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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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 Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 3:53 am Post subject: Looking for the top schools in the DF area? |
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| Then pick up this month's copy of Chilango. There's a Spanish-language review in the magazine of the top private colegios, primarias, and secundarias in the city and neighbouring state of Mexico. It's geared towards parents looking to enroll their kids, but helpful for job hunting as well. |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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| I wonder how school quality is defined in this article. Are there categories for how well- (or mis-) behaved the students are and how well teachers are paid? |
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thelmadatter
Joined: 31 Mar 2003
Posts: 1212
Location: in el Distrito Federal x fin!
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| Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:51 pm Post subject: lazy folks |
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| How about a quick run down of the top 5 and the criteria for those of use who are either Spanish-challenged or like me, just plain dang lazy |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 12:46 am Post subject: |
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Oh all right, if you're too cheap to fork over the 35 pesos for the mag yourself (and a translator I guess). 
Actually, it's only for primarias, and not secondarias as I mentioned, though the schools listed also run up to the high school level.
They aren't listed in order of Top 5, but I'll write up a few as they are presented.
South - Yaocalli. Student cost per year = 61,700 pesos. Catholic, all girls' school, Spanish, English, and French instruction. Noted for robotic sciences, sports, and a favouring of Mac over PC. Incidentally, my cousin's wife works here.
South - Colegio Peterson. Student cost per year = 77,500 pesos. Completely bilingual, and known for arts and culture, with a good music program, and serious focus on nutrition. Someone that posts here used to work for them and I'm sure she'd have a lot of negatives to point out.
West - Winpenny School. Student cost per year = 100,749 pesos (ouch). Heavy focus on technology at this bilingual school. British system. I've heard good things about this place.
West - The American School. Student cost per year = 162,500 pesos  . There is no better school in Mexico than this one. Bilingual and non-profit, this is the best place to work as a teacher in this country.
North - Greengates School. Student cost per year = 148,000 pesos. Very multicultural...this is where the diplomats in DF send their kids. I've tutored two Korean girls in English that attended this school and they were sharp.
There are 42 schools listed in total...get the mag and see the rest. Really good info there for the job seeker.
Last edited by Guy Courchesne on Fri Jan 09, 2009 2:28 am; edited 1 time in total |
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dixie
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 644
Location: D.F
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| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 2:22 am Post subject: |
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I haven't heard much about Winpenny except that they were having a hard time recruiting/keeping teachers. Not the best sign....
Strong difference price wise between ASF and Greengates! I can see one of the motivations for why even the American diplomats would send their kids to the British system!
Also, none of the schools in the mag are ranked - it is clearly stated at the beginning of the article. What I would really like to know is who wrote the article and how did they get their information? Can't say I agree with their suggestions (if one can call them that) in relation to some schools mentioned.
Interesting read though. And does help give you an idea of where to look for jobs. |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I wonder how school quality is defined in this article. Are there categories for how well- (or mis-) behaved the students are and how well teachers are paid? |
Nothing on student behaviour or staff pay I'm afraid. The articles mostly talk curricula, tuition, location, and reputation. There is a table that ranks the schools, but nothing to indicate how the scoring is done. Instead of ranks 1 through 42, each school is given a number such as 761.8 or 522.5 but chilango doesn't say much of how the scoring is done.
Buckingham School gets the highest ranking at 761.8. Lowest is Colegio Bilbao at 581 |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Guy Courchesne wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I wonder how school quality is defined in this article. Are there categories for how well- (or mis-) behaved the students are and how well teachers are paid? |
Nothing on student behaviour or staff pay I'm afraid. The articles mostly talk curricula, tuition, location, and reputation. There is a table that ranks the schools, but nothing to indicate how the scoring is done. Instead of ranks 1 through 42, each school is given a number such as 761.8 or 522.5 but chilango doesn't say much of how the scoring is done.
Buckingham School gets the highest ranking at 761.8. Lowest is Colegio Bilbao at 581 |
Of course, my first question about student behavior was asked tongue-in-cheek , but my second was not. I guess this ranking was not done with the quality and treatment of teachers in mind - big surprise!
