http://www.talarkeschool.com talarke@gmail.com
San Ramón de Tres Ríos, Cartago, Costa Rica
(506) 2273-3353
©Talarke School 2010
The Talarke Difference
In the Classroom
r Class size limited to 15 students.
r Classes are very interactive, giving students opportunities to speak and share their ideas.
r Talarke promotes “learning to think” over “learning to memorize”.
r Students rarely sit and copy the board, teachers teach topics and students do extensive workbook exercises to reinforce the material, with teacher assistance as needed.
r Learning from mistakes – all exercises are corrected until 100% is achieved.
r Students don’t sit at their desks all day. Classes are often conducted while sitting on the floor and sometimes outside.
r Learning through games is promoted.
r Limited homework assigned.
r Students are prepared to do their homework on their own.
r Teachers test when it makes sense to – not according to a fixed schedule.
r Every Talarke preparatory student learns to read in one-on-one or one-on-two private classes with the pre-school director.
Nourishment
r Tuition includes daily fruit snack and wholesome lunch.
r ½ hour is given for snack, 45 minutes for lunch each day
r Green space – students spend time outdoors moving between classrooms and extra-curriculum classes.
School Environment
r Students welcomed to school each day as teachers assist them to get out of their cars.
r All members of staff know every student by name.
r Teacher supervised breaks.
r Most problems such as bullying are identified and addressed early.
r Weekly assemblies are led by students with 100% student participation.
r Buddy Class – older students have weekly opportunities to interact with younger students.
Spanish
r Limited Spanish classes begin in first grade, with increased levels of Spanish during subsequent years, meeting MEP curriculum standards for Spanish, Social Studies, Science, and Math by the end of sixth grade.
r Extra-curricular activities such as physical education, art, and artistic expression are taught in Spanish.
Communication
r Each child has a communication notebook in which parents and teachers can send notes as necessary.
r Approximately every other week a report is sent home detailing what was studied and a summary of successes and difficulties experienced by the child r Quarterly grade reports are sent for each primary school student. These include grades as well as performance summaries for each subject as well as a social / emotional summary. Semester reports for each pre-school student include descriptions of cognitive, motor, social and language skills development.
r At the end of each semester, ½ hour individual meetings are held with the parents of each and every student in the school.
r At the beginning of each semester, grade level parent meetings are held to review semester plans.
r Throughout semester, parent meetings are held at parent or teacher request.
Results
r Talarke students are self-confident.
r Talarke students have the confidence to raise their hands even if they aren’t sure they know the right answer.
r Talarke students have no fear of public speaking.
r Talarke students freely use their English skills when traveling to other countries.
r Talarke students love coming to school.
r Talarke graduates have a very high rate of success at whatever high school they choose to attend.