Everything School

International or Public?

Sorting out where the kids would attend school was easily the biggest challenge of this journey to Spain. As foreigners we thought that we had to enroll the kids in an international school. We only researched cities that had international schools. Most of the international schools in Spain are British and follow the British national curriculum standards. Jávea happens to have three British schools. Davin and I toured one when we visited Jávea last February and while we were satisfied with the quality of education we were disappointed to find out that they had a mere two hours of spanish per week (and for a pricey tuition). But knowing there were three options in town provided a safety net.

Because language acquisition was a priority for this move, I spent hours pouring over blogs to figure out if expats were getting into spanish public schools and having a positive experiences. I read good things from many british but couldn't find anything written by an american. We aren’t European Union citizens and different rules apply to us but there is no straightforward information online about how this works.

Forms, Forms, Forms

When we arrived in Spain we had the intention of enrolling the kids in the local ‘colegio’ (elementary school) if possible, but didn’t know how to do this. We had a list of documents we knew we needed to present (passports, NIE#s, etc). One was our ‘Certificate of the Padrón. The Padrón is essentially a list compiled at the municipal level of all the people who live within each spanish municipality. The city wants to make sure you are registered so they receive government funds for health and education. This was relatively easy to obtain at the ayuntamiento (town hall) and we ended up needing it for getting a bank account and car as well).

I had minimal email communication with an employee at the town’s ‘casa cultura’ so we at least knew where to get started. Unfortunately, for our peace of mind, most of Spain is on holiday in August and it didn't open until a week before school began. When this date came, the whole family hiked up to the old town and Davin led the conversation (so grateful for his Spanish major in these moments!). There was no issue with getting the kids enrolled which was great news! The woman at casa cultura then gave us another list of documents we needed to present to the school:

• Certificado médico de escolaridad
• Fotocopia del Carnet de Vacunaciones, si lo tienen
• Tres fotografías tomaño carnet
• Fotocopia de la cartilla de la Seguridad Social: SIP

I was so happy that the kids were in school but was equally disappointed that we now had ANOTHER round of documents to try and sort out (and still no car or bikes to get around town). Of course our american health certificates for the kids weren’t enough. The kids had to be seen by a local doctor who the completes a specific form. So €140 later we could confirm that our kids are healthy according to spanish standards. While this was an annoying hurdle it turned out to be a really great experience. The female doctor who saw the kids spent over an hour talking with us and essentially teaching us spanish terms for everything. Never in the US would you receive such a warm, relaxed doctor’s office experience!

The last item on the list gave me the most stress. EU kids are already apart of the social health system. We, on the other hand, have to have private american health insurance and travel insurance. I was really worried that this might be the ONE hurdle we wouldn’t be able to get over.

There was a lot of confusion when we to the Centro Salud about these SIP cards. One male staffer at the hospital reiterated over and over that these ‘social security’ cards don’t actually entitle us to free care, but they are required by the school and our private insurance will be billed if there is any issue. Fine with us! Check!

Wait. They don’t speak spanish in Jávea?!

Well, we actually knew this before we came but we didn’t quite know how it all worked. Jávea is in the valencian region of Spain, therefore valenciano is the local language. This is not a dialect but rather a completely different language than spanish (castellano). Probably the best description is that it is a mix between castellano and french. Because the language has lost traction over the years there is a recent regional push to make sure is not lost and is at the heart of local culture.

So… what language is being taught in the local schools?

There are four elementary schools in Jávea. The “CIEP” Port school is three blocks from our apartment which seemed like the obvious choice and where the kids were enrolled. The only other option was to enroll them at “L’Arenal” school. We knew that this school was newer, was on the other side of town, and was where majority of international students went. At the Port, our kids would be going to school with a more ‘local’ spanish group and only walking three blocks. Sweet! Kids were set, we had a HUGE stressor checked off the list.

Then reality hit when we learned more about the valenciano/castellano situation. At the Port, all subjects are taught in valenciano with castellano as a second language class.  At L’Arenal all subjects are taught in castellano with valenciano as a second language class. As much as we respect the local language and culture, castellano is a more transferrable language (and the language we came to spain for). So we went back to casa cultura and gently asked for the kids to be switched to L’Arenal.

