by Lural Ramirez | Sep 20, 2018
Great news! Futuro Verde’s 2019 school calendar has been finalized! Every year our school leadership team works to develop the new school calendar for the coming year. It is a complex process, as we consider the following aspects:
- The minimum 200 school days (student contact and teacher development)
- The legal requirements regarding national holidays
- The most favorable dates for school events, traditions and trimester divisions
- Prioritization of holiday periods favorable to our diverse community’s needs and wants (a vacation period good for North Americans, another for Europeans and yet another favorable to our Tico community)
The talking and planning has come to an end and the 2019 calendar is ready! Key dates are listed here below and your complimentary 2019 calendar magnet will come once all your registration steps have been confirmed!
Feb 5th: First day of school
April 15th-19th: Spring Break
June 24-July 12th: Mid-year vacation
September 23-October 4: Winter vacation
December 12th: Last Day of School
December 13th and 14th: Conferences and grade reports
December 15th: Graduation
by Lural Ramirez | Sep 20, 2018
For the last few weeks Futuro Verde parents have had the opportunity to give their invaluable feedback to the Futuro Verde leadership team regarding different aspects of our school. Huge appreciation to all of our families who responded. We had a great turn-out, with respondents from all different cultural backgrounds, native languages, years with the school and with students from every grade level. We appreciate and value your feedback and will take to heart all of your suggestions and comments- Thank you!
Some of the survey results have guided important decisions we have been pondering as a staff. Today, I would like to specifically share with you the results regarding our structure for graduations.
Parents were asked to share their feedback on the level of event we hold for the different graduation levels (Prepa,6th, 9th and 12th grades). Well, the results are in and the survey shows that 56% of Futuro Verde parents prefer a change in the way we have traditionally done graduations. A group of leadership team members, teachers and parents will work to finalize details, but I can share with you today that we will be making the following changes to our graduation structure from this year on:
For Prepa and 9th grade, graduation acknowledgement will be integrated into our festivities during RAP each year. Prepa students will also hold a celebration in their classroom to acknowledge this important change of grade level.
For 6th grade, graduation will happen at Futuro Verde each year. We will hold the graduation on campus, with beautiful decorations and a formal ceremony. This ceremony will be held the second day of conferences as a late afternoon event. This year’s event will be held at 5:00 pm on Friday, December 14th.
There will be no high school graduation event this year, as our current 11th graders will become our first class of 12th graders in 2019. Next year, and from then on out, 12th graders will have an off-campus formal graduation ceremony that will incorporate both the IB and MEP diplomas earned at the end of 12th grade.
This new graduation structure reflects the wishes of a majority of our school community and we are excited to modify our structure in order to make it the most meaningful and appropriate for each graduating class. Again, thank you for your feedback and suggestions!
by Karol Madrigal | Sep 20, 2018
We are only two months away from when our eleventh grade students take the national Social and Civic Studies examinations of the Ministry of Public Education. In order to obtain their Costa Rican Baccalaureate diploma, they are required to pass these exams evaluating all the content learned by the students, in both subjects, during the last two years. Hence, they need to be extremely focused and committed to make the most of their time to review the subject, practice constantly with the materials that are provided in class and attend the study and preparation centers that are taught in the institution every Thursday at 7:00 am.
The days of the examinations are Thursday, November 1st, for Social Studies and Tuesday, November 6th, for Civic Education.
by Noelia | Sep 18, 2018
Futuro Verde is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with great happiness and pride. Throughout the year we have been participating in several fun activities and making commemorative souvenirs with much attention to detail and love, a trademark of Futuro Verde´s education and commitment.
- The celebrations began in February with students painting a new mural made with the aim of beautifying the school. It is installed outside the library, brightening up our sports area with its vibrant colors.
- In the month of April, in celebration of Earth Day, we planted the seeds of our “Founders´ Garden” in the center of the school.
- On Mother’s Day, on August 14th, all students received a Futuro Verde / IB anniversary pencil and a note with the slogan “Making 10 years of history, thank you for leaving your mark!”
- On August 17, to continue with the celebrations of Mother’s Day, “Prom” students organized a movie afternoon with popcorn and babysitters, giving parents the opportunity to enjoy a romantic dinner in local restaurants where the students and the FV administration secured them discounts!
- For the Day of the Child, the FV Student Government outdid themselves with the coordination and creation of a large number of fun activities for the children: Dodgeball tournaments, volleyball, table tennis, soccer , board games, chess, face painting, movies with popcorn, karaoke, wii games, and many more. As a special treat, a cookie with a gluten-free option for celiacs (Futuro Verde is always attentive to everyone’s needs) was given to the children.
- During Civics Week we are showing off a new banner, which is already installed at the entrance of the school.
