La Paz Community School’s core curriculum, based on North American and Costa Rican standards and benchmarks, is supplemented by the following philosophies and programs.

Year Round Projects

Recycling

Compost

La Paz Garden

Chicken Coop

Community Meeting

Bilingual Program

Our bilingual program integrates Spanish and English in a meaningful, authentic way that supplements and correlates with the classroom curriculum.  The students have ongoing opportunities for natural language usage and expression, in addition to daily formal Spanish instruction time.  The younger grades focus on a more conversational and play-based integration while the older grades incorporate a more thematic approach based on language arts/social studies curriculum.  Spanish and English teachers collaborate together to plan academic content.

Spanish is  integrated through our Specials program as well.  Also, when La Paz teachers or community members are leading Specials activities, those who can lead the sessions in Spanish.  Spanish is also integrated through our community outreach and service learning programs due to the necessity of Spanish when interacting with the local community.

Within each grade level, those students who are native speakers in both English and Spanish become more natural peer teachers through play, conversation, projects, and other activities.

Through curriculum that promotes academic instruction in English and Spanish, students receive a bilingual and bi-literate education.  This also develops cross-cultural understanding, and provides a variety of opportunities for positive interactions among families.  While sharing our cultural heritages, we cultivate friendship and respect among the diverse ethnic and linguistic groups represented in the school community.

Service Learning

La Paz Community School firmly believes that service learning is an essential component of a community-based school.  Through the use of individual strengths and cooperation, service enhance the students’ connection between self, community, family and world.  Students utilizing their time, talents, energy, and other resources can reflect the school’s commitment to benefiting the local and global community, both in the present day and in the future.

Service learning also teach the students how to balance the rights of citizenship with the responsibilities of community membership while integrating the current educational reform recommendations with critical community concerns.  According to experiential education guru, John Dewey, the mind is social, not individual and thus learning comes from social activities.  Dewey also believes that students who actually do things – who engage in activities related to school subjects – learn more efficiently, more effectively, and remember what they have learned much longer than students who don’t.  This allows students to apply what they’re learning in the classroom environment to authentic experiences. 

Service learning includes classroom generated ideas as well as individual service projects that include; identifying the need, objective, developing a time-line, method and evaluation.

Cooperative Program

Each family contributes at least  18 hours/year (6 hours/trimester) of volunteer time.   Family donation time can be categorized in the following ways:

  • Office/Logistical Support:  this may include answering phones, making community connections, fundraising, organizing business logistics, etc.
  • Transportation/Errands:  organizing/attending field trips, running errands for materials and/or supplies, etc.
  • Classroom Support:  in classroom assistance, project help, one-on-one support with students
  • Specials:  leading activities that you are passionate about or that coordinate with classroom studies

Place-Based Education

“Placed-based education is the process of using the local community and environment as a starting point to teach concepts in language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and other subjects across the curriculum.  Emphasizing hands-on, real-world learning experiences, this approach to education increases academic achievement, helps students develop stronger ties to their community, enhances students’ appreciation for the natural world, and creates a heightened commitment to serving as active, contributing citizens.”

                - David Sobel, Place-Based Education; Connecting Classrooms & Communities

Place-based education allows students to address the questions: Where am I?  What is the nature of this place?  What sustains this community?  It fosters not only knowledgeable, but responsible, contributing citizens in both the local and global community.  In order to accomplish this, children must focus on self at a younger age, and broaden that focus to family, community, and eventually world, as they grow older.  “Love of nature, one’s neighbor, and community is a prime motivating factor in personal transformation.” (Sobel ii)

Assessment

Our assessment focuses on process as well as product.  We use assessment portfolios with samples of student work, student and group reflection, and student self-assessment in addition to teacher, and sometimes peer, feedback.  PreK-2nd grade assessment will primarily be narrative, and 3rd –12th grades will have numerical evaluation in addition to narrative assessment.  Across grade levels, student work and social development is assessed with a grading rubric from zero to four (0: No Evidence, 1: Emerging, 2: Developing, 3: Proficient, 4: Exemplary).

Specials Program

Our Specials program truly relies on volunteers and community members.  This is the ideal avenue for parents, teachers, and other community members to share their talents and passions with our students.  For example; a volunteer could sign up to teach yoga to 10-12 year olds for an hour each week over the duration of one trimester (about 3 months).  Or, another community member could come in for a special mural project that would only last a few weeks.  This is flexible, based on the volunteer’s needs and schedule.  If you are a parent in the La Paz community, participating in the Specials program will aid in fulfilling your 18 hours/year donation requirement.

Some possible activity ideas include:  yoga, arts (painting/drawing/collage/mural), sports, drama/theater, music (singing and instruments), pilates, dance, gymnastics, science experiments, crafts, snorkeling, creative writing, journalism, technology, keyboarding/typing, storytelling, language study (other than English or Spanish), cooking, photography, graphic art design, nature studies - anything that you would like to share with the La Paz Community!