L’Arenal

This school truly is an international school: 60% of the school is non-spanish with large amounts of british, russians, germans, french, indians, etc. In each grade there are two classes A and B. My kids are in 1A and 3A which is the castellano line.The kids in B are all learning in valenciano. While I love that there is a huge international mix and the kids learn more than just spanish culture, I am a little bummed that there are only three spanish kids in Volly’s class. I can’t imagine being a teacher with students of such diversity: vast differences in language and abilities, all in one class, and 6 years old! Where do you start?! The great thing is that my kids are getting pulled out into small groups for extra castellano support and the staff is used to foreigners arriving with little to no spanish.

In general, Spain is WAY more laid back than the U.S. After spending the last year as an avid volunteer and substitute teacher at the kids school in Minneapolis, I feel completely in the dark about what goes on inside the walls of L'Arenal. On the second day of school I was walking the kids inside to make sure they got in the right place and was ‘shooed’ away by one of the staff. Apparently getting them to the outer entrance is where my role in their education ends. This is probably important so that kids become independent and confident, but VERY different than what I’m used to. We didn’t learn the kid’s teacher’s names until the end of the second week of school! Other entertaining school observations:

• For the months of September and June, school is only half day 9-1pm, the rest of the year it is full day.
• Teachers arrive about 3 minutes before the bell rings at 9 (some just finishing their morning cigarette). Not bad.
• School is ‘free’ but students have to pay for their books. We ordered our books from the local bookstore 2 weeks ago. They still aren’t in. (Hope our kids aren’t missing anything important… *sarcasm)
• The “Bienvenidos Fiesta” was a huge water/inflatable party with kids running on wet cement while parents drank beer and ate tapas. Yes, that's right, we drank BEER at school. I didn’t even WANT to drink beer at the time but it was a fundraiser for the 5th and 6th grade class trip -HOW could I not?!

Comedor

Spain is known for the excellent food and big family meals so naturally the school day accommodates for this. School starts at 9:00am and stops at 12:30pm. At this time kids can go home and eat the main meal of the day with extended family (and take a siesta), and then school resumes from 3:00-4:30pm. This is not realistic for all families so they can opt for the kids to stay at school during this two and a half hour break called “comedor”. This includes a three course lunch in the cafeteria and supervision on the ‘patio’ for the kids to play/do homework. (The teachers get to leave school for this time.)  

The lunch is much more expensive than in the U.S. but clearly worth it after hearing my kids rave about how delicious it is. So they not only get a good meal, but essential socialization time on the patio. According the teachers, this is where the kids pick up spanish the fastest - from other kids.
(If you can read the menu- you can read in valenciano!)

¡Mamá, estoy exhausto!

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Spain for 6 weeks already. The routine of school has helped us all feel a little more settled but at the same time it is still very new. We knew that this move would be difficult for the kids at some point. For me, I imagined it would be a few months in, struggling to complete spanish homework or something along those lines. However, both Davin and I have been caught off guard by the kids’ behavior the past few weeks. For those of you that know our kids, they are very kind, happy, and emotionally intelligent kids. Lately, I’ve been dealing with unexpected/unprovoked melt-downs, fights, toddler-like tantrums, and relentless whining. What happened!?! I was feeling a loss of control, trying to figure out what we had we done wrong? Did we spoil them too much when we first arrived with one-too-many fanta naranjas?!?
Then we went to Declan’s parent-teacher meeting. His teacher and all the specialists gave the parents the important information we needed to know. While my spanish is still in early stages, I can typically understand the main points of spanish conversation. In this case, I sat for an hour in that room wracking my brain to pull out ANY vocab I could from this super-speed spanish the teachers spoke. I didn't know it was possible to talk that fast. In a meeting where I thought I’d get my hundreds of questions answered, I was humbled, frustrated, and developed even MORE questions --that I didn’t have the language to ask. The teacher had a list of everything she talked about. Why couldn’t she just make us a copy that I could take home and process? Even Davin was hard pressed to understand it. This is when it occurred to me that my kids are feeling this way 6-8 hours a day! They are freakin’ EXHAUSTED and they are coming home after expending every ounce of their energy to cope in this environment of uncertainty! When this finally hit me, I felt terrible for my lack of empathy.

I’ve since completely changed MY behavior. I have to work hard not to react to their ‘undesired’ behavior, but rather let it be. I make sure to greet them after school with a snack and don’t ask anything about their day right away (even though I'm dying to know!). I make sure that they have lots of down time, whether I read to them or let them watch TV more than I normally would. I’m trying to frequently tell them how great they are doing with all this change and how proud we are of them! They are truly amazing little beings and I am so grateful for all that they teach me every day!

“It’s not school today?! Ahhhhh man…..”  This is what the kids said when they woke up today. I’ll take that as a sign that everything is just perfect!