Founded in 1991 by local parents committed to quality education for their children, the Cloud Forest School is an inde pendent school located on 106 acres of cloud forest land in Monteverde, Costa Rica. 200 students matriculate in Pre school–Grade 11. Classes are taught in both Spanish and English, so that students become fluent in both languages. The curriculum is webbed around the environment, with all grades involved in land stewardship.

The local Board of Trustees determines policy and maintains close communication with the Cloud Forest School Foundation, the 501(c)(3) support organi­zation in the United States which does much of the fund­raising for the school’s operating, capital, and endowment needs.

Cloud Forest School Foundation Mission:

Cloud Forest School Foundation (CFSF) is a not­for­profit educa­tional organization providing support to the Cloud Forest School known locally as the Centro de Educación Creativa (CEC), a bilingual, environ mentally focused school in Monteverde, Costa Rica. CFSF strives to provide CFS with an international network of friends, financial support, professional develop­ment opportunities, and teacher and volunteer recruitment.

The CFS admiTS STudenTS oF any

raCe, Color and naTional and

eThniC origin.

Cloud Forest sChool Foundation

In 2005, the School graduated its first group of five 11th graders. While the number of graduates in each class has varied from year to year, more than 50% have gone on to university in Costa Rica. To

enter university in Costa Rica, a student must pass all of the qualifying 11th grade exams in a school accredited by the Ministry of Education (MEP). The CFS was accredited in 2001. Many of our graduates have elected to remain in Monteverde to pursue careers here. Others have returned after university and graduate school, “because it’s home.” We caught up with four such graduates recently and asked them how their education at the CFS had shaped their lives.

A Glimpse of Some Graduates Today

continues on page 2

Mariela

José

Luis

Whereare they

now?

Silvia

www.cloudforestschool.org

SPRING2017

Silvia received her baccalaureate degree from the National University in Heredia in environmental engineering. Hers was

the first class of environmental engineers in the country. She now manages the training and documentation for environmental certification at Los Pinos in Monteverde. During her final year at university, she both studied for her degree and worked for Los Pinos. And now, she is writing her Master’s thesis on the water footprint of palm oil in three districts in the Osa Peninsula.

In Costa Rica, one must declare “a major” on entering university. Silvia Elena “couldn’t decide what I loved the most and would give my life to.” But, in the final week before classes, she was struck by “the environmental passion I lived at the Cloud Forest School. We planted trees and took care of them when we were five years old. There were Toucanets singing outside our classroom windows. We had classes in the middle of the forest; and when we wanted to look at different plants, we just went to the garden. It was all right there. Yes. I wanted to give my life to this!”

Silvia Elena never had to take university classes in English; she simply took — and passed — the exams. Almost all of the materials in the natural sciences, textbooks and magazine articles, are in English, so she translated them for her classmates. “But, there is no certificate from the School to prove that we are proficient in English, because we are not officially recognized as a bilingual school.” (The current School administration is addressing this issue.)

And her feelings for the School? “I love this place! We do need to offer physics and chemistry. If I hadn’t had Isaac Bass and Chelsea Henderson in colegio math, I’d have been totally lost in university. There is still so much potential for what we can offer to students.”

With two colleagues, she is starting her own enterprise in environmental services next month. And, tomorrow, she is conducting a local inventory of carbon emissions. •

Mariela practices dentistry in the Centro Comercial, or Mall, in Santa Elena. She started the Cloud Forest School in kinder

(nursery). In those days, the School hadn’t yet been accredited to give national exams, so Mariela left in 6th grade to go to a school which could offer the exams; and as soon as she’d passed them, she was back again! Six months after graduating from colegio, she was in dental school in San José for four years. And in 2011, she and a dental school classmate opened their joint practice for the greater Monteverde area. Today, it is a bustling practice, serving both Ticos and tourists in about equal proportion. And she works six days a week from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. to serve all her patients.

Mariela remembers the school as “home.” “Everyone worked there for love.” “I learned to love nature; and we are now planting trees on our property here — trees that are food for the birds and the animals. The previous owner had horses and had cut down a lot of trees; and we want to bring back the wildlife.”

What would have been helpful? “Chemistry. …It’s not nice, but it’s necessary. I had to take it in dental school. Much better to offer it in colegio.” •

Dr. Mariela Cruz Arguedas

(CFS 2006)

Silvia Elena Santamaria

(CFS 2011)

“We planted trees and took care of them when we were five years old. There were Toucanets singing outside our classroom windows. We had classes in the middle of the forest; and when we wanted to look at different plants, we just went to the garden. It was all right there.”

