BULLETIN No. 21

Upcoming Dates

 
General

House/Service Learning ‘Boxes of Hope’ Activity
At the start of Quarter 3, our House Programme launched an activity called ‘Boxes of Hope’ in conjunction with our Service Learning Department.  The first stage of this activity was to allocate each of our Houses a service learning organisation that they would be supporting:
 
Arenal: Giamala, an organisation dedicated to providing support to young cancer patients.
Barva: Face of Justice, an organisation dedicated to fighting against human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Irazú: Pan para mi hermano, an organisation dedicated to providing support to the homeless.
Poás: CIDAI Pavas, an organisation dedicated to supporting the various needs of young people in Pavas.
 
Each House was then given a box to decorate which will be placed at the entrance of the School ahead of a community wide collection of non-perishable food and personal hygiene products which will take place between the 24^th of July and the 1^st of August.  If you would like to contribute to this collection for the four causes listed above, please drop off your donations by the main student entrance each morning.
 
The objective of this activity is to raise awareness about these four excellent causes while also promoting teamwork and unity amongst students and staff through our House System.  Thank you to our House and Service Learning staff for organising this initiative.
 
2025 School Calendar
Please click on the following link to access our school calendar for students for the 2025 academic year – 2025 School Calendar
 
Chess Tournament
The Chess Tournament is about to start! It will take place from 29^th of July to 5^th of August. On the 29^th and 31^st of July and 1^st of August, we will have the qualifying rounds, semi-finals and the grand finale, which will take place from 12:00 pm to 1:10 pm in the gymnasium. In addition, on 30^th of July we will have chess classes for adults (teachers and administrative staff) and students who wish to learn how to play chess during the second break in each of the libraries (those interested must register in the libraries, as we have limited space). Finally, on the 5^th of August we will have an Exhibition Game between the student Nicolás del Río from Year 3A (who competed in the last National Games representing Escazú) and the teacher and national competitor José Antonio Meza Vega. We invite the learning community to make banners in support of the competing students, as well as to attend and participate in the different activities that will take place during these days. We hope that this tournament will be a pleasant experience for the whole school and an opportunity for learning and growth for the participating students:
 
Benjamín Cadillo (EY3), Alejandro Bonilla (Y1), Lucas Mora (Y1), Agustín Del Río (Y1), Lev Larionov (Y2), Marcelo Ugarte (Y2), Benjamín Ruiz (Y2), Lorenzo Campabadal (Y3), Nicolás del Río (Y3), Milan Andara (Y3), Saúl Saénz (Y3), Andrés Moreno (Y4), Baolin Hu (Y4), Manuel González (Y4), Diana Ramírez (Y6)
 
Primary
 
Early Years 2 – IEYC ‘To The Rescue’
To start our learning journey for this quarter, the Early Years 2 students participated in their Entry Point for the new IEYC unit “To The Rescue”. Firstly, they found a mystery box that a superhero left for them to keep an eye on it. But on Monday the box was missing because the villain Mighty Freeze hid it.   Then with the help of the Early Years’ superhero the children went to explore around the school looking for the mystery box. And when they found it they saw that it was filled with superhero supplies for them to become the new superheroes in town! Everyone involved in the activity was thrilled to begin this learning path in such an exciting way. Photo
 
Maths Workshop for Primary Parents
A high turnout of Year 1-5 parents thoroughly enjoyed an engaging and interactive Maths workshop led by our Primary Maths Coordinator, Teacher Katingo on Wednesday of this week. There were opportunities for reflection and discussion as well as lots of practical activities which allowed parents to gain a greater understanding of how best to support their child(ren) with Maths at home. Photo / Photo / Photo. For those parents who were unable to join us on this occasion, please find a copy of the presentation attached – Maths Workshop
 
Social, Emotional and Relationships Talk for Year 5 Students
As our Year 5 students begin to think about the transition to Secondary School and their journey into adolescence, it is more important than ever to focus on their emotional wellbeing and cultivation of social relationships. In order to support our students, we invited two of our NB Year 11 student mentors, Andrea Soley and Leonardo Jiménez, to speak with the whole Year 5 generation. With reference to the school’s values and through anecdotal tales of their own experiences, Andrea and Leonardo instilled confidence, whilst providing reassurance to our final year Primary students about the road ahead. Photo / Photo
 
Secondary
 
Parent-Teacher Meetings
Thank you to all parents that attended this week’s parent-teacher meetings.  If you were unable to attend the meetings but would still like to speak with your son/daughter’s teacher, then please send an email directly to the relevant teacher to organise a convenient time for you to meet.
 
Soccer Success
Congratulations to María Paula Villalobos on her participation at the Gothia International Soccer Championship which took place in Gothenburg, Sweden last week.  María Paula’s team, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense U13, were the first women’s team from Central America to qualify and they ended up finishing 14th out of 54 teams.  An additional congratulation to María Paula on scoring her first goal in an international championship in the match against Torslanda IK FC from Sweden. Photo
 
Tennis Champion
Congratulations to Cristina Zúñiga on achieving a gold medal in the Central American U14 women’s doubles championship and a silver medal in the single’s competition at the CONTECA XL Central American tennis tournament.  The tournament had participants representing Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panamá. She also achieved a gold medal in the doubles tournament and a bronze medal in the singles in the U12 tennis category at the National Sporting Games held in Nicoya over the break.  Roberto Zúñiga won a silver medal in the U18s doubles category at this event.  Congratulations to both players on their impressive achievements!
 
Art Exhibitions  Congratulations to the following Art students on their outstanding artwork: 

• To our Year 7 Visual Arts students for their wonderful exhibition on the theme of Costa Rican Landscapes at the Secondary school bridge. The Year 7 students were encouraged to work independently as they explored acrylic paint on board demonstrating their excellent understanding of visual language. Well done Year 7! Photo / Photo / Photo
• To our Year 8 students on their wonderful ceramic exhibition on the theme of Insect Conservation which is in the stairwell in the Administration building as well as the Art Room.  The Year 8 students explored 3D ceramic techniques and skills of hand building, molding, bas relief and glazing. Students made personalized decisions on their designs, artist inspirations, tools and techniques that gave greater independence in their decision making process. Photo / Photo / Photo / Photo
• To our Year 11 NB students for their wonderful exhibition on display in the French corridor. The display showcases their excellent self-portraits adorned with their own jewellery designs on the theme ‘Adorn, Embellishment, Decoration’.  The students explored the jewellery work of different cultures to create and embellish their jewellery designs in metalwork. They then created a final self-portrait composition adorned with their metal work. They made informed decisions on their learning skills demonstrating different aesthetic ideas to a final successful outcome for their 3D jewellery and self-portrait project that will all be on display at the 11NB Visual Arts exhibition in the Auditorium in October. Photo / Photo

Visit to Café Saint Honoré
On Tuesday 23^rd of July, Year 10, Year 11 IB and NB French students visited Café Saint Honoré, where they explored the French gastronomy. They also had the opportunity to meet the renowned French-Algerian writer Nacer Wabeau, a professor at the University of Costa Rica, a graduate of the Sorbonne and a recipient of the Academic Palms awarded by the French government. He shared the creative writing process and his methods for creating stories, as he did with his works Sin voz ni techo, Condenado sin proceso, La pareja de médicos enfrentando la pandemia and numerous articles. This activity was a great opportunity to practice the language and learn more about the French-speaking culture. Photo