The United World College Costa Rica (UWCCR) (Spanish - Colegio del Mundo Unido Costa Rica), located in the Santa Ana

Santa Ana Canton

Santa Ana is the name of the 9th canton in the province of San José in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of 61.42 km², and has a population of 36,963...

 suburb of San José

San José, Costa Rica

San José is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica. Located in the Central Valley, San José is the seat of national government, the focal point of political and economic activity, and the major transportation hub of this Central American nation.Founded in 1738 by order of Cabildo de León, San...

, is the 11th United World College and the first to offer instruction in both English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

. The College, formerly the "Colegio Internacional SOS Hermann Gmeiner

Hermann Gmeiner

Hermann Gmeiner was an Austrian philanthropist and the founder of SOS Children's Villages.- Life :...

," opened in August 2006 and graduated its first UWC-admitted applicants in 2008.
At the moment it contains 192 international students from more than 85 different countries. Students are selected based on an extensive scholarship programme, meaning that they are selected on the basis of merit and regardless of their social or economic status. Given its historic connection with SOS Children's Villages

SOS Children's Villages

SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental international development organisation which has been working to meet the needs and protect the interests and rights of children since 1949. It was founded by Hermann Gmeiner in Imst, Austria...

, UWCCR aims to ensure that students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds are admitted to the school each year. Depending on their academic needs, students may apply for a three-year programme with a preparatory pre-IB year before enrolling in the regular IB programme. The college is primarily committed to three areas: Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution

Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...

, the environment

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

 and multiculturalism

Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...

.

Selection and Admissions of Students

Every year the College makes offers of places and scholarships to the UWC Selection National to create a student body which reflects the priorities and identity of the College but within the context of their financial resources.
UWCCR is committed to having a strong proportion of students from Latin American, at least 50%, a significant population of students from socioeconomic disadvantaged backgrounds, and an overall globally diversity.
The expected entry profile of students by the UWCCR is communicated to the National Committees. Once a student is nominated a small group of individuals evaluates the applicant with regards to this entry profile and those who compare favorably are admitted.

International Bacaluratte

The College provide students an pre-university academic program for the 11th and 12th grades. It is designed to encourage independent thinking and develop global perspectives of development. The students of the IB diploma are required to study six subjects in different areas: Language A (first language), Language B (second language), Experimental Sciences, Individuals and Society, Mathematics and Arts. The areas are complemented with a course on Theory of Knowledge and the Program Creativity, Action, and Service.

HL means Higher Level, SL means Standrt Level. The subjects offered are:

Group 1: Language A1 (Native)

• English A1 HL or SL
• Spanish A1 HL or SL
• Language A1 School supported self-taught SL.

Group 2: Modern Languages (Second Lenguage)

• Spanish ab initio SL
• English B HL or SL
• Spanish B HL or SL
• French B SL
• English A2 HL or SL Spanish A2 HL or SL.

Group 3: Individuals and Societies

• Economics HL or SL available in English only
• History HL or SL available in English and Spanish
• Peace and Conflict Studies SL available in English only
• Social and Cultural Anthropology HL or SL available in Spanish only

Trans disciplinary Subject:

• Environmental Systems and Societies SL available in English and Spanish

Group 4: Science

• Biology HL available in English and Spanish
• Chemistry HL or SL available in English and Spanish
• Physics HL or SL available in English and Spanish

Group 5: Mathematics

• Math Studies SL available in English and Spanish
• Math Standrt SL available in English and Spanish
• Math Higher HL available in English only

Group 6: Electives

• Visual Arts HL available in Spanish only (but speakers of English can join too)
• Theater HL available in Spanish only

University Counseling Program

The International Baccalaureate diploma program offered by UWCCR, which is a rigorous and comprehensive course of study, is intended for university bound students.
It is expected that 90% or more of UWCCR graduates will enter higher studies soon after graduation, though several of them will take gap years to travel and volunteer while a few others will fulfill national service obligations or work first.
Therefore the University Counseling program was created to support and advise students with their individual plans, particularly the college/university selection and application process.
Because many UWCCR students come from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, special emphasis is placed on identifying scholarship opportunities.
The University Counselor is also responsible for introducing and supporting UWCCR students to colleges, universities, scholarship committees, gap year programs, and other relevant constituencies. For example, more than fifty colleges and universities recruit UWCCR students, offering presentations and interviews and the University Counselor will host these visits.

CAS program

The CAS program is an integral part of the International Baccalaureate Diploma program. Its design and concept in the UWCCR reflects the organizational philosophy of the United World Colleges by putting a strong emphasis on the public service

Community service

Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....

 and the social responsibility.
The CAS program in the UWCCR is characterized by providing activities for the students that generate an impact on their lives. This array of activities is divided in the three main areas of CAS: Creativity, Action, and Service.

• Creativity

The Creativity programs taught in the UWCCR are characterized by their adaptability and they change every semester. The Creativity programs take the advantage of the strong leadership of students and give them the opportunity to lead some of the activities besides the ones that are already led by adults, teachers or external instructors throughout the school year.

• Action

Most of the Action programs at the UWCCR are taught by professional instructors. One of the goals of the program is the creation of sports teams that train and participate in different tournaments in high schools.

• Service

The service programs at the UWCCR are characterized by the focus on community service. There are different institutions and sectors of the community that throughout these years have become traditions within the service programs.

