| Monteverde Friends School offers a Pre-K-12 bilingual
education and has a progressive, integrated and
flexible approach to curriculum.
While
excellence in instruction is one of our primary
goals, as a Friends school we seek to educate
the whole child and as such we are as much a
place of community development, personal growth
and spiritual awareness as an educational institution.
We are an accredited institution
offering the coursework necessary to prepare
students for the national education exams should
a student choose to continue a university education
in Costa Rica. At the same time students are well prepared should they decide to pursue
a college education in United States.
Early Childhood
Development
|
Child
working in "Practical Life." | |
|
At our pre-school
and kindergarten level, we utilize,
primarily, the Montessori method
of education in the classroom and
emphasize bilingual skills, self-directed
activities and children-to-children
learning. | |
|
Montessori's
"Pink Tower" helps build
sensorial skills. | |
Peaceful
Solutions
|
Children
are using the Peace Table to discuss
a conflict and come to resolution
prior to resuming activities. | |
|
The school’s
commitment to helping students find
peaceful solutions to conflict begins
with our youngest children. | |
|
Older
students practice conflict resolution
with the use of a mediator (center). | |
Community
Involvement
|
|
Community
service allows students to become
responsible participants not only
at school but in their local community
as well. | |
 |
Minicourses
|
The Community Art Center
hosts a ceramics minicourse. | |
|
The school
enjoys the emphasis on artistic
expression and environmental awareness
that is so prevalent in the Monteverde
community and integrate these into
our course offerings through minicourses.
These courses are taught by members
of the community and allow students
to explore their personal interests
in a variety of other subjects as
well. | |
|
A
minicourse on guiding is
held in our nearby "Children's
Rainforest" reserve. | |
Physical
Development
|
A
community yoga instructor volunteers
her time to teach our students. | |
|
Physical development
through fitness and sports, are
also integrated into course offerings
as well as being a part of daily
free-time activities. | |
HIgh
school students learn capoeira,
a form of dance/defense. | |
Cultural
Diversity & International Exchange
|
We strive
to create a place where each student’s
cultural background is respected.
As such, international student are
welcomed into our school as they
bring with them new perspectives
and experiences. At the same time,
they are enriched by their exposure
to a new culture, language, and
way of life. | |
|
I
know that as my fellow graduates
and I move on into a different part
of our lives, we will continue to
be seasoned with Quaker SPICES;
Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community,
Stewardship. As students that have
been blessed with not only the stellar
education but also a set of life
values that compare only to the
effulgence of Costa Rican rainbow,
we have the ability to, in the words
of George Fox, "be patterns,
be examples that we wish to see
in the world...then we will come
to walk cheerfully over the world
knowing that of God in everyone"
This is truly the gift that we have
been given by a Quaker education.
A Maile Mercer,
International Exchange Student
Excerpt from graduation speech
2003
| | |
