by Noelia | Jan 7, 2020
The new school year is fast approaching and at Futuro Verde, the preschool department is preparing to receive the students with our gentle start program, which is designed to provide a gradual and optimal transition to our youngest students. In order to ensure that the gentle start program is clear to all, you will find the details here below.
Gentle Start Schedule
February 10th, 12.30 pm – 3 pm: Open House
Open-door event for the entire school, including the preschool department, to learn about the school, teachers and staff who will work with and support your child all year.
February 11th and 12th: Preschool Department, Gentle Start: interviews with preschool students and families.
Futuro Verde office staff will arrange appointments for individual meetings with each family. During this appointment, families meet with the two preschool teachers to get to know each other, share important details about the students and reach an agreement regarding the goals for the year.
February 13th: first day of school for Prepa (no classes for Pre-K or Kinder).
Both teachers work together on this day to meet our preparatory students and ensure that students adapt to their new role as older students in our preschool department.
February 14th: First day of classes for Pre-K and Kindergarten (no classes for Prepa).
It’s our little ones’ turn to have the day just to themselves! The two preschool teachers work together on this day to meet our Kinder and Pre-K students and ensure that they feel comfortable starting the new school year.
February 17th: All students in the preschool department have their first day of school together, from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.
by Angie Briceño | Jan 2, 2020
On December 19th, 2019 our first IB generation graduated, what an exciting day for everyone!
Even more exciting is the great opportunity that Futuro Verde has presented to 12th graders, the John Dolan Scholarship for the start of the university career!
As you know, John Dolan highly valued the importance of quality education, therefore his family showed great commitment in founding the John Dolan Scholarship Fund. Now, the 12th grade students who meet the requirements will have another incredible opportunity that comes from the legacy of John Dolan, which is that those who obtain the IB Diploma and have entered the university may be granted the $ 1000 John Dolan scholarship to launch their university career. We are very grateful to John Dolan and his family for this incredible opportunity to support students to begin a new stage of their educational career and we wish them all success in this new adventure.
And remember that education is our passport to the future because tomorrow belongs to the people who get prepared for today.
by Lural Ramirez | Dec 3, 2019
Every school community celebrates school level graduations in unique ways and Futuro Verde’s traditions are a perfect match for our singular and proud school community! At Futuro Verde, and after extensive polling of our entire school community during our 10th year anniversary school year, we came upon our permanent graduation traditions. We have been intentional in the development of these traditions as an opportunity to define the Futuro Verde experience and include consistent ceremonies from year to year that are filled with meaning and depth.
I share with you details on the Futuro Verde graduation traditions:
High School Graduation
Futuro Verde 12th graders culminate a rigorous 2-year diploma program full of learning, unforgettable experiences and preparation for their independent lives ahead. The final two weeks of school for 12th graders has them: finishing final exams, attending their final Prom and then climbing mount Chirripó (the tallest peak in Costa Rica)! As graduation rolls around at the end of the school year, our 12th graders join us at an off-site location for an evening designed to acknowledge their efforts, celebrate their successes and send them off into the world prepared for the opportunities and challenges that await them. 12th grade graduation is a formal event and students wear formal attire, caps, gowns and sashes. The ceremony includes speeches from meaningful adults in the students’ lives and ceremonial aspects allusive to this special occasion, including an event photographer.
Elementary School Graduation
Following successful completion of 6th grade at Futuro Verde students have their first formal graduation ceremony at Futuro Verde! The event is held yearly on the Futuro Verde main stage. Students wear semi formal attire and don caps, gowns and sashes for the event. Futuro Verde’s student body president welcomes students to secondary school with a meaningful rock ceremony, students receive a bounty of well wishes prepared especially for them by family, friends and teachers, parents escort their children to the stage and student diplomas are presented to them in a custom designed Futuro Verde diploma holder. A photographer is on site to capture special moments from the event as well.
Grade Levels with Special Activities, but no Formal Graduation Ceremony
In Costa Rica, some schools also celebrate graduation from Prepa and 9th grade. At Futuro Verde, our school community was clear in not wanting to adopt and continue with this tradition and graduation ceremonies for Prepa and 9th grades have not been held since 2017. As an international school with lofty goals for our students, it is customary to celebrate the completion of primary and secondary school only and for the second year in a row we will follow this important tradition.
Prepa and 9th grade do not have formal graduation ceremonies at Futuro Verde, although per Costa Rican Ministry of Education (MEP) expectations students do receive a diploma during parent-teacher conferences at the end of the year in 9th grade and during a class party for Prepa at the end of the year.
A highlight for students in Prepa and 9th grade is the tradition of a joint artistic performance during our end of the year RAP: Respeto, Amor, Paz celebration. This spectacle is not to be missed!
As you can see, graduation traditions are well thought out and meaningful aspects of school life at Futuro Verde! If your child is graduating this year- congratulations! If your child is heading toward a graduating year soon, I hope this article has helped explain our processes and traditions.
by Lural Ramirez | Nov 3, 2019
Over the course of this year I have been sharing with you reflections on our school’s core values. My article in September explored the fourth of five core school values, “Futuro Verde: We Take the Best of our Diversity to Live in Harmony”. Today, I will be sharing reflections on our fifth and final core school value.
Futuro Verde: We Grow and Learn in Harmony with Nature
With a name like Futuro Verde, this final core school value might be the most obvious one to pop into your mind! Futuro Verde has green in its name but most importantly we are truly ‘green’ in our hearts- not perfect in our ecological footprint but certainly striving and working hard to be the model of what green, sustainable, harmonious living with nature can be like. From one year to the next our commitment strengthens and grows and here is a quick sampling of how we grow and learn in harmony with nature at Futuro Verde:
Purpose-built new classroom construction:
Our board of directors and leadership team has purposefully committed to our new construction, regular education classrooms having half walls, no doors and no traditional windows. Why, you might ask? Because we are located in the middle of the jungle and we want our students to feel connected to that beautiful jungle each and every day as they learn and grow! The design also has a practical purpose as the air flow keeps the space cool and lets moisture in and out as needed.
A full permaculture campus is in the works:
Through a long-standing collaboration with our fiscal sponsor, Green Wave, we are dedicated to the development of a campus wide alignment to permaculture practices and restoration of our green spaces. This design includes development that takes the land, flow of air and water and the needs of the community into consideration before ground is broken and building and development begins. As our Green Wave consultant is prone to say “the problem is the solution!”. This beautiful mindset shift is an inspiring guide post as we learn and grow in this area.
School-wide environmental campaigns:
Most of our community already knows about our trimester beach clean-ups which are a dependable and welcome service project our students participate in three times per year at a range of our local beaches. But, you may not have known about the on-site, open to the community recycling center we have, or the compost bins run by our students? Perhaps you’ve never heard of our program to support wild animals staying wild or our farm to table goals through our student-developed garden? Our environmental campaigns are many, are led by our environmental education teachers and our students at every grade level and are supported by each and every school teacher, staff member and community member who joins us in this strong commitment to the environment!
One of our newer aspects as a school when we consider the importance of living in harmony in nature is serving as an advocate for our beloved mother Earth! As the years have passed, as our school has grown and as our level of academic rigor has continued to improve, our students are increasingly working as activists and advocates for policy change, awareness campaigns and social and political influence regarding environmental and nature related topics. As a school we also have an ongoing commitment to, and work intentionally with, the Global Goals, especially in the sense of raising awareness among our students and encouraging their advocacy and activism related to a variety of different areas related to sustainability within the Global Goals framework, to include: education, citizenship, equality, environment and health.
We encourage our entire school and greater community to continue to support our school’s commitment to a life filled with connection to nature and a determination to seek a harmonious existence with the nature in our lives and a dedication to ongoing development, growth and learning from each of us every day as we strive to best support the health and longevity of our Earth!
by Angie Briceño | Oct 30, 2019
We are nearing the end of the school year and this also means that some fantastic celebrations for Middle and High School students are coming up!
In 2015 and again in 2018, high school students had a magical and unforgettable night together filled with dance, a fire show, and an amazing time all dressed up with their friends.
Prom is an anticipated event by all, and it is not only attending it that makes it so appealing and exciting, yet also being able to participate in its organization and production! That is why this year, we have 2 dance committees made up of students, parents and teachers taking care of all the logistics.
Two committees?
Yes, there are two committees this year! One prom committee with 9th to 11th grade students and another, consisting of students from 6th to 8th grade, organizing the first Middle School Dance at Futuro Verde.
Both committees have the task of carrying out all the event logistics such as music, food, venue, dance theme, date, price, activities and much more. Everyone is working hard so that both dances are successful and fun. Below you will find detailed information regarding both proms:
PROM for students from 9th to 12th:
Theme: An Arabian Night
Date: November 23rd
Time: 6:00 to 11:00 pm
Place: Quebrada State, Las Delicias
Admission: only for students from 9th to 12th and their companions (from 15 to 19 years old)
Admission price: 8,000 colones before November 1st, 10,000 colones after November 1st
Dress Code: Semi-formal
Middle School Dance from 6th to 8th grade:
Theme: Tropical Spring Fling
Date: November 9th
Time: 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Place: Futuro Verde
Admission: Only for 6th to 8th grade Futuro Verde students
Admission price: 1000 colones
Dress Code: Semi-formal
We hope to continue with these important student traditions which develop excellent life skills such as organization, planning, communication, oracy and creativity, conflict resolution and teamwork. Encourage your children to be part of the 2020 dance committees!
Stay tuned for more activities on our Instagram and Facebook channels!
by Rico Reolon | Oct 30, 2019
The Futuro Verde educational project has always been a labor of love for our board members! Having been on the board from the beginning and having overseen all of the construction, remodeling and development projects our school has taken on, I can attest to the hard work and concerted effort facilities development has been at our small, community school.
The positive news is that our facilities continue to improve each year and this has been the product of the support of school families, generous external donors and the careful planning and quick initiative of Futuro Verde leadership team and board members looking to act quickly and in favor of ongoing development, growth and improvement.
Some highlights from our governing body and from my tenure as board president include:
Overcoming Development Setbacks- From a lack of funding, to a lack of consistent governmental support, to the delay of planned projects in order to address urgent needs, our development has not been a continual line of success. But, through it all, I am proud to say that our board of directors has worked together to problem solve, address urgent issues and to work diligently toward the best facilities we can achieve at any given time.
Strategic Plan- I am proud to say that our board has followed a strategic plan for years now. This plan has focused the board’s efforts and ensured that we continue to seek development of our student population and facilities with intention and drive. A new, full day board retreat scheduled for November 9th will have us reviewing and updating our current strategic plan.
Leadership and Guidance- The board of directors takes its responsibility of leadership and governance seriously and this includes a sustained focus on the support and counsel of our fantastic school leadership team as they strive to ensure that our programs develop in a measured way that matches our ability to improve and build new and needed facilities. The positive relationship we have sustained with the school leadership team has allowed for courageous conversations and collegial interactions in which the well-being of our students and our school stay at the forefront of our decision-making.
Septic System Process- One of our most recent achievements has been a major improvement to our septic system, which will improve our waste water management school wide. We are proud to be collaborating with Ecotanks in the installation of a system that fully treats our waste water and releases into the environment waste that is 100% potable (although Futuro Verde will use this water only for watering purposes, not for drinking). As our student population grows and our facilities multiply, adequate waste water treatment has become a pressing and urgent need we are thrilled to have solved at this time.
Future projects:
As many of you know there are many projects yet to come:
- construction of our multi-use sports court
- construction of new, permanent classrooms to replace our remaining temporary buildings
- remodeling and expansion of our administrative building
- completion of our staff parking lot and remodel of our visitor lot to make arrival and dismissal safer and more efficient
