Many Visiting Scholars bring their children while they are at CES. Whether your appointment is for one semester or longer, it is possible to find suitable childcare and school placements in the surrounding area. For general childcare information, please visit Harvard's Childcare website: http://www.childcare.harvard.edu/.
Child Care and Preschool OptionsFor younger children who have not entered school, parents may want to look into child care options. Harvard has six affiliated child care centers that are on or near campus. As a Visiting Scholar and Harvard affiliate for the duration of your stay, you are entitled to apply for a place for your child in these centers. Contact information and rates for these centers are available online at http://childcare.harvard.edu/childcare/centers.shtml. Past Visiting Scholars at the Center highly recommend these child care centers and are very satisfied with the quality of instruction.
The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care also provides a valuable search engine for locating licensed child care providers at http://www.eec.state.ma.us/ChildCareSearch/EarlyEduMap.aspx
School-Age Children
Each city or town has its own public (government run) schools for children aged 4 or 5 to 18. By law, these schools are free for those who live in the community. Please note that as long as you live in a community, that city or town is obliged to enroll your child in its school system, regardless of your nationality, the timing of your arrival, or the length of your stay.
The school year normally begins in early September (sometime during the week after Labor Day) and continues through the third week in June. You must contact your local school department to inquire about its enrollment procedure. In general, to register a child in school, parents should bring proof of the child's age (either a birth certificate or passport), current immunization records, and proof of local residency.
In Cambridge, new families should contact the Family Resource Center located at Cambridge Ringe and Latin High School, Two Felton Street, Cambridge MA 02138 (617-349-6550). Cambridge public schools require completion of a Certificate of Address form with a parent signature authorized by a notary public. The Harvard International Office has copies of this form and can direct you to a notary public.
For school-age children of Visiting Scholars who speak languages other than English, there are bilingual schools in the area:
Private
German International School Boston (German/English)
http://www.isbos.org/
International School of Boston/Ecole International de Boston (French/English)
http://www.isbos.org/06_actu/default_en.aspx
Public
Two-Way Bilingual Immersion
http://www.cpsd.us/cpsdir/Biling_2way.cfm
Kings Open School Modified World Language Program: (Chinese/English, Korean/English)
http://www.cpsd.us/cpsdir/Biling_modworldlang.cfm
Cambridge Public Schools: Two-way Biligual Immersion Program (Spanish/English and Portuguese/English)
http://www.cpsd.us/cpsdir/Biling_2way.cfm
