by Lural Ramirez | Jan 9, 2020
As a small school, in a continual process of growth and development, each new school year brings with it improvements and changes aimed at reaching our goal of ongoing innovation and adaptation designed to meet the needs of our ever changing student population and the challenges of an ever-changing global reality. The 2020 school year is no exception and I share with you here some staffing and curricular highlights for the coming school year.
Curricular Changes
The 2020 school year will be a year of school wide redesign for mathematics! All of our subject areas go through a regular and programmed revision cycle and math has been an area of reflection, research and development this past 2019 school year. For the 2020 school year we are ready to fully roll out our modifications and adjustments. New approaches include:
Math
- A new math end goal in 11th and 12th grade: As you will remember, Futuro Verde students can receive both the MEP and IB high school diplomas through minimum scores in IB Math examination. Starting in 2020, all IB Math courses will follow the newly adopted framework which has us shifting from teaching IB Mathematics to teaching the Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation course which will be offered at Standard Level and is targeted at students who are interested in developing their mathematics for describing our world and for modelling and solving practical problems using the power of technology. Mathematics: Applications and interpretation is developed for students who do best with math when seen in a practical context.
- Redesign of curricular structure PreK-10th grade: In order to shift our mathematics instruction to better prepare students for this new math goal, we will be redesigning middle and beginning of high school math classes in order to integrate into more practical context, mathematical modelling and real world applications. In preschool and primary grades, math will be taught on both the English and Spanish side within a complementary format that will allow more minutes of math instruction weekly and the integration of more problem-solving opportunities.
- School wide implementation of IXL: IXL has been adopted at Futuro Verde since October of the 2019 school year, but the 2020 school year will bring with it systematic implementation of IXL within and outside the math classroom. IXL is intended to support, not replace, mathematics instruction and teachers will be using IXL as a tool designed to intervene when students are in need of filling gaps in their math development and also to extend learning when students have successfully attained a new concept or objective.
History Instead of Business in IB
The 2020 school year will bring with it a change in our IB programming. The switch will come in what is referred to as the Group 3 subject area, Individuals and Societies. Due to a staffing change, our 12th graders will finish with Group 3 Business Management and our 11th graders will now take Group 3 History.
MEP Graduation Requirements Change from Bachillerato to FARO
This year brings with it a switch across Costa Rica away from MEP graduation exams known as Bachillerato and a switch to the new exam format called FARO. The exact details of this change are still being finalized and communicated to schools, but as an IB World School we do not anticipate the transition impacting our students in a significant manner.
Integration of Information Sciences in Middle School
In 7th through 9th grade this year, students will combine their technology and library times for a new course called Information Sciences. This course will focus on using the knowledge of the Information Sciences as a tool within other subject areas; for research, effective use of MLA, wide reading, and word processing and presentation tools.
Staffing Changes
1st Grade Bilingual Assistant
As Futuro Verde continues to grow to full capacity at all grade levels, we are adding a new position this year with a bilingual assistant who will be assigned to accompany our 1st graders. This extra set of hands and presence will ensure that groups run effectively and smoothly and will allow for small group and individual attention and instruction as needed.
New Position: School Psychologist
This year we are proud to announce that we will be fully funding a full-time school psychologist! Massiel Arroyo is a certified, bilingual psychologist excited to join the Futuro Verde community in support of school climate and well-being as well as the individual counseling and support that may be needed by students, families and staff members at Futuro Verde.
New Position: Costa Rican Social Studies and Civics Specialist, 1st-9th grades
In an effort to provide a more complex and meaningful structure in primary grades, while providing additional teacher prep and collaboration time, we will be adding a Costa Rican Social Studies and Civics specialist for the 2020 school year. This new specialist will be working with all classes from 1st through 9th grades in social studies and civics only. We are very excited for this new opportunity and the scheduling and hiring flexibility it brings!
Integration of Music and Physical Education in PreK-3rd grades
With a change in teacher in our specialist generalist position in PreK to 3rd grade, along with the division of the art position into two separate positions, we will be reducing the subject matter for the specialist generalist to teaching only PE and music. With our new specialist generalist, Juan, on staff in 2020 we have the unique opportunity with two professional PE teachers, to integrate music and PE with choreography, rhythmic dance and collaboration between both PE teachers for meaningful music integration into PE for the PreK-3rd grades.
by Irene Jover | Oct 1, 2019
Written by Khalida Lockheed and Irene Jover
With only a few months before the school year comes to an end, 12th grade students are preparing for their exams and internal IB assessments.
IB Music
Dilana Campos, the only music student in 12th grade, has been working hard these past two years and presented us with a small sample of her work in a final concert held at the school. She was accompanied by 11th grade students while all presented solo pieces as well as a group piece.
