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 Noelia | Dec 3, 2019
Middle School Dance
The middle school dance, Tropical Spring Fling, was a smashing success! We had 38 students from 6th, 7th, and 8th grades attend the first ever Futuro Verde middle school dance. A student-led committee organized the entire event: food, security, games, decorations, music playlist, dress code and space layout. The “lounge” area with couches and beanbags next to the stage was the perfect place to chill and visit with friends. Excellent music provided by our own Futuro Verde student, Axel, had everyone dancing. There was lots of pizza provided by Chelo’s restaurant and delicious desserts provided by the students. This amazing event will now become part of Futuro Verde’s middle school experience.
PROM
Our high school dance, PROM, with the theme “An Arabian Night”, was a great success. The students and their friends enjoyed and danced all night.
The PROM committee was very happy with the results, decorations and the food that parents helped organize, all very popular among the guests. It was a magical night that everyone could enjoy. We would like to thank all the students and parents who supported this student event during the month of November.
We encourage students to apply to be members of the PROM 2020 committee!
by Katie Chiaverini | Oct 31, 2019
Futuro Verde is very excited to begin implementing a new curricular support which is a learning platform for math called IXL. The IXL program will be used by students across all the grades and can also be accessed online at home. With thousands of skills that match what we’re learning, as well as insights into student progress, IXL is a great resource to help your child excel.
The IXL math program is made up of four main components that are integrated throughout the program to better personalize learning for each and every student: Comprehensive Curriculum, Personalized Guidance, Actionable Analytics, and Continuous Diagnostic. The program provides over 8,000 skills to support grade level objectives and gives instant feedback to students on their work. Students find it very engaging and motivating as it provides incentives connected to student achievement. Another very important aspect is that the questions adapt as the student answers correctly or incorrectly to allow them success at the appropriate level.
There are many different ways that parents can support their children at home with the IXL program. Parents can encourage their children to visit the personalized “Recommendations wall” within IXL for helpful review or new challenges, as they are targeted specifically for each student! Parents can also sign in to their child’s account and click on Analytics to see what they’ve been working on and check their progress. With built in incentives and rewards, families can help celebrate student accomplishments when a new goal is reached.
On October 31, Futuro Verde provided a parent workshop on how to help support their children at home with the IXL program. We were so glad to have parents as learners and show an interest in their child’s academic growth. If any parents would like to know more about the IXL program or how to help their child at home but missed the workshop, feel free to email Katie@futuro-verde.org for more information.
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 Stuart Millar, IB coordinator | Oct 3, 2019
11th grade is hard at work, raising funds for their upcoming trip to Guatemala at the end of November. Students will experience the sights and sounds of Antigua, climb a volcano, visit local villages, and be responsible for making meals for the group! This trip will be the culmination of fundraising activities that started at the beginning of last year. It is a fundamental part of Futuro Verde’s philosophy that students should be responsible for raising the money for their field trips. This way, families are not burdened with an extra cost and students learn about the results of effort and the value of money.
However, fundraising isn’t easy. Sodas are the traditional method at Futuro Verde, but you need a lot of sodas to raise $5,000! There have been lots of good ideas, and some very successful events, but sometimes putting these into practice has been a challenge. Across all grades we have been seeing some interesting initiatives: the chance not to wear uniform in exchange for a donation, raffles, garage sales, movie nights, and sponsored field trip t-shirts. One of the main challenges is that fundraising efforts normally target students and staff. As that is a relatively small population, all these initiatives are looking to benefit from the same limited pot of financial resources. One suggestion to all classes looking to pay for their field trips is to consider holding events that reach a wider audience. Also, maybe we’re missing a trick if we don’t involve parents, families, and friends and ask for their ideas and support.
So what’s next for 11th grade? A great collaboration between a student and his parents. Look out for an announcement about a raffle with a prize of dinner at Restaurant Montezuma!
by Tee McDougal | Oct 3, 2019
Who would have known that during the BHS conference here at Futuro Verde the staff would be offered complimentary registration for the 2019 La Cosecha Dual Language Conference! On November 13-16 Futuro Verde staff members Lural Ramírez, Khalida Lockheed, Paola Grijalba Araya, Vidhi Gada, Alannah Anglin, and Tee McDougal will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico to attend and present at this important conference for dual language education. When the director for Dual Language Education in New Mexico, David Rogers, presented as the keynote speaker for the BHS conference he asked that Futuro Verde presenters consider presenting at the dual language conference in New Mexico. La Cosecha brings together educators, parents, and researchers from across the U.S. and several foreign countries. It offers a unique opportunity to share best practices and resources to educate children in multilingual and multicultural communities.
With this in mind, teachers from Futuro Verde will be presenting two different workshops at the conference. On is called, “Reflection and Metacognition Strategies in Upper Elementary and Secondary Grades.” This presentation, by Vidhi, Khalida and Tee, will focus on metacognitive strategies that teachers can use to help students identify error patterns and better retrieve information and skills learned. The other presentation, “Translanguaging Done Right: Transcending Traditional Additive Language Instruction” presented by Lural, Vidhi and Tee, will share with attendees the innovative “World Language” class that a team of teachers have developed here at Futuro Verde. There will also be opportunities to visit other presentations, network with dual language teachers and researchers, visit dual language classrooms in Albuquerque, and shop for new and innovative bilingual classroom resources. An exciting opportunity for Futuro Verde staff in New Mexico, “The Land of Enchantment.”