Theme Week

The Theme Week program provides the students the opportunity to develop a relevant topic during one week. In general, these theme weeks are related to the three pillars of the College. Some examples are the cultural weeks by regions where there are exhibitions, debates, or preparation of typical dishes. Topics developed can be related to the worldwide reality or to the community service area. In general, the theme weeks are organized by the leaders of the pillars and a group of students and provide the community with an agenda of different activities.

Global Issues

The aim of the Global Issues Program is to analyze in community worldwide relevant topics. Guest speakers are invited to cover different topics encouraging debates with a theoretical foundation. The presentations and debates take place during the academic time, at least once a month, allowing the students to be in constant touch with external guest speakers and with the global issues.

Visiting Costa Rica

The objective of the Program Visiting Costa Rica is to provide the students the opportunity to know the hosting country closely. This program takes place besides the academic activities, the community service or any other the students normally perform.
Like in the other programs, the trips are related to the three pillars of the College. Its aim is to visit different places such as national parks, archeological sites, organized communities, etc.

Project Week

Project Week in a students own week-long project in Costa Rica or another Central American country. The projects must include a service component that have the objective of strengthen on the students the importance of working on community service worldwide.

Service to Campus

Service to Campus is an ample program that offers the students participation in several areas such as gardening, kitchen, recycling

Recycling

Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...

, and library, among others.

Sports Program

The sports program works together with the Action component of the CAS program. A professional person on sports supports the health area and the physical activity of the students at UWCCR. Through sports activities on weekdays and weekends, individualized follow up and a strict working plan, the sports program objective is to give the students the opportunity to enjoy a healthy lifestyle and to develop sport habits that can last for a lifetime.

Music Program

The music program provides the students the possibility to participate in concerts and different activities throughout the school year. These activities take place both on campus and off campus.

Student Life Programs

Purpose: “To offer an efficient system with support nets for the students and develop a home like environment out of home where all members of the community are active participants according to the UWCCR and UWC values and pillars for the intercultural understanding, the experience of peace and the protection of the environment.”

Integrated Health Program

The Integrated Health Program’s work is based on education and prevention. It aims to train the community of the College to develop a healthy lifestyle. It focuses its attention on the physical, emotional, and psychological health as well as on the practice of sports, and the strengthening of life skills.

Social and Cultural programs

This program aims to offer spaces for the social and cultural exchange. The program encourages the organization of regular and optional cultural and social events where students lead. These events can be organized for all the community or for smaller groups of residences, tutor groups, or any other group such as geographical or ethnic groups.

Host Family Program

This program is intended for the students to spend time with Costa Rican families of foreign families resident here. Through this program, both the students and the families should benefit from the exchange of customs, ideas, and culture.

Mediation Program

Based on the pillars of the College, and particularly the pillar of Conflict Transformation, the College objective is to promotes a culture of dialogue, respect, and tolerance as part of the daily life of its community. Therefore, efforts are focused to solve conflict through the mentioned elements whenever possible. Mediation

Mediation

Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution , a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties. A third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate their own settlement...

is then used to repair and rebuild in a positive way the relations among the members of the community. Every year, a group of students is trained on this topic to facilitate the conflict resolution processes and the differences between the students.

Student Service Program

This program supports the students in all matters related to migration processes before their arrival, during their stay, and when leaving the country. It also supports the students with local and international transportation matters.

Emergency Program

This program deals with the prevention and attention of emergencies and accidents –individual, group, or institutional. This includes health matters, problems in the infrastructure, external matters that may affect the College like natural disasters.

1. Residence Coordinator

The Residence Coordinator is a staff member who supports the students throughout the school year in the community life and with their emotional needs to make their in the College better.
Each coordinator is in charge of one residence and holds a weekly meeting with its members. These meetings are intended to analyze the internal organization, the internal rules, the cleaning duties, the rights and duties, among others. Furthermore, the coordinator can make the necessary decisions for the proper functioning of the residence and the fulfillment of the institutional objectives. A relation of confidence is expected. Moreover, the Residence Coordinator is expected to strengthen the group coexistence through different spaces.

2. Tutor

A teaching staff member is responsible for providing support, guide and orientation to a group of students, especially in the academic area. The tutor serves as a counselor and a guide while trying to elicit constant improvement from the students in the co curricular activities as well as in the community life. A relation of confidence is expected where the student feels supported and guided to constantly improve.
Tutors also intervene in the disciplinary processes of the students fulfilling a role of support and prevention.

3. Psychology

The College has two psychologists who assess the emotional needs of the students. They counsel the students when necessary or refer them to external professionals depending on the needs. They also work on prevention in the topics they find as priorities for the community. Both psychologists live on campus and are also Residence Coordinators. Therefore, they are in close and permanent contact with the students. They are part of the Integrated Health Program.

4. Infirmary

The nurse provides the necessary and proper support in physical health. Her job is focused on prevention and intervention. The nurse provides the necessary attention to the students and she refers the students to the doctor when it is deemed necessary. The nurse is part of the Integrated Health Program and also assesses the meals served in the College.

5. Student Services Coordinator

This person supports the students in migration matters and coordinates local and international transportation.

6. Emergency Teams

Members of these teams are from all the areas of the College, including both students and staff members. They act in case of emergencies. They are trained according to the needs of the program.