– Silvia Elena Santamaria

A GLIMPSE OF SOME GRADUATES TODAY, continued from page 1

Whereare they

now?

2 www.cloudforestschool.org C l o u d F o r e s t s C h o o l F o u n d at i o n

 “The CEC was my home for 12 years and I will be forever thankful for having had the chance to grow up in this world with a

bilingual mindset: one that I acquired there. I had a scholarship since day one and later on many sponsorships, which I am also thankful for, as without them, no child from a low-income family, could gain access to such a privileged education. Yes, there are always things to work on, and nothing will ever be perfect, but how many people in the world get to have an education where respect for others, respect for nature, respect for ourselves and bilingual proficiency, are the core values of a 40+ hectare campus, surrounded by endangered cloud forest, where tuition is a fraction of the cost of that in most of the world?”

“Today, I am the Reception and Reservations Manager at a local hotel, the Project Coordinator of a non-profit performing arts education organization, have traveled to several different countries (with many more to come), and am the happy owner of a mortgage loan that I hope to finish paying soon…all that while I am still about half way through a double major in biology and English. The CEC inspired me to be curious, to help others, to pursue my dreams and to be able to communicate fluently, in a language that none of my parents actually speak. I am quite grateful for the small-sized generations (there were 16 of us in my class), where we all had plenty of attention from all of our teachers and got personalized feedback and follow-ups from them. Even though very subtle, they were always there, ensuring that we were able to develop the necessary skills to resolve our conflicts. Maybe that got us a little spoiled, as once you get to college things change drastically, but the emotional and personal foundations gathered throughout that personalized attention has no price.“

“I also have fond memories of the ‘peace bench’, an area where once we had a disagreement with someone, we would be sent there to sit down and have a dialogue with that person. We would then

proceed to say how we felt and how the other person made us feel and formulate actions to avoid it happening again. Just imagine the profound and positive psychological impact that this can have on a child, who learns to suppress their anger and control their emotions, while in the meantime, learns to resolve personal conflicts, taking other people's emotions and feelings into consideration, and using dialogue as the foundation to resolve them. I don't know about you guys, but that is pretty much what I think adulthood is all about, especially if you have any connections with the customer service department at any company. “

“In the near future, I hope to have paid off my house, get my degrees, establish a Bilingual Environmental Education program geared towards public schools in the area, and sponsor some low-income kid (or kids maybe) from the community, so that they are also able to go to the Cloud Forest School, and be as privileged as I once was able to be.” •

José Andrés has been a guide at the Orchid Garden, El Jardín de las Orquideas in Santa Elena, for a year. He works six days a week

from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., sharing his love and knowledge of these flowers with many visitors. José Andrés began in the Cloud Forest School as a second grader and graduated in 2015. His father is a well-known botanist in the area and even has a refugio named for him! José Andrés has accompanied his father on many hikes in the

area, on Monteverde Reserve trails and on School trails, up and over the Continental Divide and eastwards to the Atlantic Coast. He relishes these trips.

José Andrés credits the School with furthering his interest in biology and botany. “In the public schools, there’s not so much interest in nature.” As a student, he enjoyed helping Milton with the gardens and going out into “the field,” i.e., the cloud forest. The fact that the School campus is protected by a conservation easement matters deeply to him, for it says “we really care about the environ-ment.” A music lover, he was known for bringing his guitar to school every day; and he still loves to play. This multi-talented young man also designed the T-shirt which the School used one year for the Scholarship Walk. In his “spare time,” he is uploading a Facebook page on the flora and fauna of Costa Rica

Because so many jobs in Monteverde involve tourism, English is essential. José Andrés is grateful that he learned such good English at the School and also that his family, who lives on the hill going up to the School, was a Homestay Family. (See article on page 5.) While students staying with his family practiced their Spanish, José Andrés honed his English.

José Andrés notes that the number of French-speaking tourists in Monteverde is increasing rapidly; and he’d like to study French, in addition to biology and botany when he attends university. He thinks it might be a good idea for the School to begin offering French. •

José Andrés Cruz Obando

(CFS 2015)

Luis Eladio Campos Solis

(CFS 2011)

R A I N B O W s P r i n G 2 0 1 7 www.cloudforestschool.org 3

Hugo, our first-ever PhysEd teacher emceed the day. Sometimes, it was fútbol in the foreground, sometimes it was the races. And, the Parents’ Commission did a box office business in hot lunches, coffee, and snacks.

