Throughout the 2006-2007 school year, Vallarta's American School will be celebrating its 20th anniversary, culminating in a gala event for alumni and parents. Director-General Gerald Selitzer has been the driving force behind this progressive school since its inception in 1986, when 80 students were enrolled. And today this Marina Vallarta institution has some 360 pupils, who will go on to play active roles in the economic life of the city and elsewhere in Mexico and internationally.

Selitzer, who formerly directed the American school in Pachuca, Hidalgo for nine years, says that while all of the American Schools around the world are independent, "most belong to the Association for the Advancement of International Education. And in our region we also belong ASOMEX, the Association of American Schools in Mexico." Incorporating preschool through grade 12, primary students are taught in English by a North American teacher for half a day and in Spanish for the other half, that teacher Mexican.

Then, in junior high and high school, all courses except for Spanish language and Mexican history are taught in English. Selitzer is proud of the school's track recordand the amount of scholarships conferred on its students, "all but one of last year's graduating class going on to institutions of higher learning." And for that he largely credits Dr. Robert Nation, the school guidance counselor who starts working with students in grade 9 to help prepare them for their futures. "Our teachers know each child well and we are in constant communication with the parents." Luis Reyes Brambila, publisher of the daily "Vallarta Opina" and "Vallarta Today," says the history of education in Puerto Vallarta can be divided into before and after the American school existed, because it so dramatically raised the level of education here and set a new standard for other schools to follow. To learn more, see www.aspv.edu.mx.