Escuela Delfin

Located in the southern zone on the Pacific Coast in Costa Rica, the rural town of Pavones is a surf and yoga destination attracts many families from around the world who seek an alternative way of life. Our program, Escuela Delfin (Dolphin School) is named for the dolphins who live in the harbor next to the school. Seeing them from the beach instills a profound sense of kinship through their natural beauty, gentleness and intelligence.

This experience has inspired us to share these deeply held values in designing a school to educate the next generation. Our long term vision is to one day be a full preK-12 school, however with this grant we will establish a primary school.

In late 2022, we created a plan to become an internationally-accredited bilingual school in English & Spanish with a campus of our own. Joanna of MTF gathered together local leaders and neighbors, and we opened a preschool/kindergarten in January 2023. Having provided a unique program for families thus far, we’ve affected many lives already.

We are mission-driven: to be a community resource and remove the barrier of cost for families who cannot afford tuition by leveraging financial support from the families who can. Our leadership team is 5 people (the 2 founders, Joanna of MTF and two local parents) with the support of paid staff and community members. We are in the process of forming a non-profit organization with a board of directors comprising the school leaders, parents and community members.

The school requires more teachers and partners, as we turn a bold and compelling vision into reality.