Sewanee Outreach, 16 strong, had helped Milton clear the various trails of some large trees felled by unusually high March winds. Some of our trails wind up and over the Continental Divide and are steep enough, without adding any further hazards. Thus, the 5k and 10k runs are incredibly demanding.

The races were segmented by age and gender and began with the youngest (Kinder and Prepa) travelling over the shortest trail through the forest, with ever-vigilant teachers interspersed throughout. As one diminutive 3-year-old faltered at the final hill, his teacher scooped him up in her arms and raced with him across the soccer field to the finish line!

Artwork, all themed around the Run, and finely-crafted by our talented students under Carla Willoughby’s direction,

comprised the prizes. The fleet and fast claimed their prizes in the order of their finish times: first and second in the Women’s 10k, then the Men’s 10k, then the 5k winners and so on. Their delight in the art was eminently visible. In fact, delight is a fitting descriptor for the entire day. •

Carrera Creativa 2017It didn’t just rain, it poured. The wind roared. And it was cold. So dawned Saturday, March 18th: the day of the Scholarship/Walk Run. But, the runners were out in force: 90 of them — more than we’ve ever had. And smiles lit up the day as high spirits pervaded the event.

Grades 1 and 2 are off! (with Faculty Accompaniment)

Soccer Action in the Rain!Raul and Celimo lead the Middle School Carrera

Kinder Teacher Cassie carries Jo Matias to the Finish

Elizabeth and Kayla from Sewanee tie for First in the Women’s 5k

4 www.cloudforestschool.org C l o u d F o r e s t s C h o o l F o u n d at i o n

Carrera Creativa 2017As a Cloud Forest School parent, do you

have a spare bedroom? And, would you like to take in a new family member, provide breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner and do their laundry? Would you be willing to learn to cook a vegan or gluten-free diet? And, if that new family member is 18 or under, would one of you be home all the time in case of illness? All for $20 a day? These are just some of the criteria for you to be considered as a Homestay Family for the many visiting students and faculty who come to the School annually.

All of our Homestay Families recognize that the cultural experience which they offer is the heart of this successful program. Thus, they open their homes and their hearts, encourage hesitant Spanish, deal with allergies, and stay in touch months, or even years, after the actual visit has ended. And they use the money they have earned to help pay their children’s tuition.

One of the Cloud Forest School families proudly stepping into this role is Seidy Cruz and Carlos Arroyo. Longtime members of the greater Monteverde community, they have three children, two of whom, Pablo, a 9th grader and Johan, a 5th grader, still live at home. For three years now, they have taken a Proctor Academy sophomore into their home for a 10-week session. But, long before Proctor had a program with the Cloud Forest School, Seidy and Carlos had been hosting visitors from different cultures.

Room and Board and… Mucho Más

donation levels

$1,000 $500 $250 $100 $50 $25 other

Name

Address

Phone

E-mail

tax-deductible donations to the Cloud Forest school Foundation can be made online through the network For Good at www.cloudforestschool.org(Click on the “DonaTE now” button)

alternatively, checks made payable to “Cloud Forest school Foundation” can be mailed to:

Cloud Forest School FoundationP.o. Box 3223Sewanee, Tn 37375-3223

Plea

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ith y

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In fact, they have been doing this for 19 years, because they really like the experience.

The Proctor sopho-mores come for either a January-March session or March-May. While they have daily Spanish classes of an hour and twenty minutes at School, they really get immersed in the language in their homestays. Lucas, who was with the family for January-March of this year, spoke to Pablo and Johan in English, but he spoke to Seidy and Carlos in Spanish. He had only a year of Spanish before coming to Costa Rica, but he will be credited with two terms of Spanish because of how intense the language experience is. His comprehension increased dramatically. What did he love about his time here? “Everyone has been super-friendly. Pablo and I share everything. Seidy is a wonderful cook; and I love her food, especially her spa-ghetti. The fruits: “ Fried plantains, passion fruit, watermelon, pineapple, papaya.” “And the views are beautiful.” The Cruz-Arroyo home looks out over the Gulf of Nicoya; and “the sunsets are beyond description.”

Lucas is happily recommending this program to other Proctor students. In fact,

his roommate is coming for the next 10-week session and hoping to stay with Seidy and Carlos and the two boys. Lucas particularly enjoyed being here during the Costa Rican summer, which, for Proctor, in Andover, NH means snow, freezing rain, ice and a high wind chill factor. In Monteverde, it was sunny and in the mid 70’s on an almost daily basis.

