When you start planning to move to Brazil, make sure to take into account the local school calendar. As in various countries of the south cone, Brazil applies what can be called a reverse calendar. Just as in the Northern hemisphere, the summer vacation marks the separation between two school years ; except in Brazil the summer starts in December…
Typically, the school year will start approximately between mid- January and first days of February, depending on the school. Public schools apply the calender as decided by the Ministry of Education, but private schools do not need to follow it strictly. They are, however, compelled to respect the legal total number of school days during the year, which explains that the calendars are pretty similar but can have a few days difference. The school year is divided into two semesters. The first one runs until mid- or end of June. By then, most public and private schools organize special activities, shows, dances and family days for the traditional Saint John’s Day celebration (Festa Junina).
The children enjoy a small vacation period from 2 to 4 weeks, and then enter the second semester. Starting between mid-July and early August, this second period runs until the end of the year, and children finish their school year and graduate around mid-December. As the local summer season starts, the kids are on summer vacation until the next year starts, four to six weeks later.
As a conclusion, if you have the possibility to decide on your moving period to Brazil, try to arrive after the holiday season, in the first half of January. That way, you have some time to settle and to adapt to your new country before the children kick off a new school year together with their new classmates !