey