by Angie Briceño | Feb 26, 2020
What is CREW?
CREW is a special time when students in each grade meet with their CREW teacher to do various activities in order to develop empathy, a sense of belonging, and a connection with others. At Futuro Verde, we don’t have passengers, we are all members of a CREW. This special time happens twice a week: on Mondays during the first hour of school and on Fridays during the last hour of school.
During CREW time students from pre-k to 12th grade plan the details of their annual field trip: the destination, budget, fundraising plan, transportation, etc.
It is important to remember that the students are in charge of raising funds for their field trips. This activity brings them together and brings the focus away from any socio-economic differences of the students, while also making it easy on parents’ pockets.
In addition, this year each CREW group will choose a cause that they identify with and want to work on to create positive change.
How can you help?
Throughout the year, each CREW group will organize activities to raise money for their field trip and the cause they have chosen to support. Some of the fundraising activities include: school sodas (selling food), toy sales, bake sales, no-uniform day passes for students, raffles, movie nights, and other clever fundraisers invented by our students!
If you would like to help with our students’ CREW efforts, send a little extra money with your student so that he or she can enjoy the tasty snacks students sell at our soda (restaurant/ kiosk). We will have soda every day during the month of March except: March 2, 3, 5 and 30.
Students may also participate in the no-uniform day if they buy a ticket for ₡500. In March, we will have the following non-uniform days:
- March 13, to benefit 7th grade
- March 27, to benefit 9th grade
- March 30, to benefit 3rd grade
by Noelia | Feb 5, 2020
School will be starting very soon! To begin this new 2020 school year, we’re sharing some important reminders for the first month of school. Some things will stay the same as last year, while others will be changed this year to improve and perfect our performance and quality service for our Futuro Verde community.
Important Dates for the First Month of School
- February 10, 12.30 pm – 3 pm: Open House. An open-door event for all students and families at Futuro Verde; an opportunity to get the know the school, teachers, and staff that work and support students year-round.
- February 11: First day of classes for 1st through 12th grade. Preschool Department, gentle start: interviews with preschool students and families. Office staff at Futuro Verde will organize appointments for individual meetings with each family. During this appointment, families meet with the two preschool teachers in order to get to know each other, share important details about their students, and set goals for the year.
- February 12: Preschool Department, gentle start: interviews with preschool students and families. Office staff at Futuro Verde will organize appointments for individual meetings with each family. During this appointment, families meet with the two preschool teachers in order to get to know each other, share important details about their students, and set goals for the year.
- February 13: First day of school for Prepa (no school for pre-K or Kinder). Both teachers will work together on this day to get to know our preparatory students and help them adapt to their new role as older students in our preschool department.
- February 14: First day of classes for pre-K and Kinder (no classes for Prepa). It’s the little ones’ turn to have a day for themselves! Our two preschool teachers will work together on this day to get to know our Kinder and Pre-K students and help them feel comfortable as they start the school year.
- February 17: All students in the preschool department have their first day of classes together, from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.
- March 4, 1pm – 5 pm: Back to School Night. See the detailed schedule of activities and workshops for Back to School Night here.
Futuro Verde Planners
Each year, Futuro Verde students receive a planner specially designed by our school in order to facilitate communication between parents and teachers. We strongly recommend that parents check their student’s planner every day to encourage smooth communication with teachers.
The planner also includes important information that helps families stay organized with school events and news, and contains resources that are worth reviewing each year:
- Schedule
- FV Directory
- Description of our Learning Community and Futuro Verde Values
- Academic Honesty
- Calendar
- Important Dates 2020
School Schedule
Futuro Verde’s class schedule is Monday through Friday from 8 am to 3 pm. It is recommended that students arrive 10 minutes before the start time so that they can settle into their classrooms and greet their classmates. That way, classes can begin on time at 8 am, without interruptions.
The departure time is 3 pm. No changes are expected for students who take school transportation since last year’s system worked well. However, some changes will be implemented for children who are picked up by their parents and/or relatives in private vehicles as our pick-up and drop-off lot has been remodeled. Please read the email about this topic for specific details.
by Angie Briceño | Jan 30, 2020
Futuro Verde has been characterized by promoting activities that develop not only students’ academic abilities, but also their skills as human beings in all areas of life, such as arts, mathematics, science, service learning, civics, community and global education, as well as opportunities to experience the cultural diversity that Futuro Verde cultivates within and outside the physical space of the school.
It is incredibly important for children and young people to take part of these activities. This participation becomes an important part of their development as human beings, as it allows students to take an active role in their own educational process. By responsibly assuming this role, they create habits that will stick with them throughout their lives. These activities also bring great benefits in different areas of students’ lives such as improved self-esteem, time management, interpersonal relationships, communication skills, sense of belonging and motivation for their studies.
The year 2020 brings with it even more opportunities for students to develop these skills. We invite all parents to encourage their children to be part of student life at Futuro Verde.
by Noelia | Dec 3, 2019
The end of the year is always a busy time for everyone and school life at Futuro Verde is no exception. The end of the 2019 school year comes loaded with many fun activities and important family events, so we wanted to make sure you wouldn´t miss anything by sharing the dates with you today!
- December 6th, 8 am – 3 pm: Sustainable Solutions Fair, preschool to 10th grade students share their innovative projects and ideas on how to best protect our environment and how to live a healthy life making sustainability part of our daily lives.
- December 9th, 7 am – 3 pm: Professional development – no school.
- December 11th: RAP (schedule to be confirmed): the end of the year event that brings together our diverse school population with dance, music, theatre, lyrical poetry and much, much more.
- December 13th, and 14th: The Mousetrapp, a fabulous play adapted and produced by the students.
- December 13th, 8 am – 1.30 pm: Futuro Verde Trail Fun Run – on the last day of school we hold our traditional Futuro Verde Trail Fun Run race, a fun event for the whole family. Sign up here! School release time is at 1.30 pm.
- December 16th and 17th, 8 am – 5 pm: Parent-Teacher Conferences – no school.
- December 18th, 4 – 6 pm: 6th grade graduation ceremony.
- December 19th, 4 – 6 pm: 12th grade graduation ceremony – 1st FV IB generation.
2019 Holiday Giving Campaign
The holidays are a time to reflect, share and give! Our annual donation campaign, Holiday Giving Campaign, benefiting our community´s families in need has begun! From November 28th to December 6th, bring your used clothes for all ages that remain in good condition and new or barely used toys to Futuro Verde. Do not wrap the items and deposit them in the corresponding boxes before Friday, December 6th! Let’s contribute to a happy holiday season for everyone!
We look forward to your presence to celebrate the end of a great year together!
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!
