Darice

Hi Eveyone,

I have been living with my family (husband and two children) for the last three months in Florida with the intention of buying a business. We have the relevant visas needed to stay in the country legally and have also found at least two business that will meet our requirements, however we have a dilemma that at the moment is forcing us to think about returning to the UK.

Both our daughters are in public 'A' grade schools, but to be honest they are rubbish compared to the standard of UK schools. We have looked into private schools, but they have too much emphasis on the religious aspect for our liking.

Does anybody with children in US schools have any experience or suggestions, as we are just going round in circles regarding this matter ???

Please HELP as we need to sort this out ASAP.

Angry White Pyjamas

Florida schools are crap. Utter shite. The whole state is 48th out of 50 in the national schools league. Our kids hate it at school here. The only real answer is to pay for private or montesorri schooling. Or go for home schooling if you can do it.

Where abouts in FLA are you? And are your daughters in elementary, middle or high school? I ask because Middle School is even worse than elementary while some high schools are actually ok. One of the big problems is schools here are entirely catchment based so unless you can get a special excemption you kids have to go to the school for the catchment area you live in. And a lot of schools in FLA bus in the dross from surrounding schools that have been kicked out of them.

Darice

Hi, our children are 10 and 7 (v. nearly 8) and they are in the year above where they should be (ie 10 year old in grade 6 and 7 year old in grade 3). We are in Orlando area but are cosidering near to Jacksonville. We thought Montessori schooling was a bit 'hippy', where the children are 'left' to find their own answers to questions. Do you think moving back to the UK for schooling is a bit extreme, should we just move to another state? Also, in our childrens schools,the teachers take personal cell phone calls when they should be teaching and my eldest daughter was told a couple of weeks ago that because the class had done enough work that instead of doing maths that they could watch a dvd instead. How crap is that?
The same school also promotes a doughnut breakfast as a treat for exemplary students. Obesity, anyone?

Angry White Pyjamas

Our daughter is 11 (just). She passed her FAT last year with a reading age of a 16 year old yet this year she is forced to read grade 5 books to get her AR points She had her science classes cut so they could learn more cursive writing (useful eh?) and gets little or no recess. Middle school is a complete waste of 3 years hence they need to go to college until 22 to achieve what UK kids do at age 18. I could go on but basically our daughters schooling is one reason we would contemplate returning to the UK.

One consideration is your US status. If you are GC holders and can last it out until 5 years or so then you can get dual nationality and then come and go as you please (as will your kids when they reach 18). If not, then what are your reasons for wanting to stay?

AmerLisa

We're in Washington, so I have no knowledge of Florida schools. But, I know when I was looking for a decent preschool for our 4 year old, I went absolutely bonkers. Either it was daycare preschool or the religious side of things. In the end we chose Montessori, a very good compromise in our opinion. Its pricey, but well worth it. If it was me, I'd do all I could to try and find a decent private school. I was even willing to forsake my better judgement and go religious (although in the end I'm very glad we didn't!) Best of luck, I hope you find your way.

Darice

We are not green cardholders,just B1/B2 holders until we get a change of status to E2s after buying a business.

Our main reasons to stay are a better standard of living than the UK, more opportunities for our children (long term) and just a nicer way of life. We have visited the US on numerous occasions before so are no strangers to the culture, but because they are not a third world country we assumed the education system would be okay also.

The situation is driving us mad, we don't know whether to accept the 'different' standard of education in the US (stay and have the benefits of living here) or go back to the UK and have our children go through the English system (but have all the crap outside of this, which is why we decided to move in the first place).

Thanks AWP and AmeriLisa for the advice so far, any more replies greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Darice.

Angry White Pyjamas

Well to be honest (and I know some will disagree here) The standard of living aint neccessarily better than the UK and in many cases can be worse: longer work hours, poorer family life, little or no holidays, expensive (especially Florida) and of course crap schools. Not wishing to put a damper on you but in our experience there are many aspects of UK life that are superior to here..you've already found one.

One other thing is visiting the US any number of times does not prepare you for living here at all. Ray runs a forum for people in your situation called FloridaDays (see his signature). You might find plenty of help and advice about E2 ing it on there as well.

Good luck though. I hope you can work it out.

PS You'd best ask the residents of NO whether the US is a third world country or not. But thats another issue.

Bob

education is one reason for being able to keep a greencard and still be abroad, but should still get a re-entry permit, and it would reset the 5 year clock for citizenship...

Bob

Got to be careful on what you do on the B1/2...it's not an immigrant visa, so moving over on it could be interesting...also, as I'm sure your aware, the E2 doesn't directly lead to a greencard, and your kids would have to get their own visas when they get to 21...and if business goes tits-up, you'll have to bugger off....if you've got the cash, have a look at the EB5 visa, etc...and think of other states, for the reasons your finding, education can be an issue...though there are international and Brit schools around.

gruffbrown

Going OT a bit, has anyone noticed the amount of homework American schools give kids as opposed to UK schools? One of our sons just went up to high school and the kid is up till 10pm doing it most nights

Angry White Pyjamas

Yup our daughter gets 1 to 2 hours per day plus assignments, work towards tests, compulsary reading, etc. Most days she comes home about 2.30pm and doesnt finish her work till about 5 or 6pm having started school at 8am with little or no recess. And shes in grade 5. And they wonder why kids have "issues" here.

Ray

Although you can go from B-2 to E-2 while out there not really the correct way and you will still have to return to the UK for interview ... bearing in mind that it can take 3 months to get an interview after you filed for the E-2
your 6 months of the B-2 is going to be a bit stretched ..
And putting children in school while on a tourist visa ..although possible
as you have found .. It may well be in breach of the tourist visa rules ..but not sure about that ..

PS the schools in Celebration have a good reputation ..

CaliforniaBride

If you are considering moving have a look at www.greatschools.net they have a listing of the top rated schools.

NC Penguin

I live in NC which is the South and the education is better than in FL. Caveat: of course, there are plenty of crap public schools in NC too but the general standard is higher, according to what I've heard.

If you're able to, it might be best to consider moving to another state for the to better your children's education.



NC Penguin

robskatie

Just don't put Maryland on your list