Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Coud Forest School

The Cloud Forest School or Escuela Creativa

-The school owns 106 acres of land
We were given the privilege to visit The Cloud Forest School this morning which is a private school located in the center of the rainforest in the mountains of Monteverde. As we pulled up we were surrounded by the most beautiful green trees and grass I had ever seen. We were greeted by a lady by the name of Cierra (not sure about the name) and she is in charge of communicating with groups like our class who are interested in the school and volunteer projects. She took us on a short walk from the front office to the high school. It wasn’t any normal walk though, we got to walk through the lush forest and be a part of nature for about ten minutes. Not many students are able to say that to walk from building to building they are allowed to go through the forest. We passed something called the meadow which she said was the heart of the school. Students are always there playing games or just hanging out with each other. It is there gathering place where everyone is comfortable and feeling happy. That is very similar to schools in the states. There is always one spot that most students like to gather in their free time that allows them to let loose and relax. I think that it is so important to have that safe haven for fun time at every school and this school’s “meadow” was absolutely beautiful surrounded by trees. As we walked through the forest she told us a little more about the school:
·         180 students, 90% Tico (locals) and 10% international (exchange or abroad). They work with another school to exchange students and let them take over each other’s lives for a year. They also let students study abroad there or allow teacher’s English speaking students attend the school. It is great that they do not limit other students from coming to their school. It allows for a lot of diversity and a growing experience by working with students from very different backgrounds.
·         30 teachers and they speak English for all of their instruction and rarely use Spanish in class because it is an English immersion school. About half of the teachers are from United States and half are from Costa Rica. They plan to soon be a bilingual school and are quickly approaching it. As we passed all of the classrooms I only heard he teachers speaking English and I was able to see that the students were responding and speaking very well in English.
·         $3600 per year for each student because it is a private school. They do offer becas (financial aid) and many people sponsor students and pay for their schooling. They WANT students to come to their school and they do everything in their power to help them pay for it. Back in the states many schools help students pay for their education if they need it, but they don’t seem happy to do it from my own experiences. It is a hassle to receive help to pay for school, but at this school they are eager to help children with the cost of schooling.
·         Students go to school from August to June, from 8-3 Monday through Thursday with a half day on Friday. This is also very similar to schools back home. Considering all of the days that students get off for various reasons, it probably would equate to about the same schedule. 
·         Students graduate elementary school in sixth grade, middle school in ninth grade and high school in eleventh grade. To graduate from high school students need to take a test that takes about ten days. The entire test is in Spanish (except for the English portion) because it is a standard test that all high school graduates in Costa Rica take. Cierra said that some students do struggle because they are used to learning everything in English. If students don’t pass the test the first time, which most do, they can retake it until they pass. Cierra stated that all of the students since she had worked there had passed the test.
·         All of the classrooms were decorated so creatively with the student’s work on display. It really showed how important the student’s success meant to the teachers of the school and how proud they were to share the success of the classroom.
·         The school revolves around environmental education and encourages the students and their families to live more sustainable lives. The land keeper Eduardo was so knowledgeable about the outdoors and he passed on all that he knew to the school and its students. He keeps them involved by maintaining a greenhouse with the students, a compost area, and has them plant all around the school’s campus. It is so important for students to understand the significance of “going/being green” and this school and done a wonderful job at informing their students.
This school was absolutely amazing. The outcome of the visit was totally unexpected for me. After visiting, I have it in my head that I will do my senior year internship at The Cloud Forest School. They have an unbelievable program going on and I would love to be a part of it. Who knows if I would be allowed to do my internship in Monteverde, Costa Rica, but I think it would be an amazing experience. It would force me to keep up with my Spanish, become more educated on the environment and of course teach bilingual students.

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