Program Reviews

The Four Months that I spent at Escuela Creativa gave me long-term friendships and an excellent opportunity to see my field of Education in a whole new light. I was exposed to Montessori principles, invited to contribute my Arts Education background, and developed deep relationships with the kids, home stay, staff, and incredible natural environment, Plus, I learned Spanish! I learned about the Children's International Rainforest, was guided by a powerful mentor, and found a real sense of community throughout all of my experience. I strongly recommend it!

This program was super fun. The juxtaposition of learning about sustainability and living in a thriving diverse ecosystem was unmatched. The staff there was so welcoming and knowledgeable of the environment around them, and it truly made for a great experience. It’s a beautiful campus in a beautiful culture and I couldn’t have had a better experience in Monteverde! The living quarters were very clean and were cleaned regularly, the food was delicious and a lot of it came from the gardens on campus. Opportunities to make friends with other students, employees or animals were abundant!

Coming in with little experience, I gained thorough knowledge of the rhythms of the classroom, and the work that goes into it. I got to work a lot with students one and one, and get to know them as well. I also saw the lead teacher in action daily, and visited other classrooms.

The school environment is unique in that half of classes are in Spanish, half in English and half the staff is Costa Rican and half from the US. It is great if you are interested in ESL education. Everyone was welcoming. I'm very glad I went.

The Cloud Forest School is one of the best schools that I have ever had the opportunity to work with. They staff is unbelievably dedicated to the students and in turn, the interns. The bilingual challenge for me, as a native English speaker with limited Spanish, really pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to grow as an individual and a teacher. The students were great to work with and were very understanding of the fact that I was learning to become a teacher. They were always willing to help. I am missing it everyday.

I completed a three month counseling internship after completing my Master's in School Counseling. This experiences changed my future plan drastically. I fell in love with the Monteverde area and the Cloud Forest School. I was able to enjoy the beautiful cloud forest everyday as I walked around campus working with students and staff. The support and acceptance I experienced from the staff made my time away from home very enjoyable. In a very short time I was able to develop a home away from home. It took me a while to become accustom to finding scorpions and other insects in my living and working space, but all my experiences have left me with some great stories. I was participating in a yoga class one day when a scorpion fell off the ceiling right through my hair and onto my yoga mat! I was able to remain calm as the scorpion was tossed outside and we continued our yoga class without much interruption. That is something I have never experienced before! Through my work at the Cloud Forest School I was able to see a positive change in the lives of the students I worked with. This is the best results of any work with children in my opinion. I am so grateful that I took a leap of faith and came to Monteverde for this unique, empowering experience!

I loved every minute I spent in Monteverde. Working at the school with the kids and interacting with all of the wonderful staff members will be something I cherish and remember for the rest of my life.

I loved working in the first grade classroom at the school this past spring. I learned so much about environmental education, bilingualism, best practices for reading, writing, and math, and how to manage a classroom positively. The staff and faculty at the school are so welcoming. The other interns and I would often find ourselves hanging out with them on a Friday or Saturday night for fun. I really enjoyed living with my host family and they did a great job making me feel like just another sister/daughter in their family. Overall, I could not have had a better experience. I miss my students, the staff at the school, and my host family very, very much.

I am so happy to be a part of this program - as a student interested both in teaching and the fields of Education and Sociology at the research level, my time here has given me the freedom and support to push myself to grow in both of these areas. I have been lucky to be paired with an awesome mentor teacher to learn from, and we work together from 8 - 4 during the school day. For me, this partnership has given me just the right amount of pressure to plan my own lessons and unit, and take responsibility in the classroom gradually, learning a ton but not being too overwhelmed. Monteverde is a close-knit community in an absolutely breathtaking setting, and there is definitely an opportunity for social life outside of the program - but you have to go looking for it! Learning and improving your Spanish, especially with the month at a language institute offered for the first month of the program, is a huge boost to getting more involved in the community and making friends. This program is hard work, but worth it - it pushes you to be more independent and outgoing in achieving your goals.

I have had an amazing experience and learned so much. I have been working as an assistant teacher in the 2nd grade, where the teacher has taken so much time to really teach me. Everyone has been excellent about helping me to get what I need out of the experience. I work every day from 8:00-4:00, helping in the classroom, teaching certain lessons like spelling and writing, leading certain parts of the day like morning circle, and planning. It has been hard work and I have been tired a lot, but it has been such a valuable experience. Monteverde is also a wonderful place to live--it is so beautiful, and there are lots of fun outdoor activities to do.