I am glad rentjamaica can post here as a Jamaican living IN Jamaica who is not bashing Jamaica as this incredibly harsh and violent place, esp. Kingston. I know I have family living there for years who feel the same way you do.

I will be moving back within 3-5 years of graduation from college. I am not particular on living in one specific part of the island although I do prefer MoBay (just outside it) and Kingston since I am most familiar with those areas. But I know the real deal and I will be moving back with 2 children when the time comes, they will be around 10 and 3. I already know of good schools and I am sure my family there can recommend more.

I think what the original poster was looking for was specifics on moving there with children who are not citizens, enrolling them in school, which schools are the good schools, and names of places to take them to. All things I have found out for myself for the most part. ANd yes, this forum does not have many, if any, posts dedicated to people moving back with children. I am sorry people tend to have such a cynical view of anyone trying to move to Jamaica...and please do not let anyone tell you you are going to have to give up normal things because they won't be in Jamaica. Anything you want abroad you can find in Ja, such as a barber, a hairdresser, a nail tech, dsl, satellite tv, air conditioning, etc. It is just a matter of is your income going to match your tastes, is all. In America you can get away with living a champagne lifestyle on a french fry pocket...you can't really do that in Ja. but you will be gainfully employed so that is not an issue. You do have to be good with setting a household budget and sticking to it.

Original poster:

Good schools: many schools in Jamaica are single-sex, and some are coed, but the only way to go is private schools. This is more commonly done in Jamaica than in America so it is not some overpriced luxury, but neither is it as cheap as a government school. I went to Vaz Preparatory when I was living in Jamaica, it is coed and is a top ranked school. I have checked recently since i have been looking into schools for my son when he moves back and it is STILL one of the top schools.
So the good ones i keep hearing about are:

Vaz Prep (coed)

St. Peter & Paul (don't know)

Holy Childhood (girls)

Mona Prep (don't know)

Google them and try to find their number to call them and ask them specifically what you would need for children who are not Jamaican citizens to enroll and begin school down there.

I asked and was told this, but this was based on me the parent being a born Jamaican, and staying forever, not for a defined length of time, so call the Jamaican embassy or consulate nearest to you or in DC and get your own specifics:'

Child must be declared as staying permanently at customs, and they will give some kind of document that expires in 2 weeks.

Child's application for permanent residency must MUST be applied for within those 2 weeks, so you can show to the school it's been applied for. This they emphasized is very serious because if the 2 weeks gone and nothing is done, the child will have to leave Jamaica with or without you and if you don't send them back and they catch you, the child might never be able to come back. So don't play around with it.

Find out the address of your job and find out how close each school is to where you will work. You might want to try and get into a school that is either central between work and home, or try to live near the school. There are no school zones in Jamaica, you live wherever you want and send the child to the school you can afford. (At the secondary level, they may get placed at any school in the island that have space for them if the standard examinations scores are not great)

Get used to the idea of paying for school. Vaz I heard was about 30,000-40,000 Jamaican a year, some others may be a little more or a little less. There may be waiting lists to get in as well so get on the school thing from NOW.

Places to take children are all over the island and unlike america where you have to take 1-2 WEEKS off to get any downtime in, you can pick any weekend and roll out, relax and have fun, and be back home in plenty of time for the next Mon-Fri. Places include:

Emancipation Park-----Kingston
Putt N Play-----Kingston (my cousin's father owns this, it's right across from the Park)
Hellshire Beach-----Portmore (just have to get them the fish and festival)
Aquasol Beach-----Montego Bay (took my son there in March and he had too much fun, there are activities on the beach as well)
Dunn's River Falls-----Ocho Rios (no need to explain)
Devon House-----Kingston (best ice cream in the world, and pretty setting to take some family pics, my son loved this too)
Mother's Patties, Tastee's Patties, any local bakery, they all have the best food and pastries
Island Grill is fast food JA style
Or you can find Pizza Hut McDonald's etc down there as well

and more I can't think of right now but you get the point, the city you are in when in Jamaica is no barrier to getting all the way across the island for the weekend AND back, so consider anything going on anywhere in the island on the weekend (with a nice early start of course) available to you and the kids. If you ever plan to stay overnight in MoBay, right across the street from Aquasol is Beach House Apts, $55 US a night including free pass to Aquasol, and housekeeping, cable fridge tile floors. Not an all inclusive, but a nice place to sleep overnight and it's right ona strip with plenty of food etc.

And just the driving to and from Kingston is interesting for children (when they are not sleeping), stop and try the local streetside vendors instead of going into established stores. Saves money and gets you interacting with people along the way. Stay away from areas you don't know at night, use common sense when out on the road about who you ask for directions if lost, and you and your family will be fine.

Any other questions if i don't know the answer I will see where i can find out for you. My son is 6 now and i took him down for the first time to visit my family from one side of the island to the other, i drove us around by myself with no problem, and had never driven in Jamaica until then. He had a great time and wants to go back. He's a good traveler though, not hard to take on trips like some kids I hear about. He played his gameboy or slept or watched the sights on the cross country drives. He wrote a daily journal about his adventures there (including seeing a goat and a cow in real life for the first time, since they were crossing the road in the countryside where my grandaunt lives) that he read to the class when he got back. So maybe for the 2 years your kids to keep their own scrapbook of pictures, movie tickets, words, etc. so they can look back and remember.