We still have a whole trimester of classes and many more surprises to go to celebrate the 10 year existence of our Educational Center! Stay tuned, more activities in October, November and December coming your way!
by Khalida Lockheed | Sep 18, 2018
Arts students from the 8th, 9th, and 10th grades have been exploring the Costa Rican traditions of masks and lantern, but with a twist!
Masks
Eighth graders made masks modeled on their faces and expressing some aspect of their personality or something which captured their interest. They ranged from patriotic to scary to a metaphorical emblem of life. Ninth and tenth grade visual art students learned traditional methods for creating large masks used for “mascarada”. They chose to portray traditional designs: the devil, a bull, a campesino, and La Segua. Their big discovery was the challenge associated with using traditional materials in such a wet climate and season: mold in a rainbow of colors!
Lanterns
While they created traditional “faroles” in their Civics and Social Studies classes, the high school visual arts students have had the opportunity to explore light as a medium for visual expression in art class, creating light sculptures. Eighth graders have been working on creating traditional reed and paper lanterns inspired by Asian lantern festivals and the light sculptures created by artist Stephen White. They contemplated their future goals and then abstracted forms for their lanterns based on visualizations of these goals. Ninth and tenth grade visual arts students went even further, using light to create sculptures through projections and site specific installations, as well as lanterns. They grappled with the concept of using light the same way an artists uses paint or clay. How can something as ephemeral as light be used to create a work of art? They came up with some interesting solutions and were inspired by the works of artists Margaret O’Rorke, Isamu Noguchi, Cai Guo-Qiang, Ai Wei Wei, and Yayoi Kusama.
These artworks and more will be on display at the Casa de la Cultura in Cobano on October 11th during our Culture Day Art Exhibition and Music Concert. We invite the whole community to join us in this cultural event!
Art and Music Festival
Our goals for the festival are:
- Offer a space for cultural exploration and celebration open to the entire peninsular community
- Exhibit works of art connected to the festival theme of Cultural Diversity
- Host a range of musical presentations
Projected participation during the festival:
- Musical presentation from Futuro Verde’s IB music program:
- Strings duet
- Trio
- Middle school band
- Musical presentation from all FV grades, prek through secondary
- Visual arts exhibit, gallery style, for students from the Futuro Verde IB visual arts program as well as students in preschool, primary and secondary at FV
Thank you for your support of arts in culture on the peninsula!
by Katie Chiaverini | Sep 11, 2018
The week of October 21st Futuro Verde will give a big welcome to the International Baccalaureate students from Jersey Island, part of the Channel Islands. This group of 7 high school students attend Hautlieu School and participate in the IB Diploma Program. They take a trip to Costa Rica as part of the CAS (Creativity, Action, Service) program, an integral part of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. Their visit reaps benefits for all as it is a great opportunity for our students to make meaningful global connections with students from afar.
Futuro Verde IB students also participate in the CAS program, so this is a great opportunity for our student community to learn from other students’ experiences.
We are lucky to have this sustained cultural interaction which also helps further develop the CAS objectives, three in particular:
- explore new possibilities, embrace new challenges and adapt to
new roles
• purposely reflect on their experiences.
- understand they are members of local and global communities
with responsibilities towards each other and the environment.
Jersey students and Futuro Verde students collaborating is a perfect example of a global community coming together to take action towards a common goal. This is how it all starts…the Futuro Verde administration team works ahead of time through email and Skype to connect with lead teachers from the partner school. They identify specific needs for Futuro Verde and the student body at that time. The service project ideas stem from these needs. The Jersey Island students then have the opportunity to interact with FV students pre-K through Colegio to create solutions to the identified needs, which involves hands-on experiences as suggested by CAS.
Past projects have included a range of focus areas from environmental education to specific academic needs. For example, one year the students participated in a beach cleanup with the purpose of collecting plastic to create murals with Colegio students to beautify our campus and also collected items to use for math manipulatives for younger students. Usually students are divided into three groups to focus on three different projects to make the most of their time and offer more direct interactions with our students. We are excited to see what projects will take place this year to enrich our students’ lives and improve our school.
The Hautlieu school, now on their fourth year visiting our school stay in Costa Rica for several weeks volunteering on several service projects, including orphanage work, Only Love preschool, and other activities. The students are also able to enjoy the beautiful diversity of Costa Rica with leisure activities, like hiking and visiting various tourist destinations – allowing them to see different aspects of the country.
Reflection and personal growth are at the heart of the CAS program, which is very holistic in nature. In the past, teachers and administrators who have worked with Hautlieu students have noticed changes in perspective just within the time frame they spend at our school. One of the positive things they mention is the connections they see between Futuro Verde students and teachers, starting with our lunch arrangement where we all eat together and are able to build and strengthen relationships in this way. Futuro Verde students comment that it is always interesting to learn about someone else’s culture and how this impacts their perspective. This year’s visit with the Jersey Island students will be yet another opportunity to open our minds to a new experience and grow as individuals.
