Description

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.

Although 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 student body and are warmly received by local students.

Our high school exchange students have hailed both from Europe and North America for either a semester or a year and have lived with a local CFS family. 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.

All of our core courses are taught in either English or 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. Please contact our admissions office for an information packet.

Type of Programs

• High School Study Abroad

Languages

• English
• Spanish

Cost in US$:

Program Fees Include:

Cloud Forest School tuition, room and board with a local Host Family

This Program is open to

American, Australian, Canadian, European, Kiwi, South African and Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel

Independently

Typically Participants Work

Independently

Application Process Involves

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

Cloud Forest School's Mission Statement

Cloud Forest School 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