Monteverde - Education

Education

There are several public schools in the area, including the Escuela Santa Elena, the Escuela Cerro Plano and the Escuela San Luis. The Colegio San Rafael and Colegio Técnico Professional (also known as the Colegio Santa Elena) are responsible for the majority of secondary education in the area.

Private education is fairly robust in the Monteverde region. The majority of North Americans and a considerable number of Costa Ricans are enrolled in private schools.

In 1951, the Quakers constructed a Quaker Meeting hall, which served as a general store and classrooms. This became known as Monteverde Friends School (MFS) and has since grown over the years to a Pre-K through 12 fully bilingual program. The school has limited its enrollment to 120 students in order to maintain the intimacy and high quality of a small-school learning environment. The majority of students at the school are Costa Rican, and a

A larger and fully bilingual (English/Spanish) institution, Cloud Forest School, the "Centro de Educación Creativa" or Cloud Forest School (CFS) began in 1991 as a parent-run kindergarten for 30 local students. In the 20 years since its inception it has since expanded to an enrollment of roughly 200 students from Pre-K through 11th grade, over 90% of whom are Costa Ricans. The CFS is fully accredited by the government of Costa Rica and over 50% of its graduates go on to university.

The small private Adventist school, the Escuela Adventista, is also bilingual.

While there are no institutions of higher education in Monteverde, the area is home to a considerable number of local and foreign undergraduate and graduate students drawn to international study abroad programs furnished by EAP, CIEE, and the University of Georgia (see below). Monteverde is also home to a substantial number of foreign-born scientists. Most residents of Monteverde pursue higher education in the Central Valley at institutions such as the University of Costa Rica.