Coronado Academy- Costa Rica

[Deborah]

This posted at StrugglingTeens today. Anyone know if Coronado is what they say they are?

 ?Not Another Dundee?:
Coronado Academy Visited
By Tim Rogers
Tico Times Staff
http://www.ticotimes.net

[FaceKhan]

I hope this is true. There are quite a few "liberal" schools out there, some in foreign countries. Standardized public highschools really suck.

One of the things I tell people who claim their kid is out of control is that maybe their school is to blame to an extent. School sucks, I have hundreds of quotations and anecdotes and quite a few books on the subject from people who agree with that statement.

Ha this place is about the same price as a WWASP program. Of course this school probably feeds the kids better than lukewarm slop with ground up insects and at least according to PANI provides for sanitary conditions, qualified staff and activities other than rap sessions.  


I can certainly believe there are good schools out there just not good involuntary snake oil programs.


_________________
No greater love hath a man, then he lay down his life for his brother, not for millions, not for glory, not for fame, for one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see.

[ This Message was edited by: FaceKhan on 2003-06-13 23:19 ]

[Anonymous]

Yeh, it was this paragraph that gave me pause:

Coronado is owned by a conglomerate called Global Prosperity Schools, and is not affiliated with any other boarding school. Although the academy is not yet licensed by the government, it is in the process of getting its permits in order, Brown claims.


"Global Prosperity Schools" (plural), but not affliated with any other boarding school.  And "not yet licensed"- Usually a red flag.

[Anonymous]

I agree about the red flags; I hope the parents and Costa Rican officials will keep an eye on the place - but the point seems to be that Costa Rica is now very aware of the ploy of placing grossly substandard 'schools' in their country, and are taking responsibility for keeping them in check.
Also, that this school is nothing what so ever like Dundee. Both good points that make me feel very happy with Costa Rica. If only Jamaica and Mexico would finely give the situation the same  long overdue attention.
As for the cost - it is 3,ooo or so a month more than Dundee was. This would have put it outside of our families reach.
I agree whole heartedly that much of the problem we have getting our students threw school, is due to the schools themselves.
I could write a book of my own on the subject.
I have sat trembling with outrage in more than one principal?s office over the years.

[Anonymous]

We investigated Coronado for our 17 year old daughter and have enrolled her in the school.  We visited the school and it is a magnificent property -- clean, beautiful with a wonderfully open feel.  The staff members are professional yet informal in their approach to students and parents.  Their approach to education is demanding yet acknowledges that not all kids are good at taking tests or writing papers.  Our daughter is ADHD and has learning differences especially in verbal processing.  She's not good at reading social cues and has low self-esteem.  She started to rely on marijuana to make herself feel better.  Public school is not an option for her and the 'regular' boarding school she was in only exacerbated the drug problem.  So far, Coronado has been exactly what they portray themselves to be and we are very pleased.

Talk with John Brown, the school director; Heather Tracy, head of academics; or Saul Rudman, the owner.  We felt no pressure at all to enroll her.  They were open about the availability of drugs in Costa Rica and how they've dealt with it in terms of protecting students and implemening 12 step and SMART programs as well as restricting student movements off campus.  Their focus was on making sure that we had a good fit for our daughter.  They don't deal with violent students or those who are major behavior problems -- mostly good kids who've made some dumb choices and those who struggle in traditional schools.  Our daughter is very athletic and into surfing, scuba, and the like.  It fits her.  They also insist on community service and she's teaching English and swimming (in the school's pool) to local elementary kids.  In return, she's learning Spanish in more than a classroom setting.  The deal with disciplinary infractions as opportunities to learn better ways of behaving.  Major things that affect safety or security of students/staff can get kids expelled.

Saul told us the place looks like a resort because they wanted to build a school that kids wanted to come to.  We believe we've made a good choice and our daughter is doing very well.

[Anonymous]

On 2004-01-23 10:54:00, Anonymous wrote:

"We investigated Coronado for our 17 year old daughter and have enrolled her in the school.  We visited the school and it is a magnificent property -- clean, beautiful with a wonderfully open feel.  The staff members are professional yet informal in their approach to students and parents.  Their approach to education is demanding yet acknowledges that not all kids are good at taking tests or writing papers.  Our daughter is ADHD and has learning differences especially in verbal processing.  She's not good at reading social cues and has low self-esteem.  She started to rely on marijuana to make herself feel better.  Public school is not an option for her and the 'regular' boarding school she was in only exacerbated the drug problem.  So far, Coronado has been exactly what they portray themselves to be and we are very pleased.



Talk with John Brown, the school director; Heather Tracy, head of academics; or Saul Rudman, the owner.  We felt no pressure at all to enroll her.  They were open about the availability of drugs in Costa Rica and how they've dealt with it in terms of protecting students and implemening 12 step and SMART programs as well as restricting student movements off campus.  Their focus was on making sure that we had a good fit for our daughter.  They don't deal with violent students or those who are major behavior problems -- mostly good kids who've made some dumb choices and those who struggle in traditional schools.  Our daughter is very athletic and into surfing, scuba, and the like.  It fits her.  They also insist on community service and she's teaching English and swimming (in the school's pool) to local elementary kids.  In return, she's learning Spanish in more than a classroom setting.  The deal with disciplinary infractions as opportunities to learn better ways of behaving.  Major things that affect safety or security of students/staff can get kids expelled.



Saul told us the place looks like a resort because they wanted to build a school that kids wanted to come to.  We believe we've made a good choice and our daughter is doing very well."

Okay, one word here is a major *green* flag for me.

"Expelled."

Any school that is willing to expell students for major infractions is unlikely to be starving, beating, or raping them.

Any school that says, "We never give up on anyone.    All these kids are liars and manipulators who will say anything to get out of here"---that's a major red flag for me.

It sounds as though this school actually *is* a real boarding school.

[Anonymous]

I agree, expullsion IS a green flag. Refreshing.

But I also saw "12 step program" and had to shudder. While 12 step is certainly better than the Mormon brand of Gestalt, it's fundamentally ineffective in the longterm and therefor counterproductive. I guess the degree to which it's harmful depends on how adamant they are in its implentation.

Otherwise, this place sounds fine and dandy.

[Deborah]

Coronado Academy Closed

http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... &forum=9&0