Each year, students from the Holland/Zeeland area accompany ZCS Bill Van Dyk and other staff down to our sister school in Quepos, Costa Rica. El Puente Christian School in Costa Rica is a bilingual, Christian school.

From the El Puente website (www.elpuenteschool.wordpress.com): 

We Exist for the Local Community
No child is turned away due to social, economic, or intellectual status; everyone is welcome.  90% of our families are unable to pay the monthly tuition and are unable to attend school without financial help.  Donations are the primary means of support for this school.

Based in Christianty
As with most Latin American countries, Costa Rica is a Catholic country by name.  However, most families are non-practicing and the country is suffering from demoralization. We believe it in the importance of teaching children Christian morals.  90% of our students come from unchurched families & are only learning about Christ at school.  Sharing the love of Christ is the center of everything that we do.  Our hope is that our students grow to have personal relationships with God and will be better spouses, parents, employees, & neighbors in the future.

We are a Bilingual School
Costa Rica’s main industry is now tourism, so being bilingual automatically ensures you a better job.  With not a lot of opportunities to learn English and second-language acquisition being a long, hard process, most adults just get by with what they pick up in their jobs.  We are excited that our students already know more English than most of their parents and are teaching their parents English! As mentioned before, a better future is already one step closer for them.

Our Partnership with the United States
Using United States school curriculum in conjunction with the Costa Rican required curriculum, we are more focused on helping the students understand how they got to the answer rather than just producing the right answer.  Our approach to education is hands-on and consistent.  In light of our US partnerships, we hope to offer student exchanges in the near future.  The children & their families are directly blessed by those in the States who are involved in the school through giving financially, donating materials, and visiting us in Costa Rica.

First-Generation College Students
Like all parents, our students’ parents want a better life for their children.  Many of our parents became pregnant in their teen years and are now young, working single parents.  Until this year, one had to move or travel to the capital city 4 hours away to attend university.  Without scholarships or dorms to live in, most people in rural Quepos do not even dream about attending college.

Our students are already dreaming!  They often talk about going to university (a word they just learned the meaning of last year).  Another popular conversation is about them getting on a plane one day to visit different countries they have learned about!  100% of our students will be the first in their families to attend college.

International Worldview
With Costa Rica being one of the top tropical vacation destinations, people from all over the world pass through our town.  We incorporate an international worldview by making every Friday “Culture Day” at El Puente, meaning we learn about a different country.  The children listen intently and excitedly and later make a flag from the new country to add to their “passports”.  We strive to emphasize that differences make us unique and is not a reason to judge or make fun of others.  Each week we talk about how God loves the whole world and we pray as a class for the children in that country.  “El Puente”, the name of our school, means “the bridge” in Spanish and our desire is that God will use us to be a bridge to those who do not yet know Him.