Brock Squire, managing director of Puerto Vallarta’s La Costa Coldwell Banker real estate firm, has lived in PV since 1984 and educated two children at the American School. “Our daughter Chanel graduated this year and we could not be happier,” he said. “Of the 24 students who graduated, about 15 were offered at least a 25 percent scholarship at recognized universities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico or the United Kingdom. Two received full scholarships to Cornell University. Over 90 percent of all students go on to college.”

Squire’s son Julian also attended the American School, but left after eighth grade to attend an eastern U.S. private boarding school.

“I think the Pre Primero program is especially beneficial for the kids,” Squire said. “It is a one year program between kindergarten and first grade and was created to ensure that all students have the required fluency in Spanish and English when they start out, since the curriculum is based on fluency in both languages. I also like the idea of delaying primary school by one year because it ensures that students are a bit more mature at each grade level.”

New students are required to take placement tests when they enter the school so they can be placed in the right academic level.

“My wife and I never really considered local public schools as an education option,” Squire said. “The local school system has quality, discipline, class size and other issues that made it an unacceptable option for us. We also did not consider homeschooling because we wanted our kids in a school environment. That left the local international schools to consider, which included the American School, the British American School and a few others. We decided on the American School because it had such a great track record of student success. I was so impressed that I served on the school’s board of directors for about six years.”

Squire also liked the school’s plentiful extracurricular activities, which include tennis, soccer, basketball, baseball and swimming. School teams compete within the American Schools of Mexico (ASOMEX) league and against local leagues.

“Teachers at the school also are very impressive,” Squire said. “Most are either American or Canadian teachers who have graduated from recognized universities in those countries and are fluent in Spanish. About 50 percent of them hold a graduate degree. Frankly, the school does not have much of a problem attracting top talent because of our beautiful location.”

Like most international schools, an American School education comes with a steep price tag. The four pre-elementary school levels (Maternal, Pre Kinder, Kinder and Pre Primero) average US$9,468 for enrollment fee, services and material, new student fee and annual tuition each year. Primary school fees and tuition average about US$11,236 annually and secondary school is about US$11,595. If you add in AP classes (the Preparatoria level), annual costs are a bit higher, around US$12,161.