Terms and Conditions

Registration Fee:

We require students to sign up online and at busy times of the year we might ask to pay the online registration fee to guarantee their place. It is best to email us in advance of signing up so we can give you information about availability.

Cancelation Before Arrival:

If a student has to cancel their tuition before they arrive, they should email the school to inform the administration. If you have paid the tuition fee, this cannot be returned but it can be transferred for another sign-up for up to 2 years after the original date.

Payments:

We usually quote by week and ask students to pay on Mondays or their first day of classes. For our weekly packages, this will usually include 5 days of classes and 7 days of homestay (if you decide to take this option). However, if a student studies fewer or more days, we will increase or decrease the tuition and homestay payment accordingly.

We prefer that payments be made in cash in Quetzales. We can also accept payments by PayPal or credit cards, but both options are subject to a service charge of 9-11% depending on service fees and policy changes. In the case of PayPal, the amount will be converted from the price in Quetzales.

We can not directly accept US$ in cash, but it is easy for students to change US$ personally in any nearby bank, as long as the bills are in great condition.

We do not ask students to pay for more than one week at a time.

The school reserves the right to cancel future classes if they have not been paid for.

Study timetables

Students should confirm their next week’s study timetable by Thursday with the Spanish school coordinator. We cannot guarantee the same teacher if the student does not confirm their next week’s study as we may assign them to another student.

Cancellations

If a student cancels their next day’s class before the school closes in the evening, the coordinator will advise their teacher and the student will not be charged for that day. If they cancel later than this time or do not turn up for class, the school commits to paying the teacher and therefore cannot return the tuition cost of that day. You can contact us by email at utatlanspanish@gmail.com, or WhatsApp at +502 3051 2966.

Discounts

Students who study as a pair (with one teacher) pay 75% of the normal tuition cost each. Homestay costs are per person, regardless if people share a room, as this money is mainly to cover food costs.

Students who study for 25 hours for 4 weeks (or more) will receive 25 hours a week for the price of the package of 20 hours. This discount is cumulative. You pay the normal price for the first 3 weeks, then in week 4, we discount the total amount that has added up during those four weeks. And if you continue to study with us after that you will pay the discounted rate from week 5 onwards.

National Holidays

On national holidays our teachers have paid days off. The formal classroom classes are replaced with an extended cultural activity, except for Christmas and New Year. Students pay the normal weekly tuition cost for the week, this day is not discounted. The school will cover most costs of this activity (transport, guiding, conference speaker, food) as part of the daily tuition cost. For your information, the teachers are paid in full for this day as well. For exceptional days, such as Nov 1st, the activity may be a full day activity away from Xela and due to distances and costs involved, the school will ask students for a contribution to private transport costs. Students will be advised beforehand.

These are the dates for the official Guatemalan holidays:

January 1- Año Nuevo (New Year’s Day)

March or April – Jueves Santo y Viernes Santo (Easter)

May 1 – Día del trabajo (May Day)

June 30 – Día del Ejército (Army Day)

September 15 – Día de la Independencia (Guatemalan Independence Day)

October 20 – Día de la Revolución (Day of the Revolution)

November 1 – Día de Todos los Santos (All Saints Day)

December 25 – Navidad (Christmas Day)

Insurance and Liability

Students must sign an activity waiver to acknowledge the risks of participating in extracurricular activities.

Students must have medical insurance to cover any medical expenses while traveling and the school reserves the right to refuse to allow students to take part in activities if they do not have insurance in case of an accident or emergency.

The school or staff are not responsible for students in any way for their own independent activities (hikes, visits, etc) outside of the school.

Homestays

Our homestays are independent of the school but have been chosen for experience hosting foreign students. The homestay will provide a room that can be locked but if a student has valuables they prefer to lock at the school, we can do so and we will provide a receipt for them. The school cannot control who is in the homestay home (family members, other students, visitors, etc) therefore can not be held responsible for any loss of valuables.

Homestay payments

Homestay payments must also be made on Mondays for the coming week. If a student leaves the host family to travel, it is not guaranteed they can return to the same house as they will most likely be assigned another student straight away. If they want to leave luggage at the house, this can be arranged with the family, but not in the room otherwise the school will have to continue to charge you rent (as they can’t host another student). The homestay payment is by 24 hours (including the 3 meals), so if a student overstays the time they had paid the school for, the family reserves the right to charge an extra day or part day to cover these additional meal costs.

Allergies

We recommend that students with severe food allergies would be more comfortable in independent accommodation as the school cannot be held responsible for health issues caused by food prepared by third parties, and there is not the same knowledge of allergies and ingredie

nts in stores and restaurants here.