Kathia Corrales oversees the Homestay Program. At the beginning of the school year, she holds an introductory meeting for all families who express an interest and explains how the program works. She then personally visits all who apply; and, during the course of the year, some 40 Cloud Forest School families participate. “It is,” in Kathia’s words “a program to benefit everyone.” •

Seidy, Carlos, Pablo and Johan with Lucas in the back

Support the Cloud Forest School Foundation

I n 1996 The Cloud Forest School (CFS/CEC) was relatively new, but already it had stalwart supporters in Sewanee,

Tennessee. From those earliest days working with then-trustee Sheri Bergman and founding trustee Jan Drake Lowther, it was a goal to create lasting and meaning-ful relationships between the Cloud Forest School and key independent schools in the United States. By 1999, Christopher Tompkins, then Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School, began planning for an exchange program that would eventually connect St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School, Mercersburg Academy, and other premier independent schools to Monteverde and the Cloud Forest School.

In 2001, Assistant Head of School for Enrollment Christopher Tompkins (Mercersburg) and Head of School Rebecca Goertzel (CFS/CEC) worked with Dr. Eugenio Sancho, Academic Dean (Mercers-burg), and Trustee Elizabeth Lowell to enroll the first Cloud Forest School student at Mercersburg Academy. Protocols were established and the process of identifying prospective students begun in a joint effort to ensure success and longevity. Protocols included an onsite visit to review records, meet families, and assess applications alongside teachers. To create a long-term,

sustainable relationship, such detail was essential and finding the ‘right’ student paramount to ensure success. Chris Tompkins traveled to Costa Rica and interviewed several students on behalf of Mercersburg Academy. Andrés Gomez Rodriguez, an excellent student and citizen who embodied the mission of the Cloud Forest School and more than met all the required qualifications of admission to

Mercersburg Academy, was identified as the student who would travel to Pennsylvania for an academic year.

Andrés, with two younger siblings also enrolled at CFS/CEC, presented as a strong scholar-athlete ready to tackle an indepen-dent experience in a North American boarding school. After spending time with Andrés’s parents, observing him help run the family businesses of a cafe, gift shop, and inn in Santa Elena interacting with customers from around the world with confidence and ease and communicating in impeccable English, it was clear that he was prepared by the CFS/CEC for the expecta-tions at Mercersburg. Andrés presented as a mature and humble young man who was especially kind to Hannah Tompkins, age six and who was born in Sewanee, Tennes-see. Hannah had joined her father in Monteverde and immediately made friends with Andrés’s sister, Jessica.

At 16, Andrés obtained his first passport, arranged his interview at the United States Embassy in San José for his F-1 Non-Immi-grant Student Visa, and planned his first trip outside his native Costa Rica, and prepared for his first experience flying on a plane. Something had to go wrong, though, and Andrés was not allowed to board the flight with Christopher Tompkins, who flew to Costa Rica to escort him back to the USA. The two had a conversation to assure Andrés that he could do this and that someone from Mercersburg would be at Washington-Dulles to greet him after Immigration and Customs. Andrés made it without further trouble and enjoyed an intensive English as a Second Language program for the summer to prepare for the start of his year. In his time at Mercersburg, Andrés joined the soccer

Since Andrés studied at

Mercersburg, some 15 faculty

have traveled to Costa Rica,

more than one hundred students

traveled to Monteverde, and

still others have enjoyed

opportunities to serve the

CFS/CEC while also supporting

its Mission.

Andrés’s dorm room displaying proudly the Tico flag.

Andrés Studying in his Dorm Room

Andrés (right) works on his friends’ ties in preparation for Monday Dinner.

Mercersburg:Where it All Started!

Paul Rutherford (left) and Andrés Gomez Rodriguez (Right)

6 www.cloudforestschool.org C l o u d F o r e s t s C h o o l F o u n d at i o n

and squash teams, was impressed by how international Mercersburg was (and remains), and chose his first blazer and tie with the help of Ms. Karla Vargas, now Director of Enrollment and Marketing at St. Andrew’s School of Jackson, Mississippi, where Trustee Mary Bruce Alford’s husband is Head of Lower School.

Mary Bruce is a graduate of Sewanee and her brother, Carl, a graduate of Mercersburg and Sewanee worked on the Lookout Tower as a member of the Sewanee Outreach Program. A small world and one made smaller by the relationships created through programs like this one.

