by Lural Ramirez | Mar 26, 2020
At Futuro Verde there are six formal grade reporting periods. These grading periods are divided into three trimesters with a formal report card at the end of each trimester and a midterm report sent home 6 to 7 weeks into each trimester. All grade reports are completed collaboratively by all teachers who work with each student and they are intended to inform parents of their child’s progress academically as well as to comment on progress in skills related to social-emotional development and self-management. This year, midterm reports were emailed to parents as the date for parent receipt of midterms coincided with our transition to an online learning program model as a part of our COVID-19 protocol.
As a parent, it is best to use midterm reports in the following ways:
- Understand how your child is evolving and progressing academically. What academic areas are strengths for your child? Is your child struggling in any way academically?
- Understand the specifics related to your child’s social-emotional development. Is your child relating well to others? Are they demonstrating pro-social behaviors with peers and adults?
- Is your child organized, independent in their study habits and able to self-manage? This will often show up as a comment in regards to turning in assignments or as a general comment from teachers.
What should you do with what the midterm tells you?
- If your child is struggling academically please schedule a meeting as soon as possible with the subject teacher, CREW teacher or the academic or assistant director. Now is the time to act and to intervene to help your child get back on track!
Even though we are in an online learning program right now, you can still schedule a Zoom or Skype meeting with school staff. To do so, simply email the teacher or administrator you would like to speak with.
- If your child is having any social or emotional struggles, please request a meeting with the school psychologist, Massiel, in order to make a plan for support and intervention. Social-emotional development and care is essential to development and learning and must be prioritized if your child has needs in this area.
Again, even though we are in an online learning program right now, you can still schedule a Zoom or Skype meeting with Massiel. To do so, simply email her to set up a time to talk.
- If you are seeing that your child is not progressing along recommended developmental processes related to independence and self-management, please make sure to identify this need and address it. Our goal as parents are to support our children in becoming independent and functional citizens who are positive contributors to society. This development happens little by little over the years and delays in development should be addressed immediately in order to help children be successful at all ages and stages.
As we are in the midst of online learning as we speak, it is ever more clear that it takes a village to raise a child and the triangular support system of school, parents and student must work in close unison for optimal development and growth over time! Thank you for supporting your child while they complete their social distancing and school work from home and thank you for consistently working in conjunction with our school to help your child reach his/her fullest potential!
by Angie Briceño | Feb 28, 2020
As many of you have already heard, the year 2020 marks the beginning of our new Model United Nations Club as one of our extracurricular activities. We have already successfully completed the process of admitting students to the club and are very excited to announce the various activities we are organizing, as well as the conferences we will be participating in throughout the school year.
Here are some important dates regarding the Model U.N. Club:
- During the months of April and May we will be collaborating with SEK International School in San Jose with the goal of having informative training sessions for our MUN Club students.
- We will collaborate with La Paz Community School, a school in the Guanacaste area to conduct training sessions.
- On August 29th and 30th, we will be attending the first inter-school conference at the East MUN Conference, where students from Model U.N. clubs across the country are participating.
- On September 25th, 26th and 27th we will be attending the national CRIMUN conference in San Jose.
- Our last event will be participating and collaborating with the Model United Nations Club at United World Colleges (UWC).
It is very inspiring that our participating students can be part of this great opportunity. Not only will they develop skills throughout the learning process such as formal writing skills, public speaking, and debate, among others, but they will also be able to get to know new places and make new friends.
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 Khalida Lockheed | Feb 25, 2020
At Futuro Verde, being an IB school means teaching students to think independently, encouraging engagement with local issues in a global context, and valuing both personal and academic achievement. While our IB Diploma Program students may take a several pathways to graduation, all Futuro Verde students benefit from being an IB World School.
