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I'm sure you'll get plenty of answers on this one, but I'd like to take a stab at it since I live in Panama City and know many of the areas. A lot of this will really depend on the quality of life you're used to, and the size of your monthly budget.

With school-age child, I'd recommend Costa del Este. It's a very nice, but quite epensive, area that won't cause too much culture shock. It's really suburban. I like to say that it's like the Wellington, Florida of Panama. You always see people jogging and walking around. Plus, since it's right off the Corredor Sur (one of the major toll highways here) getting to the city would take about ten minutes without traffic. However, since there's always traffic in Panama, during rush hour you can expect at least 45 minutes.

If you're ok with living in the big city, and again this depends on your budget, then I'd recommend Punta Paitilla or Punta Pacifica. Marbella is a good area too.

St. Augustin is a nice school in Costa del Este, but I think it might be all Spanish. Here's the website to that school.

Two other areas you might consider are Albrook and Clayton. Both of these have very ex-military style housing, as this was the area used by the U.S. when we were based here. Several international schools can be found in Albrook/Clayton.

St. Mary's:

Balboa Academy:

You'll find a lot of schools in Panama, perfect for your pre-teen. My daughters speak Spanish and go to King's School.

If you want to write me directly, or if you're comfortable doing it on here, and let me know what your budget is like, I might be able to provide better info. There are a couple of areas around Panama City that are more local, but still ok for expats, and will cost a little less. Still, for my money, if I could afford it, I'd head to Costa del Este. To me that's the most family-friendly area anywhere near Panama City.

If you want more basic info about Panama, check out my blog at

Chris

This is very helpful @CMichael!! A good starting point so I can do some research. I'll message you offline!

Thank you!