This article is written solely as a source of general information based on personal experience by a foreigner regarding private schools in Temuco. The experience has been in the primary level of education. Having lived in Patagonia Argentina for three years I can say that the education overall is better in Chile. The schools are generally very good although quite large and impersonal. The students in the top schools of Temuco have no problems getting into universities in Chile. There are no schools in Temuco that offer any international diploma programs such as I.B. But this is likely to change as Chile becomes more competitive on a global level.

Every school in Chile is “ranked” each year by test scores of it's students. You must be careful with these figures because some of the top schools in “rankings” have only a handful of students sitting for these exams. There are no “bilingual” schools in Temuco other than the German school which graduates students strong in German and have a very active exchange program with Germany. The private schools all teach English as a second language so most children with English as their first language will not be challenged and need further tutoring in English to remain at their grade level. The “rankings” are published at the end of every school year which is December and can be a good general idea of how the school is doing academically. The rankings will determine where your child can go to University in Chile.

The time for visiting schools is in September and October for the following school year which starts in March. The school term runs from March to December with 2 or 3 weeks winter vacation in July/August and one week vacation in September. The summers are very long with the Christmas holiday kicking off the summer break. I have not heard of any summer school programs in Temuco or in Chile.

The birthday cutoffs for determining grade levels is March 31^st so children with birthdays in March, February and January will be the youngest in their class. Changing your children from the North American calendar to the South American can be quite a challenge because you will either overload your kids or give them the longest break ever. I would suggest immersion and fast to get the language working for them. For example let them finish their school year in May/June and put them into school in July in the same grade they just finished. The other option would give them a break that is long enough for you to have another child while they wait to start school in March.