Dilana has also shared one of her musical compositions and her research on the musical links that can be established between two totally different cultures.
To meet the requirements of the subject, the music students of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program must interpret pieces of different styles and periods in public, compose three musical pieces, investigate the differences and similarities between musical cultures and take a written musical perception examination.
We are very proud of Dilana, who is very close to finishing her International Baccalaureate and the 11th grade students, Rachid, Alejandro and Axel, who have started the music course by working very hard and awarding us with the opportunity to enjoy their performances.
IB Visual Arts
Visual Arts students in 12th grade, Elian Gonzalez, Mateo Avila, and Lawerence Scheda, presented their body of work at the IB Art Exhibition in the Cultural Center of Cobano on August 29th. The Exhibit comprised their internally assessed portion for IB. Each student had their own personal gallery space with works ranging across media, including pinhole photography, painting, drawing, ceramics, graffitti, stop motion animation, and interactive installation.
Entitled “Tiquicia Online”, Mateo’s exhibit was an exploration of social media and the impact of technology and development in our rural “third-world” community. In his Curatorial Rationale, he writes, “My artworks attempt to expose the negative assumptions that social media use to try to incentivize on people. Exposing how special it is to focus on being an ethical rather than being beautiful person, being different and original rather than being fashionable and enjoying the small things rather than wishing for an opulent life.”
Elian’s exhibit was a similar exploration of modern life and social isolation through media and technology. In his words, “Isolation. That is the theme that connects my exhibition. Be it social isolation, not fitting in, or not feeling understood, or physical isolation, isolation can take many forms. With my art I tried to explore the ways and reasons why isolation has become so common in the present day. “
Lawrence’s exhibit, on the other hand, focused on connection and synergy, “or the idea that the combined power of a group of things when working together is greater than the total power achieved by each working separately.” His intentions were “to break traditional barriers into a oneness or feeling of belonging to the world without having to enter in pre established categories, this is why I often allude to duality and gender.”
Selected works from students of all grades were also showcased at the show, with special highlight to the 11th grade IB Visual Arts students’ work, giving us a taste of what will be in store for next year’s show!
by Stuart Millar, IB coordinator | Oct 18, 2018
One of the exciting things for students about the IB Diploma Program is that they get to choose their subjects. As our first cohort advances to year two, the current tenth graders and their parents attended an informational meeting and started to choose their courses for next year. The program requires them to study the three core subjects: Theory of Knowledge; Creativity, Activity, and Service; and complete the Extended Essay. To ensure breadth of study they are also required to select one subject from each of six different groups: Studies in Language and Literature; Language Acquisition; Individuals and Societies; Experimental Sciences; Mathematics; and the Arts. The majority of options are offered at Standard Level (SL) or Higher Level (HL), with students being required to take their studies deeper with three or four subjects at higher level. It is important to clarify that Futuro Verde offers students the IB course of study over two years in 11th and 12th grade, giving students the opportunity to graduate with a Bilingual IB diploma. Our students can also graduate with the Costa Rican (MEP) diploma as long as students study and successfully pass the national exams in Estudios Sociales and Cívica during 11th grade. It is not possible to study exclusively for the MEP high school diploma at Futuro Verde.
It was exciting to talk with the students and their parents as they made their choices and to hear their plans and reasons for the decisions they made. We wish them luck and look forward to supporting them in the next stage of their high school education.
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 Stuart Millar, IB coordinator | Jan 20, 2018
The start of every school year brings some new things to get excited about, and this year is no different!
Middle and high school students in grades 7-10 will be offered greater choice than ever before in the areas of physical education, the arts, and a third language.
Just some of the highlights include:
- Visual arts and music electives will be offered on a semester basis. This will allow students more hours per week to focus on the visual arts or music course they are taking. As they move up the grades, students will be able to select visual art or music courses that interest them, depending on availability and space.
- All 7th-grade students will embark on a Classical Languages course with Don Byrne, while students in 8th and 9th grades will be given the option of studying Classical Languages with Oscar Leal Méndez or French with Eugenia Allen. It is worth noting that French is for students who are new to or have little experience with the language. It is not designed for those who are already advanced or native speakers.
- Athletic director Alejandro Ramírez, with the support of Eugenia Allen, will be incorporating more options and choice, while still focusing on a core offering for all students. The list of choices for the entire year is yet to be finalized but the first choice will be between swimming and mountain biking.
We are excited to bring even more to our holistic offering at Futuro Verde. As the school year starts, students will hear much more about our offering of electives. Make sure you ask your middle or high school student what fun and exciting things they are up to!
