I’m still trying to figure out the Portuguese schooling system, but here are a few things I have figured out so far. School becomes mandatory the September after they turn 6 years old. For Leo this is pretty easy since his birthday is in February. So Leo will turn 6 in February of 2026. That means that school becomes mandatory in September 2026. For Sofia it’s a little more complicated, but not much. Her birthday is in September. She is only 5 years old right now and will turn 6 just a few weeks after the school year begins. They do have an exception if the birthday falls between specific dates. I can’t remember the exact timeline, but it’s something like if the student turns 6 between September and October then they can begin school when they are 5 instead of waiting the entire year until they turn 6. I’m not sure if school becomes mandatory this year for Sofia or not until next year, but she is definitely ready now and everyone I have talked to has said she can start when she is 5.

Mandatory school here starts with 1st grade. They have cycles and I have only really learned about 1st cycle, which includes grades 1-4. Prior to 1st grade kids can start with pre-school and then kindergarten. Here is our experience with enrolling them for kindergarten and 1st grade.

We registered them for private school, so the process might be a little bit different than public school, but I imagine it’s probably very similar. It all started by contacting the school. I think it was around March that we emailed them for a tour. We showed up and they told us that the next step would be to come back on a specific date to register them. We showed up on that day and they gave us a folder full of paperwork and a list of the requirements for registration and they told us to come back at a specific date in 3 weeks.

They asked for photocopies of documents (residency permit for student and guardian). Since they’re a private school who bases tuition on income they also asked for a recent rent receipt as well as our IRS tax return. They asked for the student’s residency number and utente number. They did ask for social security numbers but since the kids don’t have those yet I just left that part blank. They also had us fill out some of the usual stuff like who to contact in an emergency, if the kids have any allergies, and who is able to sign them out of school. There were a few things we had to plan out a bit, like getting their vaccination records from the Centro Saude and a letter from their doctor saying they are fit to attend school.

While doing this we also had to register them online at the Portal das Matriculas. I thought that this was only required once school becomes mandatory (at 1st grade), but the school told me I need to register Leo too. Through the Portal you have to submit a lot of the same information that the school asks for- residency card, proof of address, and approve or decline some releases. You also have to choose your school- I think you can pick up to 5. Our school told us to just pick them as they will approve our kids. I think the selecting up to 5 is more for the public schools just in case your top school is full you need a backup or two. Registering Sofia was a bit of a pain just because I had to translate so much, and even once translated not everything made sense.

The school and Matrículas wanted passport sized pictures of the kids. There are tons of apps that will convert pictures to passport sized ones. I found one with a bunch of different countries (since passport photo sizes are different in Portugal than in the US) and a 3 day free trial. I took a couple pictures, uploaded the digital ones to Matriculas and Kyle printed out two copies of each kid. Then I cancelled the trial.

We showed up to school yesterday to complete registration. Apparently I was supposed to make an appointment, which I completely missed during our last conversation. The woman doing regisration at the school does not speak any English, so I have been trying to get by with my super limited Portuguese. Luckily she is amazing and said she would do the registration. Once she entered all of the information she had me pay a fee for each child. Overall it was pretty easy, but a little bit tedious. The first day that we decided to tackle the paperwork took us a few hours to translate and get a lot of the documents together.

I am so happy that they are registered and just about ready to go for September. The only thing left to do really is order their uniforms from the website the school gave us. The woman in the office told me that there is a parent meeting the night before school starts. Hopefully we can find a babysitter and learn a bit more Portuguese by then. When we did the tour there was a woman who spoke English and she told us that the parents go to school with the kids 3 days during the school year and we’re hoping that the first day is one of them. I’m sure they will have a lot of helpful information at the meeting, we just need to be able to understand it!