A long-held dream came true last year for Osa Peninsula locals when Escuela Nueva Hoja opened its doors to 22 children between the ages of 4 and 15. This year, they have 35 students. The school is a private, non profit school for pre-kinder through 8th grade, with the bi-lingual study program incorporating the curriculum of Calvert School, an Internationally recognized home school curriculum from Baltimore, Maryland, the Costa Rica curriculum for Spanish and social studies, and special Earth Wellness courses sponsored by the Women of the Osa .
The Earth Wellness courses include outdoor exploration of the Osa Peninsula’s incredible wildlife resources, and important lessons for the environment, such as recycling and composting. School Directors, Elizabeth Oden and Terry Huisman, as well as parents and friends, have worked hard, renovating spaces, raising money and donations of materials, and recruiting students. The school is accredited through the Calvert International system, and is pending accreditation from the CR Ministry of Education.
Although English was new and at times difficult for the school’s 85% native Costa Rican students, most have adapted to the bilingual system and are speaking both languages well after the concentrated ESL style learning processes.
The schools started out housed in a small renovated space adjacent to Puerto Jimenez’s public library, but recently transferred to a new space designed and built for Nueva Hoja, with room to grow. The new facility will be able to house up to 80 students and meets the requirements for accreditation by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health of Costa Rica. The inevitable dream is to have a large, beautiful campus with all the facilities necessary for a well-rounded education all the way through high school. The idea is to prepare students so that they will be able to make a choice to continue their education in any university they choose.
If interested in sponsoring a student that otherwise cannot afford tuition, or contributing to the scholarship fund or the building and materials funds, please contact the directors, Elizabeth Oden or Terry Huisman through their website: www.nuevahoja.com
Look for updates on the projects and events for this “new leaf� in the Osa forest!