High School in the Clouds! Cloud Forest Semester - Monteverde, Costa Rica

  Costa Rica

• Monteverde: 
Monteverde

Durations of Program: 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Dates: Fall Semester 2010, Spring Semester 2011

Description: An authentic world classroom and community comes to life at the Cloud Forest School in Monteverde, Costa Rica. For high school students with an interest in exploring and living in a new culture, our Semester in the Clouds program provides not only a framework but also a community in which to base an unforgettable lifetime adventure.

The Cloud Forest School, locally known as the Centro de Educacion Creativa, is a bilingual Pre-K through 11th grade independent school that offers creative, experiential education to 200 students with an emphasis on integrating environmental education, English, and Spanish into the curriculum.

While 90% of our students are local Costa Ricans, the Cloud Forest School has long welcomed visiting high school exchange students to our campus in the clouds. Our visiting students provide wonderful diversity to our campus and are excellent English language models for our local students.

To date, our high school exchange students have hailed both from Europe and the United States or either a semester or a whole calendar year and live with one of our local CFS families. Our exchange students find that their world view expands exponentially not only as they learn a new language, but as they live immersed within an authentic Costa Rican family unit.

Most of our core courses are taught in English and Spanish in high school, and our exchange students are also provided with a specialized, progressive Spanish as a Second Language program which meets students at their level and moves them forward.

Highlights: The Cloud Forest School sits upon a 106 acre campus of pastureland and rainforest, nestled at the top of Costa Rica's northwest Tilaran mountain range. Monteverde is renowned for its unique biodiversity, and is surrounded by tens of thousands of acres of conserved cloud forest. Our town of 5,000 people is comprised of local Costa Ricans and north American and European nationals who have decided to make Costa Rica their home. Full of art, music, yoga, dance, the best coffee and ice cream in the nation, and a magnificent natural ecosystem, Monteverde is a safe and dynamic place for families to live.

Our Semester in the Clouds program is available exclusively for students who will be in 10th or 11th grade during the 2010-2011 school year. Please contact our admissions office for an information packet.

Cost in US$: please contact admissions office

This Program is open to American, Australian, Canadian, European, Kiwi, South African and Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel to Costa Rica Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently

Application Process Involves:

• Disciplinary Clearance Form
• Essay
• Letters of Reference
• Online Application plus Application Assessment
• Other
• Phone Interview
• Physical Exam/Health Records
• Transcript
• Written Application

Cloud Forest School's Mission Statement: Our mission is to nurture generations of ecologically aware, academically well-rounded bilingual individuals. We will work to provide students with the knowledge, values and skills needed to make environmentally and socially conscious decisions on a local, national and global scale. Our vision is a sustainable future for the Earth through educating individuals to love, respect and protect the natural environment, to strive for justice and peace as well as academic excellence and to work towards conserving biodiversity and enriching community life.

Year Founded: 1991