Research shows that the IB Diploma Program stands out for factors such as university preparedness, enrollment and achievement, academic persistence, critical thinking, and higher education outcomes. According to a study from 2013, IB high school graduates from the USA were 2 times more likely to attend and ultimately graduate from a four year university than the average US national graduate. The most notable reason that IB Diploma Program graduates persist at university and ultimately graduate at higher rates than non-IB graduates is their preparation for juggling university coursework. Most notably, the areas of time management, study skills and writing (think Extended Essay!) were highlighted by university students who had graduated with the IBDP as being the most helpful.
On the whole, research shows that the IB DP graduates outperform non IB graduates from across all advanced high school programs worldwide, be it A levels or AP. Part of the reason for this is the integrated nature of the curriculum, with the Core (Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay, and CAS) requiring critical thinking, research experience, time management, and civic mindedness. Another part is the academic rigor. In a global study of a comparison between the mathematics course offerings of the DP and five other advanced qualifications from around the world, researchers found that “IB’s further mathematics HL was determined to be the most cognitively demanding course of the curriculums examined.” Further evidence of the academic rigor may be deduced from a study conducted in the USA this year which showed that average SAT scores among IB students, as compared to their non-IB peers, were over 100 points higher!
Finally, in summary of the value of the IB Diploma for university attendance rates, university selectiveness, and university performance, research finds that:
Former DP students in the United States (US) are significantly more likely to attend a ‘selective’ or ‘highly selective’ institution compared to the average US college-goer.
In the UK, they are more than twice as likely attend a top 20 university than the average A level student.
Minority and low income IB students from Chicago Public Schools were shown to go on to university at significantly higher rates than a matched control group of their non-IB peers of similar academic ability.
Feedback collected from a wide range of IB graduates suggests that IB students have an easier time adjusting to university studies.
Surveys of university and college admissions staff in the US, the European Union (EU) and Australia show that these professionals are both familiar with the programme and hold it in very high esteem compared to other qualifications.
An analysis of the recognition policies of the top universities in the US reveals that most of these institutions grant credit or advanced standing for high performance in DP courses.
http://www.ibo.org/research
by Angie Briceño | Feb 24, 2020
Throughout the 2020 school year, you might notice some changes and improvements within our preschool department. We are starting off the school year with our two spacious, improved and cooler classrooms, where our youngest students can enjoy learning in each developmental area. The preschoolers will learn through movement-based and music activities, explore the texture area, observe, create, and develop their own ideas in the area of thinking and expand their love of reading in the areas of language and literature.
The teachers have worked hard, as they do every year, to make this year’s preschool department a learning experience each and every day. In each of these learning areas the children will develop skills that allow them to be lifelong learners: thinking skills, making connections between learning and life, exploration, observation, and more. The beauty of the process is that through learning histories, which teachers create by documenting the learning process through photos, videos, and observation, parents will be able to feel closer to their children’s learning.
We will also have teachers who are working with our youngest children at Futuro Verde to further strengthen students’ love of language and literature. We look forward to seeing you on Back to School Night so that you can explore these areas and more with your child in the preschool department!
by Noelia | Feb 23, 2020
At Futuro Verde we provide a holistic education that spans many important educational areas, and sports, recreation and physical education are no exception. We believe that sports activities promote an ideal student life environment for developing life skills. As in previous years, during this new school year we will continue to offer a wide variety of opportunities to our students and our community. Some of these include our second annual chess tournament which will be held in March. We will continue with our first annual swimming tournament which will be held in May. In the second trimester we will hold our traditional volleyball tournament and end our school year with the most anticipated event of the year, our fourth annual Futuro Verde Trail Fun Run 2020.
In addition to these sporting events, we will continue training student athletes to compete in the Ministry of Public Education’s Student Games. Specifically, we will be forming teams to participate in swimming, chess, cross-country, volleyball and beach volleyball.
As you can see we will have a full year of extracurricular activities for the students.
If you would like more information on how your student can join one of the competitive teams or if you would like to get involved as a coach or participant, don’t hesitate to write to me at directoratletico@futuro-verde.org
