i wouldn't write off chapala so quickly if i had a daughter still in school.
i have some friends here who's daughter just turned fifteen and they came here when she was 12. she's absolutely thriving with primarily mexican kids as friends and goes to a great school. in canada she was in french immursion and is now pretty well tri-lingual[as an old fart,i wish my espanol was even 1/4 as good as hers] and at the top of her class here.
they rent an acreage right on the lake and have 3 donkeys and assorted cats and dogs.
one can live here and never hobnob with gringos if that is your choice.
yes,ajijic is a gringo ghetto but there are other places around the lake with a lesser presence[sic].