At Mercersburg, Andrés connected quickly and made lifelong friendships with various people, including Associate Head of School Debbie Rutherford and Director of Educational Technology Frank Rutherford who count him as “another son.” Paul Rutherford and Andrés remain in touch as former classmates, and Josh Edgin, Andrés’s

Mercersburg Students Restoring the Tree House

roommate and Major League Baseball pitcher for the New York Mets, is in regular contact as well. Both the Rutherford boys have visited Andrés in Costa Rica, Frank and Debbie have traveled with former Head of School Doug Hale and trustees to visit the Cloud Forest School, and Frank Rutherford is now in Costa Rica on a sabbatical supporting his professional development and the needs of the CFS.

Since Andrés studied at Mercersburg, some 15 faculty have traveled to Costa Rica, more than one hundred students traveled to Monteverde, and still others have enjoyed opportunities to serve the CFS/CEC while also supporting its Mission. David Strider, Class of 2007, completed an internship at the School in 2010 developing his own leadership skills that came in handy as he studied International Business at New York University. Other students have repaired buildings and even worked on the “tree-house” used by students inside the forest.

Mercersburg has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the school and carried countless and much-needed equipment and supplies over the years. Following Andrés were other notable additions to the relationship that he began. José Chavarria Ugalde (Yacdany) and Stefania Tréjos Garita joined the Mercersburg community and continued the tradition of Tico warmth and bonds of friendship that are evident in the special relationship between Mercersburg Academy and The Cloud Forest School.

From Andrés Gomez Rodriguez in 2002 the relationship has grown with students also attending St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School. Jonathan Brenes Salazar (CFS 2008) was the first student to attend St. Andrew’s-Sewanee. He also graduated from Sewanee: The University of the South in 2013, winning the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Medallion for character, leadership, and service. On page 3 of this newsletter you will note Luis Eladio Campos Solis, who also spent a semester at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School (CFS 2011). Several students also attended The Perkiomen School, including Silvia Elena Santamaria (CFS 2011), featured on page 2 of this newsletter. Still other schools have joined the list of visitors to Costa Rica with term-length stays by students from Proctor Academy. Without a doubt, relationships are built upon trust, common goals and principles, and a commitment to inter-cultural awareness. When looking at the depth of affection between and amongst families, students, and schools, the Tico tradition of Pura Vida is clearly evident and bodes well for the future of The Cloud Forest School and its many supporters abroad, including the Cloud Forest School Foundation, whose members continue to build support for the Mission and people of the CFS. •

The Cloud Forest School Foundation now has a direct link to Amazon.com. Why? To provide us with much-needed funds. Tuition and donations do not a balanced budget make; and we need further resources.

By going to www.cloudforestschool.org, look for the Amazon.com banner and go to Amazon through our website. The Foundation will receive .5% of your total order, at no additional cost to you or to Amazon. It will all go to our students’ financial aid.

Shop at Amazon.com; Benefit the School

Here’s what it

looks like

R A I N B O W s P r i n G 2 0 1 7 www.cloudforestschool.org 7

Cloud Forest sChool FouNdAtIoNP.o. Box 3223sewANee, tN 37375

ChANge servICe requested

NoNProFItus PostAge

PAIdsewANee tNPermIt No 63

In an effort to save paper we would like to provide you with the option to receive a PDF copy of the Rainbow by e-mail. If you would like to be added to the distribution list, please e-mail or call Mary Bruce Alford at cfsfoundation@gmail.com, 601-209-2289.

Published by:The Cloud Forest School Foundation P.O. Box 3223Sewanee, TN 37375

Phone: 601-209-2289e-mail: cfsfoundation@gmail.com web: www.cloudforestschool.org

editors: Mary Bruce Alford, Elizabeth Lowell, and Christopher Tompkins

designer: Dan Reiff

Printed on recycled paper. Please recycle.

Christina Parajeles and Edith Abarca working in the kitchen.

A Happy MealThey move in unison. Arms rise and fall rhythmically. Chopping tomatoes, carrots, peppers, cilantro. There is no music; only the murmur of friendly voices as the choreography continues. It is a Wednesday morning at the Cloud Forest School; and a team of parents is preparing a hot lunch for sale.

The net proceeds from the lunch will go to fund scholarships. The parents’ time will be credited to the 60 hours a year each family is asked to contribute to the School. The warm companionship of each other’s company is their reward for this labor of love.

The kitchen is small. So, the choreography is essential. It is graceful, quiet and efficient: a ballet.

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