The scoring system used to rank the schools is rather ambiguous since the article doesn't mention the maximum number of points possible. And what is "reputation" based on? The percentage of students who go on to top-notch universities or merely the social status of their parents? |
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geaaronson
Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 948
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:59 pm Post subject: kiteflyer patriot |
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| If you take a trip to the Benjamin Franklin Library over in Zona Rosa at 31 Liverpool, they have the Institute of International Education section of the library with a very extensive library of educational materials. They have at least one book with listings of the better schools here in Mexico City. This is a good resource area for the American educational system as they have not only private high school brochures and catalogs from the states, but college catalogs, resource books on American universities, fellowship program information, Peterson guides, TOEFL books of instruction (for sale as well), and so much other information. This is a very good resource material for your students who want to go off to the USA for further education and a starting place for you to learn more about programs available here in DF. And they also have a free catalog listing all the English programs for us extranejeros. |
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dixie
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 644
Location: D.F
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| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 9:58 pm Post subject: |
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| MO39 wrote: |
The scoring system used to rank the schools is rather ambiguous since the article doesn't mention the maximum number of points possible. And what is "reputation" based on? The percentage of students who go on to top-notch universities or merely the social status of their parents? |
Don't assume that going off to a top-notch uni means anything - the question instead to ask is "Are the kids able to graduate from that top-notch uni?" Many a student from "prestigious schools" go off to unis..and are back in Mexico the following year! |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| And what is "reputation" based on? The percentage of students who go on to top-notch universities or merely the social status of their parents? |
I'm afraid you'll just have to get the magazine to see...way too much to write up here. A lot has to do with social status I think, though it is implied rather than explicitly stated. There's much more focus on curricula, tuition, and location, as I said, than anything else. It isn't written for teachers at all. |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:25 pm Post subject: |
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| dixie wrote: |
Don't assume that going off to a top-notch uni means anything - the question instead to ask is "Are the kids able to graduate from that top-notch uni?" Many a student from "prestigious schools" go off to unis..and are back in Mexico the following year! |
Why do you suppose that happens? |
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dixie
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 644
Location: D.F
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| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 12:06 am Post subject: |
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| MO39 wrote: |
| dixie wrote: |
Don't assume that going off to a top-notch uni means anything - the question instead to ask is "Are the kids able to graduate from that top-notch uni?" Many a student from "prestigious schools" go off to unis..and are back in Mexico the following year! |
Why do you suppose that happens? |
Simple - the kids are not prepared for the work that they have to do...on their own!
A lot of these kids get away with handing in poor quality work. plagiarized work, and/or work done by someone else, and paying off the copy centre people to give them copies of their final exams. When they get to the States and can't use these options, they have a hard time being successful. Plus, those habits don't let to strong study skills which just compounds their problems.
Thus they return to Mexico to finish off at Ibero or the like. So a school can tell you all about how many kids have graduated and gone off to Yale, Harvard, or the like, but the real question is: how many get degrees from there? |
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FreddyM
Joined: 05 Jan 2006
Posts: 180
Location: Mexico
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| Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:18 am Post subject: Chilango Guia de Escuelas 2009 |
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Here is the entire guide if anyone cares to read it.
By the way, the schools are not ranked. The ENLACE score that they use in the charts is the average score made by students in the SEP standardized exam. I guess higher means they learn more? Also, I've no idea what criteria they used in order to figure out who got placed in the guide and who didn't. I know of one school that made it to the guide and it is their first year being open. I'm pretty sure some paid to be included. But there is plenty of useful information in there for job seekers. I'd use the tuition they charge as a rough indicator of how well they might pay their teachers.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/11594978/Chilango-Guia-de-Escuelas-2009?secret_password=ornhtb3ls2r625x3mku |
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bdbarnett1
Joined: 27 Apr 2003
Posts: 178
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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| Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Is this available online? |
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bdbarnett1
Joined: 27 Apr 2003
Posts: 178
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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| Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:15 pm Post subject: Re: Chilango Guia de Escuelas 2009 |
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| FreddyM wrote: |
Here is the entire guide if anyone cares to read it.
By the way, the schools are not ranked. The ENLACE score that they use in the charts is the average score made by students in the SEP standardized exam. I guess higher means they learn more? Also, I've no idea what criteria they used in order to figure out who got placed in the guide and who didn't. I know of one school that made it to the guide and it is their first year being open. I'm pretty sure some paid to be included. But there is plenty of useful information in there for job seekers. I'd use the tuition they charge as a rough indicator of how well they might pay their teachers.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/11594978/Chilango-Guia-de-Escuelas-2009?secret_password=ornhtb3ls2r625x3mku |
Sorry, I just saw that. |
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